The Tang lab is dedicated to solving problems at the interface of engineering, soft matter, and biology. A central theme that guides their research is self-organization and reconfiguration at the micro-scale. They like to ask how biology self-organizes and adapts to changes so readily, and how can they extract the key principles and apply to engineering designs. Some questions that excite them include: how does a cell keep track of time? How does it heal its wound and restore its normal shape and function? How can we mimic that to make adaptive and self-healing devices and materials?