Abstract
The links between physics and biology have become increasingly close in recent years. Many universities in the US have invested in interdisciplinary research institutes and the UK government has earmarked funding for the so-called life-sciences interface. At first sight, no area of physics seems more relevant to biology than soft condensed matter. After all, living things are made of complex fluids – liquids that contain mesoscopic structures with length scales of 1 μm and less – and physicists have long studied complex fluids such as colloids, polymers, liquid crystals and solutions containing soap-like molecules.