Nature's Electrical Tape

These delicate figures might look like spidery sea-creatures, but they’re actually Schwann cells: highly specialised cells that are a vital part of the nervous system. In order to be clearly seen down a microscope, they’ve been stained with a green fluorescent dye highlighting a molecule called beta-tubulin, which acts as a kind of internal scaffolding. Just as electrical wires in your house are coated with plastic insulating tape to avoid short-circuits and shocks, the nerve cells in your body – constantly fizzing with the electrical signals that enable you to think, move and react to the world around you – also need to be protected. It’s here that the Schwann cells step in, seeking out and wrapping around nerve cells like tape around a wire. They produce large amounts of a fatty molecule known as myelin, which acts as natural electrical insulation, helping nerve impulses travel quickly and safely around the body.

Written by Kat Arney

Kat Arney

Writer

Dr Kat Arney is an award-winning science writer, broadcaster and public speaker, and is the founder and Creative Director of First Create The Media.

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• Image by Uma Anand
• Imperial College, London, UK
• Image copyright held by the photographer
• Featured entry in Imperial Innovations' 'The Art of Research' competition 2016