Artificial cytoskeleton mimics earthquakes for cell movement

Artificial cell structures mimic earthquake-like events, suggesting a new understanding of how cells move and reshape themselves. Researchers created an artificial cytoskeleton that exhibits sudden energy releases, similar to earthquakes, when it has a specific branched structure. This supports the theory of self-organized criticality. This finding could explain how cells rapidly dismantle and rebuild their internal scaffolding to facilitate movement, a concept previously debated due to a lack of experimental evidence.