PDB101: Molecule of the Month: Flagellar Motor
PDB101: Molecule of the Month: Flagellar Motor
Bidirectional motors power the swimming of many bacterial cells.
Posting this as I find it astonishing how nature invented electrical motors with gearshift way before humans did.
Destin also made a nice video about the same topic. These thighs are pretty amazing.
I am really sad that Destin basically went mostly with the ID-perspective and I blame him being a devout Christian. Don't get me wrong, the video is well crafted, but he presented ID talking points as if it was a viable alternative to evolution.
Yeah, that Christian stuff can get in the way at times.
I wrote my PhD thesis about bacterial flagella. Not about the motor though (which is incredible), but about the long part of the flagella that is extracellular. It is able to change its shape as the bacteria moves. The mechanism by which this happens is at the same time quite simple, but just about impossible to explain via text. Really, really neat bit of evolution that has proven to be home to incredibly rich physics that is still being studied to this day.
facinating.
Someone has been crocheting some really trippy designs.