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From the micron-thick hyphae of a fungal network to the dinner-plate diameter blood vessels of a blue whale, most multicellular organisms rely on internal transportation networks to constantly transport resources. Spurred by understanding of the importance of proper cardiovascular network function to human health, innovative imaging techniques have opened new windows into for example, the organization of blood vessels in the retina and brain, yet there has been little progress in proposing and testing organizing principals that may distinguish healthy from pathological networks. Focusing on two very different pulsatile networks -- the plasmodial tubes of slime molds and the developing blood vessels of embryonic zebrafish -- we show that the networks adhere very closely to optimization principles, associated with uniformity of perfusion and transport efficiency, influencing either their geometry or the actuation mechanisms driving the flow. Intriguingly, our experimentally-validated mathematical models show that simple responses to shear stresses or pressures created within the network allow them to reliably and precisely locate these optimal networks. Thus, while these works add to previous studies highlighting the exquisite engineering that nature is capable of, it also shows that intricate results can be achieved via simple control mechanisms.  

 

Also on zoom https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/98969645841