ABSTRACT
When thinking about cell mechanics, it is easy to get caught up in models and mathematics, and thinking about cells as somewhat exotic material that can be subjected to the same sort of testing as is performed on inert metals and plastics. However, an equally important part of cell mechanics is the study of how mechanics interacts with the biological behavior of cells. The former is termed “biomechanics”; the latter is increasingly referred to as “mechanobiology,” as mentioned in Chapter 1. The former is meant to emphasize biomechanics as the subdiscipline of mechanics that considers the mechanical properties of biological structures and mechanobiology as the subdisipline of biology that is focused on how mechanics regulates biological processes, or how biological processes generate and regulate physical forces. Oftentimes this distinction is artificial and may not be useful, as some of the most fascinating problems cannot be understood without considering biology and mechanics with equal depth and rigor.
