title: Theories and models on the biology of cells in space.
abstract: A wide variety of observations on cells in space, admittedly made under constraining and unnatural conditions in many cases, have led to experimental results that were surprising or unexpected.  Reproducibility, freedom from artifacts, and plausibility must be considered in all cases, even when results are not surprising.  The papers in the symposium on "Theories and Models on the Biology of Cells in Space" are dedicated to the subject of the plausibility of cellular responses to gravity--inertial accelerations between 0 and 9.8 m/s2 and higher.  The mechanical phenomena inside the cell, the gravitactic locomotion of single eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, and the effects of inertial unloading on cellular physiology are addressed in theoretical and experimental studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309-0424, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Todd
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Klaus
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development; D001692:Biological Transport / Q000502:physiology; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D003470:Culture Media; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology*; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006112:Gravitation; D008954:Models, Biological; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D013026:Space Flight; D014893:Weightlessness
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D005947:Glucose