Watch: Jané Kondev and the Mathematics of Biology

Jané Kondev, a physicist at Brandeis University, discusses his work using the tools of mathematics and theoretical physics to uncover laws that govern the inner workings of cells.

Jané Kondev uses the tools of theoretical physics to uncover laws that govern the inner workings of cells. His lab works on the regulation of gene expression, the packing of DNA in cells and the self-organization of the cytoskeleton. One of the major themes of the research is how genes specify geometry, such as the size of cytoskeletal structures or the shape of the cell’s genome.

Kondev is the co-author of the book Physical Biology of the Cell, in which life is examined using simple physics models. He is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Physics at Brandeis University and a 2020 Simons Investigator in Theoretical Physics in Life Sciences.