The objective of the unit is to discover the role of physical laws in the architecture and functions of cellular systems. To this end, the teams follow interdisciplinary approaches involving physics, chemistry and biology. Our studies cover a range of topics from simple molecules (molecular motors, DNA-protein interactions, membrane proteins) to cellular functions (cell adhesion, cell division, cell motility, intracellular transport) and the collective behavior of cells in tissues and organisms (wound healing, morphogenesis). They include the use of numerous experimental systems ranging from isolated molecular assemblies and biomimetic systems to cellular and multicellular systems. The approaches combine theoretical studies - including statistical physics of non-equilibrium systems - and a variety of experimental techniques such as light and electron microscopy, microfluidics and micromodeling, optogenetics or mechanical micromanipulation using optical or magnetic tweezers.