Research Outline

How do unicellular organisms utilize environmental cues to navigate their surroundings? Although their behaviours seem simple, these organisms must have some survival strategies for living in harsh environments. To understand how they “know” spatial information, I use microfabrication techniques to design controlled micro-environments.
The trumpet-shaped unicellular organism, Stentor coeruleus, switches between swimming and anchoring based on environmental conditions. Stentor selects narrow spaces as anchoring sites without the need for visual cues. I’m currently investigating the mechanism behind this selection behaviour, focusing on collisions with surrounding structures.