Growth, size, and precision control

Synopsis

Physicists aim to understand fundamental problems in nature by describing them quantitatively. This understanding often follows three steps: collecting (improved) data, providing a quantitative description with predictive ability, and identifying underlying mechanisms. Similarly, bacterial cell physiology in biology follows these steps. In this colloquium, I will discuss cell size control, using the extensively-studied bacterial organism, E. coli, as an example. We will explore what determines average cell size, how E. coli corrects size deviations, and our current understanding of the underlying processes.