How accurate is mechanobiology? A statistical test of cell force
This work tackles a methodological gap in mechanobiology, offering a foundational step towards more rigorous statistical analysis in the field.
The paper addresses the lack of error bars and statistical measures in mechanobiology force measurements, proposing a general reconstruction framework to enable hypothesis testing for experimental questions.
Mechanobiology is gaining more and more traction as the fundamental role of physical forces in biological function becomes clearer. Forces at the microscale are often measured indirectly using inverse problems such as Traction Force Microscopy because biological experiments are hard to access with physical probes. In contrast with the experimental nature of biology and physics, these measurements do not come with error bars, confidence regions, or p-values. The aim of this manuscript is to publicize this issue and to propose a first step towards a remedy therefor in the form of a general reconstruction framework. We also show that this opens the door to hypothesis testing of seemingly abstract experimental questions.