Dr. Carl Modes is a group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) since 2017. Dr. Modes research focuses complex spatial networks and morphogenesis. Dr. Modes group seeks to leverage principles and methods of applied topology and geometry in order to better understand complex biological phenomena, with particular interest in the role of network complexity and the shape-organizing power of topological defects in such systems.

Abstract

“Developmental Dynamics of Complex, Space-Sharing Networks: To Ensnarl or Not To Ensnarl?”

A common feature of many developing organs is the presence of two or more separate but topologically interlinked complex networks, such as the vascular and ductal networks in the pancreas, or the sinusoidal and canalicular networks in the liver. However, neither the degree to which these networks are topologically interlinked, or, “ensnarled”, nor the dynamics of this ensnarling has been the subject of much attention. Indeed, much work on complex, cyclic spatial networks has been done in 2d models and model systems, where ensnarled pairs of networks are impossible. Here, we  investigate and model ensnarling in symmetric and disordered model network-pairs as well as in the developing liver, with the ultimate goals of deriving physical rules that govern the ensnarling process, and determining the biological consequence of properly ensnarled states on organ function.