Squid Ring

Waggling around on the inside of our lungs, cilia are tiny hairs that wave harmful bacteria away. Yet similar cilia in the Euprymna scolopes squid hint that there’s more going on. Here a microscope captures part of the squid’s light organ (the ring-shape in blue), while cilia on the outside affect the motion of nearby fluorescently-coloured particles (shown in green and red, overlapping in pink). Fast-moving particles appear blurred (right) compared to slower moving particles in the gentle currents on the left. At home in the sea, squid may use changes in cilia movement to create calm, sheltered zones where 'friendly' or symbiotic, Vibrio fischeri bacteria find an easy path into the organism. The mechanics of these tiny hairs are similar between squid and human, raising a question – do to our own cilia wave certain particles in, as well as flapping unwanted ones away?

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image from work by Janna C. Nawroth and Hanliang Guo, and colleagues
• Pacific Biosciences Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI and Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
• Image copyright held by original authors; image reproduction permitted by PNAS
• Published in PNAS, September 2017