Motor proteins caught “swinging on monkey bars”

Dr Stan Burgess, of the University of Leeds’s Faculty of Biological Sciences, explains research published in the journal Nature Communications that gives us our first glimpse of cells’ motor proteins in action.

These proteins are vital to complex life, forming the transport infrastructure that allows different parts of cells to specialise in particular functions. Until now, the way they move has never been directly observed.

[JafoTHEgreat]

We are all Mechs traveling through time and space while an army of 30 billion space engineers keep us at homeostasis.

[TadaGanIarracht]

when i studied this stuff (barely) in biology its honestly the creepiest most awesome thing in all of nature. Truly and literally amazing to think of how cells have come so far!

[nadapenny]

Our bio teacher always showed us the fancy colorized CGI videos of how everything worked and nothing ever made sense to me because I always assumed that it was just a representation of a process. If she had shown us these real electron microscope videos, everything would have made more sense, because I wouldn't have had to be watching those videos trying to figure out what they're representing and how it's actually working and moving.

[bardia]

The best part was the absolutely relaxing and well spoken tone to go with such a fascinating human achievement

[DreamscapeSYN]

he walcc
he swing
he transport
he makes you live
he is in you

[cizzlen]

This is incredible! Needs more views and discussion

[Marssz]

A very lucid explanation that an intelligent and curious listener could grasp.

[SomethingImpromptu]

It reminds me of the motion of galaxies through the tendrils of the Cosmic Web, which is also quite a bit like blood cells through veins or electro-chemical impulses through neuronal networks. The fractal self-similarity of nature is pretty amazing.

[dookieshoe]

I saw a documentary on these microtubules and motor proteins way back as a teenager and I've wanted to find that documentary ever since. I was absolutely fascinated that these things existed since I had never heard anything about them before and not at all since unless I sought out things like this. It almost seemed like it wasn't real when I first saw that doc, like it was some kind of theory but probably not true. It just seemed so unbelievable to me that there was something this incredible happening in cells but I had never heard about it before. Even in biology and science classes in school we would have to learn the different bits that make up a cell but stuff like microtubules or kinesin were never mentioned. I've wanted to see how it actually looked and worked for real so this is incredible getting to see real life footage of one and not a cg animation.

It still fascinates me to this day just thinking about these things happening in my body right now. Just that at the scale of a cell it is a vast distance from the cell wall to the nucleus and these things are traveling back and forth for these relatively long distances, it's just incredible to imagine.

[geckoo]

Its amazing how something that small resembles so well a pair of chicken legs, on function, maybe the way that they work, but in a minimalist way, I wonder if also on the flavor.

[refaeleranskira]

fascinating stuff, and spoken so well. great explanation

[dracodracarys]

on a molecular level we return to monke

[gustavo]

So you're telling me they don't look like All Terrain Scout Transports from Star Wars? (from the last Kurzgesagt video)

[TestECull]

Sittin' here while the Free Bird solo blasts in one tab watching molecular homey there headbang...

[onwardandupward-tg]

wow! i was listing/watching video's about the stars and the universe but this blows me away. I have no background in biology nor the stars but all this amazing information coming to light is just incredible....

[augustwest]

If the scientists ask god about what they are seeing I’m sure they would get an answer. Just have to listen. Jesus wants to heal and protect mankind.

[jhyland]

This guy is amazing at explaining stuff to the layman

[YouTubist]

1:45 “cooling them at 1 million degrees a second” ?? Not sure what you mean by that.

[andrewgalloway]

"Life is protein" Isaac Asimov in his book, "The Chemicals of Life"

[khalidify]

The image of protein is fuzzy with max magnification, then how you distinguish which atoms make this protein, then colour coded with computer for clarity in animation. Only movement patterns is visible.?