Self-organization in living flow networks

Complex life larger than a humble nematode would not be possible without a circulatory system. Plants, fungi, and animals have developed vascular systems of striking complexity to solve problems of long distance nutrient delivery, waste removal, and information exchange. These disparate vascular systems are constrained by the same physics and their structure is governed by the common universal principles such as a hierarchy in the vessel diameters and the existence of multiple loops. Typically, biological transport networks have to satisfy competing demands to operate efficiently and robustly while confronted with an ever-changing environment. The architecture of these networks, as defined by the topology and edge weights, determines how efficiently the networks perform their function.

In this talk we present several examples that highlight how, in both plants and animals, the circulatory networks self-organize in order to optimally achieve their intended function, such as delivering fluid and nutrients to the tissue efficiently and homogeneously. This network remodeling and self-organization takes place using only local information (each vessel only remodels based on mechanical or other local cues) in order to achieve or improve on the collective performance of the network in issues like dissipation or nutrient delivery. We consider theoretical models that describe such remodeling, and discuss how these models can provide inspiration for the design of functional artificial microvasculature and other engineering applications.