By Tom Abate Video shows shocked cells expanding rapidly to a size roughly equivalent to cells growing at full speed in normal solutions. For a century biologists have thought they understood how the gooey growth that occurs inside cells causes their protective outer walls to expand. Now, Stanford researchers have captured the visual evidence to prove the prevailing wisdom wrong. The finding may lead to new strategies for fighting bacterial diseases. "What we observed was not what we had expected," said K.C. Huang, an assistant professor of bioengineering and of microbiology and immunology and the senior author of the findings, which were published online May 12 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research paper, which describes a process known as "osmotic shock," was co-authored by Julie Theriot, a professor of biochemistry and of microbiology and immunology at Stanford School of Medicine. The researchers believe their discovery about the surprising resilience of cell wall growth may help explain why seemingly fragile bacteria such as E. coli can thrive in environments as different as puddles and stomachs. Enrique Rojas, a postdoctoral scholar in bioengineering, and the lead author of the PNAS article, is now in Bangladesh trying to … Continue reading →