Self-organization across scales: from molecules to organisms

Creating ordered structures from chaotic environments is at the core of biological processes at the subcellular, cellular and organismic level. In this perspective, we explore the physical as well as biological features of two prominent concepts driving self-organization, namely phase transition and reaction–diffusion, before closing with a discussion on open questions and future challenges associated with studying self-organizing systems. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Self-organization in cell biology’.