Topic description and stories

Microscope images showing two species of algae which swim using tiny appendages known as flagella

Algae use their ‘tails’ to gallop and trot like quadrupeds

03 May 2016

Species of single-celled algae use whip-like appendages called flagella to coordinate their movements and achieve a remarkable diversity of swimming...

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Overlaid waveforms of the flagellar beating of two somatic cells of Volvox carteri held on separate glass micropipettes.

Microscopic rowing – without a cox

29 Jul 2014

New research shows that the whip-like appendages on many types of cells are able to synchronise their movements solely through interactions with the...

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Flagellated cell

Building ‘nanomachines’ in biological outer space

14 Nov 2013

New research reveals how bacteria construct tiny flagella ‘nanomachines’ outside the cell.

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Algal cell swimming towards a wall

Microswimmers hit the wall

07 Jan 2013

New research reveals what happens when swimming cells such as spermatozoa and algae hit a solid wall, and has implications for applications in...

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