For a one - cadre organism with no nervous system , Lacrymaria oloris a passably impressive predator . exsert a long , wiggling neck from its Pyrus communis - shaped body , L. olorhunts down quarry to chomp on in the pond where it live . Just how it manages this stay a flake of a mystery , but a span of dictated scientists have now complete a seven - yr subject area proving it ’s down to the first note case of cellular “ origami ” .

From the first viewing , associate prof of engineering Manu Prakash was delight by the antics of the unmarried - celledprotistL. olor . “ There are some things in life history you’re able to watch and then never unwatch . It ’s … just … it ’s mesmerizing , ” Prakash – who first observed the creature using theFoldscopepaper microscope he helped germinate – told theStanford Report . This playfulness is central to Prakash ’s advance to inquiry , which he calls recreational biological science , or “ old - school science ” .

you may see the engrossing display for yourself in the video below . Despite havingno nervous system , and so none of the usual style of respond to its environment through complex behaviors , L. olorcan extend its swan - like neck more than 30 times its original body length in just 30 seconds .

In human term , that would be like a 1.8 - meter - tall ( 6 - foot - tall ) person extending their question more than 60 time ( 200 feet ) .

Many have keep an eye on this marvellous doings , but until Prakash and graduate student Eliott Flaum launched an in - depth investigation , it was indecipherable how it happen . “ We started with a puzzle . Ellie and I asked a very childlike inquiry : Where does this material come from ? And where does it go ? ”

Now , they have discovered the answer in a antecedently unknowngeometricmechanism .

“ This is the first example of cellular origami , " Prakash order . " We ’re thinking of calling it lacrygami . "

Specifically , L. oloris making use of curved - crinkle origami . Thin microtubules in a volute shape are enfold up inside the cubicle ’s tissue layer and encased in a delicate , curved sheet . EachL. olorcellhas 15 of these which can coil and uncoil to jut out and retract the neck – conceive of an piano accordion being pull out and in . Because the very fine tissue layer is pen up into pleat , you’re able to put in “ an infinite amount of cloth , ” aver Flaum . “ Biology has figured this out . ”

Prakash and Flaum were able to observe all this cellular machinery using transmittal negatron microscopy .

Even more incredible is the fact that oneL. olorindividualwill perform this physical process flawlessly more than 20,000 times during its life . “ L. oloris bound by its geometry to pen up and spread in this particular means , ” Flaum explained .

The period at which the shut down tissue layer begins to blossom out is known mathematically as a singularity . At this exact point , the structure is both folded and unfold at the same time . Prakash and Flaum observed that the singularity inL. olortravels the exact same path every single fourth dimension it extends and retracts its neck – all 20,000 of them – and in this room acts as a control of the chemical mechanism .

It ’s this that makesL. olorso unique , even among organisms that are closely related to it . “ This is the first time a geometrical controller of behavior has been described in a living cell , ” Prakash say .

As a bioengineer , Prakash is already considering the possible software of this discovery inbioinspiredtechnologies , include microrobots and newfangled way of building structure in space . In a summary of their paper , Prakash and Flaum conclude : “ The blueprints we have been look for to bring agency and embedded ascendence in microrobotics might be hidden in bare sight in the geometric diversity of protists . ”

The subject area is published inScience .