PHILADELPHIA A biomechanical experiment conducted at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science has answered a long-standing theoretical question: Will microorganisms swim faster or slower in elastic fluids? For a prevalent type of swimming, undulation, the answer is "slower."
Paulo Arratia, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics, along with student Xiaoning Shen, conducted the experiment. Their findings were published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Many animals, microorganisms and cells move by undulation, and they often do so through elastic fluids. From worms aerating wet soil to sperm racing toward an egg, swimming dynamics in elastic fluids is relevant to a number of facets of everyday life; however, decades of research in this area have been almost entirely theoretical or done with computer models. Only a few investigations involved live organisms.
"There have been qualitative observations of sperm cells, for example, where you put sperm in water and watch their tails, then put them in an elastic fluid and see how they swim differently," Arratia said. "But this difference has never been characterized, never put into numbers to quantify exactly how much elasticity affects the way they swim, is it faster or slower and why."
The main obstacle for quantitatively testing these theories with live organisms is developing an elastic fluid in which they can survive, behave normally and in which they can be effectively observed under a microscope.
Arratia and Shen experimented on the nematode C. elegans, building a swimming course for the millimeter-long worms. The researchers filmed them through a microscope while the creatures swam the course in many different liquids with different elasticity but the same viscosity.
Though the two liquid traits, elasticity and viscosity, sound like they are two sides of the same coin, they are actua
'/>"/>
| Contact: Evan Lerner elerner@upenn.edu 215-573-6604 University of Pennsylvania Source:Eurekalert |
Related biology news :
1. Wistar Institute researcher receives New Innovator award from NIH
2. NC State researchers get to root of parasite genome
3. White Mountain Research Station to host climate change conference
4. Stevens awarded $1M for advanced biofuels research
5. Researchers find animal with ability to survive climate change
6. Researchers find an essential gene for forming ears of corn
7. Researchers note differences between people and animals on calorie restriction
8. Researcher working on destruction of chemical weapons
9. Researchers study acoustic communication in deep-sea fish
10. Researchers discover that growing up too fast may mean dying young in honey bees
11. The Rett Syndrome Research Trust launches operations
| Copyright © 2003-2012 Bio-Medicine. All rights reserved. ABOUT | CONTACT US | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS |  |