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PLoS Biology Issue Image | Vol. 7(9) September 2009

A virtual bead breaks out of its shell.

This 3-D snapshot of a simulation of actin-based bead motility shows a bead having just broken symmetry and about to move off on its "comet tail." The network is deposited symmetrically on the bead surface, as in an in vitro system. The simulation shows that the viscoelastic properties of the network are sufficient to explain the symmetry-breaking and motility phenomena seen in vitro.  The network is shown colored by strain (blue = low, red = high). (See Dayel et al., e1000201.)

Image Credit: Mark J. Dayel, University of California Berkeley

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A virtual bead breaks out of its shell.

This 3-D snapshot of a simulation of actin-based bead motility shows a bead having just broken symmetry and about to move off on its "comet tail." The network is deposited symmetrically on the bead surface, as in an in vitro system. The simulation shows that the viscoelastic properties of the network are sufficient to explain the symmetry-breaking and motility phenomena seen in vitro.  The network is shown colored by strain (blue = low, red = high). (See Dayel et al., e1000201.)

Image Credit: Mark J. Dayel, University of California Berkeley

https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pbio.v07.i09.g001