Video: International Cell Race Clocks Cells Speeding Along Microscopic Race Tracks, For Science
Cell Race World Cell RaceOn your mark ... get set ... mitosis! A clump of bone marrow cells are the fastest cells in the world, moving at a glacial pace of 5.2 microns per minute across a petri dish. They beat a line of breast cells by a hair's breadth - OK, well less than that, because the entire race track was about a hair's breadth long. The race results were announced at the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology, who arguably have the most fun of any scientific society out there. But this competition, hosted in labs around the world, did serve the larger scientific purpose of studying how cells move. Cell mobility underlies some of the most complex biological processes, from embryo development to cancer metastasis, and cell biologists could use the "race" to compare the relative motility of different types of cells. Apparently stem cells...