Published in Physics World, 5 Nov 2009
Physicists in France and the US claim to have discovered why red blood cells adopt asymmetrical “slipper” shapes in small blood vessels. If correct, the knowledge could be used to diagnose certain diseases that affect cell structure, although not everyone agrees with the researchers’ conclusions.
Red blood cells moving through large blood vessels normally adopt symmetrical parachute shapes. But for 40 years scientists have known that, in smaller blood vessels, the cells often lose their symmetry and take on a shape something like a lopsided slipper. Until now, no one has seemed to know the reason why. […]
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