High-pressure division
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 - 10:51
in Biology & Nature
To be able to divide, a cell must first of all create enough space for itself in the tissue. How cells do that was a mystery, until now. Researchers from the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich have now discovered that cells "inflate" themselves generating hydrostatic pressure during division. By doing this cells develop an enormous force, which they use to push other cells aside.