To move wings at full speed, flexible miosina

2005/01/24 Rementeria Argote, Nagore - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Biokimika

It is surprising how quickly the insects shake their wings, isn't it? Well, this phenomenon has fascinated researchers at the Illinois Institute of Technology in the United States, who wanted to know and get how wings move so fast. It has been proven that the response is in the myosine and actin proteins, especially in myosine.

The contact of these proteins, already known, causes contraction and relaxation of the lateral muscle. The question is that such a rapid movement cannot be controlled by nerve impulses. And they have discovered that miosina, like the docks, stores elastic energy in each contraction, releasing it in the next wing blow.

The discovery is very important, but the technique used is also not a joke, since they have followed the activity of the miosina with instant photographs, synchronizing the X-rays with the movement of the wings.

Photo: Michael Dickinson.