About

What determines when an organism dies and whether there are mechanisms, as yet unknown, to revive an organism after death are captivating questions that force us to examine what distinguishes the living from non-living matter.

Driven by these questions, Hyun Youk’s laboratory investigates the principles and molecular mechanisms that enable various cells to autonomously and collectively determine how they grow, live, die and revive themselves. Youk is particularly interested in molecular mechanisms inside cells and communication among cells that regulate their genes and, in turn, cause a cell to transition between life and death. For this research, his team performs experiments on naturally existing and genetically engineered bacteria, baker’s yeast, and embryonic stem cells. To help interpret their experiments and provide a framework to understand their data, the team builds mathematical models and new physics-inspired frameworks for living systems. Through an interplay between the theories and experiments, they ultimately hope to productively address a basic question: “What does it mean to be living or dead?”