Editing Tensegrity (section)

=== Biochemistry ===
[[Donald E. Ingber]] has developed a theory of tensegrity to describe numerous phenomena observed in [[molecular biology]].<ref name=Ingber>{{cite journal |last=Ingber |first=Donald E. |journal=Scientific American |date=January 1998 |volume=278 |issue=1 |pages=48–57 |pmid=11536845 |title=The Architecture of Life |url=http://web1.tch.harvard.edu/research/ingber/PDF/1998/SciAmer-Ingber.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050515040403/http://web1.tch.harvard.edu/research/ingber/PDF/1998/SciAmer-Ingber.pdf  |archive-date = 2005-05-15 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0198-48 |bibcode=1998SciAm.278a..48I }}</ref> For instance, the expressed shapes of cells, whether it be their reactions to applied pressure, interactions with substrates, etc., all can be mathematically modelled by representing the cell's [[cytoskeleton]] as a tensegrity. Furthermore, geometric patterns found throughout nature (the helix of [[DNA]], the geodesic dome of a [[volvox]], [[Buckminsterfullerene]], and more) may also be understood based on applying the principles of tensegrity to the spontaneous self-assembly of compounds, proteins,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Edwards |first1=Scott A. |last2=Wagner |first2=Johannes |last3=Gräter |first3=Frauke |date=2012 |title=Dynamic Prestress in a Globular Protein |journal=PLOS Computational Biology |volume=8 |issue=5 |pages=e1002509 |pmid=22589712 |pmc=3349725 |doi=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002509
|bibcode=2012PLSCB...8E2509E |doi-access=free }}</ref> and even organs. This view is supported by how the tension-compression interactions of tensegrity minimize material needed to maintain stability and achieve structural resiliency, although the comparison with inert materials within a biological framework has no widely accepted premise within physiological science.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Skelton |first1=Robert |title=Globally stable minimal mass compressive tensegrity structures |journal=Composite Structures |date=2016 |volume=141 |pages=346–54 |doi=10.1016/j.compstruct.2016.01.105 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263822316300174}}</ref> Therefore, [[natural selection]] pressures would likely favor biological systems organized in a tensegrity manner.

As Ingber explains:
{{Blockquote
|text=The tension-bearing members in these structures{{snd}}whether Fuller's domes or Snelson's sculptures{{snd}}map out the shortest paths between adjacent members (and are therefore, by definition, arranged geodesically). Tensional forces naturally transmit themselves over the shortest distance between two points, so the members of a tensegrity structure are precisely positioned to best withstand stress. For this reason, tensegrity structures offer a maximum amount of strength.<ref name=Ingber/>}}

In embryology, [[Richard Gordon (theoretical biologist)|Richard Gordon]] proposed that [[embryonic differentiation waves]] are propagated by an 'organelle of differentiation'<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1186/s12976-016-0037-2|title = The organelle of differentiation in embryos: The cell state splitter|year = 2016|last1 = Gordon|first1 = Natalie K.|last2 = Gordon|first2 = Richard|journal = Theoretical Biology and Medical Modelling|volume = 13|page = 11|pmid = 26965444|pmc = 4785624 | doi-access=free }}</ref> where the [[cytoskeleton]] is assembled in a bistable tensegrity structure at the apical end of cells called the 'cell state splitter'.<ref name="Hierarchical Genome">{{Cite book | doi=10.1142/2755|title = The Hierarchical Genome and Differentiation Waves| volume=3|series = Series in Mathematical Biology and Medicine|year = 1999|last1 = Gordon|first1 = Richard| isbn=978-981-02-2268-0}}</ref>