Zachary Gao Sun

I’m Zachary Gao Sun, a physicist working at the interface of soft matter, biophysics, and developmental biology. I study how living systems organize, adapt, and acquire function across scales—from cytoskeletal networks to whole embryos.

My research centers on three directions: how cytoskeletal systems encode mechanical memory and physical learning during morphogenesis; how embryos operate as energetic machines, balancing dissipation, efficiency, and robustness; and how these processes may reveal principles of rejuvenation and resetting of biological state.

I combine in vitro reconstitution, zebrafish embryo microscopy imaging, and biophysical theory to map the physical principles governing development. I was a visiting researcher at Harvard SEAS (Sept–Dec 2025) and am currently an HFSP Postdoctoral Fellow in the groups of Carl-Philipp Heisenberg and Edouard Hannezo at ISTA.