Scientists find world's tiniest motor in a cell
Jeff Allbright (jeffa@smartlink.net)
Wed, 19 Mar 1997 20:46:23 -0800
*** Scientists find world's tiniest motor in a cell
Japanese scientists announced Wednesday that by delving inside a cell
membrane they had found the world's tiniest natural motor. They said the
protein molecule F1-ATPase rotated with incredible force. Masasuke Yoshida
and colleagues at the Tokyo Institute of Technology reported the findings
in the science journal Nature. The central rotor is just one nanometer
across, turning in a "barrel" 10 nanometers across.
Yoshida's team used a fluorescent filament, which they attached to the
protein, to watch the motion. For the full text story, see
http://www.merc.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2011113-df7