Biophysicists measure for the first time what happens when red blood cells 'wriggle'
For the first time, and using physical methods, scientists have demonstrated how red blood cells move. There had been real fights between academics over the question of whether these cells are moved by external forces or whether they actively "wriggle". An international team of biophysicists from Münster, Paris and Jülich have now proven that both opinions are correct. Linking physical principles and biological reality, they recognized that fast molecules in the vicinity make the cell membrane of the blood cells wriggle – but that the cells themselves also become active when they have enough reaction time. This process can be defined exactly by comparing innovative experiments with new theoretical models. The study was published in Nature Physics.