Meredith Betterton Portrait
Professor
Physics
mdb@colorado.edu
(303) 735-6135

Office: DUAN F527 

Research Interests:

I'm interested in the physics of cell division and related biophysics. My current projects address motor protein dynamics and microtubule length regulation, cytoskeletal active matter, mitotic spindle assembly and regulation, chromosome segregation in cell division, and disordered proteins in the nuclear pore complex.

Recent Publications:

  1. H.-S. Kuan and M. D. Betterton, "Motor protein accumulation on antiparallel microtubule overlaps," arXiv:1509.07219 (2015).
  2. R. Blackwell, O. Sweezy-Schindler, C. Baldwin, L. E Hough, M. A. Glser, and M. D. Betterton, "Microscopic origins of anisotropic active stress in motor-driven nematic liquid crystals," Soft Matter DOI: 10.1039/C5SM02506K (2016). Download.
  3. H.-S. Kuan, R. Blackwell, L. E. Hough, M. A. Glaser, and M. D. Betterton, "Hysteresis, reentrance, and glassy dynamics in systems of self-propelled rods," Physical Review E 92, 060501 (2015). arXiv:1407.4842 Download.
  4. T. Gao, R. Blackwell, M. A. Glaser, M. D. Betterton, and M. J. Shelley, "Multiscale modeling and simulation of microtubule-motor protein assemblies," Physical Review E92, 062709 (2015). arXiv:1510.02031 Download.
  5. T. Gao, R. Blackwell, M. A. Glaser, M. D. Betterton, and M. J. Shelley, "Multiscale polar theory of microtubule and motor-protein assemblies," Physical Review Letters 114, 048101 (2015), arXiv:1401.8059. Download
  6. M. D. Betterton and J. R. McIntosh, "Regulation of chromosome speeds in mitosis,"Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering 6, 418-430 (2013). Download.
  7. H.-S. Kuan and M. D. Betterton, "Biophysics of filament length regulation by molecular motors," Physical Biology 10, 036004 (2013). Download.
  8. T. Kuriabova, M. D. Betterton, and M. A. Glaser, "Linear aggregation and liquid-crystalline order: comparison of Monte Carlo simulation and analytic theory," Journal of Materials Chemistry 20, 10366-10383 (2010). Download. Selected as a Hot Article by the Journal of Materials Chemistry.
  9. L. E. Hough, A. Schwabe, M. A. Glaser, J. R. McIntosh, and M. D. Betterton, "Microtubule depolymerization by the kinesin-8 motor Kip3p: a mathematical model,"Biophysical Journal 96, 3050 (2009). Download.