Gabor Forgacs
George H. Vineyard Professor of Physics

 		  Gabor Forgacs  
Office: 420 Physics Building
Phone: 573-882-3036
E-mail: forgacsg@missouri.edu
Webpage: http://forgacslab.missouri.edu/
Biographical Information: Ph.D., Eotvos Roland University Budapest, 1978


Research Interests

Biological Physics

My research is focussed on the physical mechanisms in cell and developmental biology. In particular we study (both expereimentally and by computer modeling) the biomechanical (i.e viscoelastic)  properties of cells and tissues and their relevance to morphogenetic shape transformations. Current activity is concentrated on the application of these physical mechanisms to "organ printing" a fundamentally new approach to tissue engineering, whereby, spherical cell aggregates  with composition appropriate for the particular organ (the bioink) are delivered (with a modified ink-jet printer) acccording to the organ's anatomical blueprint into biocompatible scaffolding gels (the paper).

Understanding and Employing Tissue Self-Assembly

Selected Publications

V. Mironov, T. Boland, G. Forgacs and R. R. Markwald. Organ Printing: Computer-aided jet-based 3D tissue engineering. Trends in Biotechnology 21, 157-161 (2003)

G. Forgacs, S.A. Newman B. Hinner, C.W. Maier, and E. Sackmann. S.A. Newman Assembly of Collagen Matrices as a Phase Transition Revealed by Structural and Rheologic Studies. Biophys. J. 84, 1272-1280 (2003).

Y. Shafrir and G. Forgacs, "Mechanotransduction through the Cytoskeleton", American Journal of Cell Physiology 282, 479-486 (2002)

D. Beysens, G. Forgacs and J. Glazier, "Cell sorting is analogous to phase ordering in fluids", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 97, 9467-9471 (2000)

Y. Shafrir, D. Ben-Avraam and G. Forgacs, "Trafficking and signaling through the cytoskeleton: a specific mechanism", Journal of Cell Science 113, 2747-2757 (2000)

G. Forgacs, R.A. Foty, Y. Shafrir and M.S. Steinberg, "Viscoelastic properties of living tissues: a quantitative study", Biophysiscal Journal 74, 2227-2234 (1998)

C. Allain, D. Beysens, M. Cloitre, G. Forgacs and S. Newman, "Viscosity and elasticity during collagen assembly in vitro: relevance to Matrix-Driven Translocation", Biopolymers 41, 337-347 (1997).

R.A. Foty, C.M. Pfleger, G. Forgacs and M.S. Srteinberg, "Surface Tensions of Embryonic Tissues Predict Their Mutual Envelopment Behavior". Development, 122, 1611-1620 (1996)

G. Forgacs, "On the possible role of cytoskeletal filamentous networks in biological signaling: an approach based on percolation", Journal of Cell Science 108, 2131-2143 (1995)