5/5 In summary, even in complex cellular organelles like the spindle, active-matter physics combined with carefully measured data yields predictive theories.

4/5 Our model reveals that spindle organization is governed by: local MT alignment interaction, diffusive-like motion, directed transport & MT turnover dynamics, all encoded in our continuum theory with interpretable and measurable parameters.

3/5 We demonstrate that a simple coarse-grained active liquid crystal model can quantitatively explain both the mean structure and fluctuation spectra of the spindle microtubule network.

2/5 How do thousands of microtubules and associated proteins self-organize into the mitotic mammalian spindle ?

We combine detailed static ultrastructural data from electron tomography with dynamic polarization microscopy 🔬 measurements to find out.