Théorique, numérique
Hydra is a freshwater polyp famous for its regenerative capacities, as virtually any tissue piece amputated from an adult Hydra or even re-aggregated cells can regenerate into a viable organism and do so through a de novo axis definition. Remarkably, spherically-shaped regenerating Hydra pieces undergo several osmotically-driven oscillations before a Turing-like instability determines the position of the future head of the organism as the local maximum of a morphogen's concentration. Based on known observational and biochemical data, the intern will formulate and analyse a reaction-diffusion model on an oscillating sphere, able to recapitulate the first symmetry-breaking of Hydra during the process of its regeneration.