Initially, Zvonimir Dogic and students selected microtubules and kinesin and mix together. The former is a filamentous protein forms part of the cell's internal skeleton, which is along the "silk" through the motor protein. Subsequently, the researchers let this droplet "cocktail" is suspended in the oil, and to provide a fuel molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) of.
The teams make surprise and delight that these molecules organize themselves formed in the surface of each droplet exhibits large-scale patterns swirling. As Massachusetts Brandeis University physicist Dogic said that a large bundle of proteins are joined together microtubules move, like "concert held to the head of a person is passed around."
Through these tests were published in 2012, Dogic team created a new liquid crystal. And as a response to the electric field pattern standard passive form of molecules of liquid crystal display different, Dogic active ingredients. They can be self-driven, from the surrounding environment, the uptake of energy from ATP. Meanwhile, thanks to the collective behavior of thousands of units of independent movement, they can spontaneously form mode.
These are the characteristics to be a physicist known as the system of active (in the past few years has become an important research object). Such examples abound in nature, including no leader but continuous flight of birds and flowing form cytoskeletal structures. They are increasingly being manufactured in the lab out: researchers used biological structure such as microtubules, etc., and include the formation of micron-sensitive plastic structure "swimmer", including a synthetic component when the lights turn on, synthesized actives. The term "active" appears in the title or abstract, and through peer-reviewed papers quantity of output from 10 years ago, less than 10 per year to nearly 70 last year. Meanwhile, last year, we have organized a number of international seminars on the subject.
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