Living systems are composed of molecules that are synthesized by cells that use energy sources within their surroundings to create fascinating materials that have mechanical properties optimized for their biological function. Their functionality is a ubiquitous aspect of our lives. We use wood to construct furniture, bacterial colonies to modify the texture of dairy products and other foods, intestines as violin strings, bladders in bagpipes, and so on. The mechanical properties of these biological materials differ from those of other simpler synthetic elastomers, glasses, and crystals. Reproducing their mechanical properties synthetically or from first principles is still often unattainable. The challenge is that biomaterials often exist far from equilibrium, either in a kinetically arrested state or in an energy consuming active state that is not yet possible to reproduce de novo. Also, the design principles that form biological materials often result in nonlinear responses of stress to strain, or force to displacement, and theoretical models to explain these nonlinear effects are in relatively early stages of development compared to the predictive models for rubberlike elastomers or metals. In this Review, we summarize some of the most common and striking mechanical features of biological materials and make comparisons among animal, plant, fungal, and bacterial systems. We also summarize some of the mechanisms by which living systems develop forces that shape biological matter and examine newly discovered mechanisms by which cells sense and respond to the forces they generate themselves, which are resisted by their environment, or that are exerted upon them by their environment. Within this framework, we discuss examples of how physical methods are being applied to cell biology and bioengineering.

中文翻译：

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材料科学与生命物质的机械敏感性

生命系统由分子组成，这些分子由细胞合成，这些分子利用周围环境中的能源来创造迷人的材料，这些材料具有针对其生物功能优化的机械性能。它们的功能在我们的生活中无处不在。我们用木头来建造家具，用细菌菌落改变乳制品和其他食物的质地，用肠子做小提琴弦，用气囊做风笛，等等。这些生物材料的机械性能不同于其他更简单的合成弹性体、玻璃和晶体。合成或从第一原理复制它们的机械性能通常仍然无法实现。挑战在于生物材料的存在往往远离平衡，要么处于动力学停滞状态，要么处于尚无法从头重现的能量消耗活跃状态。此外，形成生物材料的设计原则通常会导致应力对应变或力对位移的非线性响应，与类橡胶弹性体或金属的预测模型相比，解释这些非线性效应的理论模型处于相对早期的发展阶段。在这篇综述中，我们总结了生物材料的一些最常见和最引人注目的机械特征，并对动物、植物、真菌和细菌系统进行了比较。我们还总结了生命系统产生塑造生物物质的力量的一些机制，并研究了新发现的细胞感知和响应它们自身产生的力量的机制，它们受到环境的抵制，或者受到环境的影响。在此框架内，我们讨论了如何将物理方法应用于细胞生物学和生物工程的示例。