Department of Biology

Lab

Bisson Lab website

Research

Life is not determined by genes alone—cells also obey the laws of physics. The Bisson Lab studies how molecular assemblies build cells with material properties that enable them to sense mechanical forces and convert those forces into growth, shape, and developmental decisions. We focus on archaea, microbes that lack rigid cell walls and display striking mechanical plasticity, offering insight into how complex cellular structures and behaviors evolved.

Our research is grounded in cross-disciplinary principles from evolutionary developmental mechanobiology. We combine advanced live-cell microscopy, microfabrication, genetics, and quantitative analysis to measure cellular responses across spatial and temporal scales, from single molecules to whole microbial communities.

We also develop experimental and computational tools that impose controlled shear, confinement, and crowding to connect physical forces with molecular mechanisms and evolutionary outcomes. Current projects include archaeal morphogenesis and cytoskeletal dynamics, multicellular development triggered by compression, and environmental cell biology in extreme habitats such as salt lakes, where microbial communities transition rapidly between hydrated and desiccated states with little apparent fitness cost.

Together, this work seeks general principles linking physics, cell biology, evolution, ecology, and microbiome function, with the long-term goal of explaining how complex cellular behaviors emerge in both laboratory models and natural ecosystems.

Research Areas

Microbial Cell Biology and Environmental Responses
Evolution
Ecology
Biophysics
Synthetic Biology

Awards

2026 Hypothesis Fund Award
2024 The Fred Hutch Cancer Center Atlas of Inspiring Hispanic/Latinx Scientist
2021 Pew Biomedical Scholar, The Pew Charitable Trusts
2021 Human Frontiers Science Early Career Award