A flagellate morphing it’s shape – Distigma proteus

Mar 07, 2019 • 1:15 AM UTC

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Microorganisms

Manu Prakash

I am a faculty at Stanford and run the Prakash Lab at Department of Bioengineering at Stanford University. Foldscope community is at the heart of our Frugal Science movement - and I can not tell you how proud I am of this community and grassroots movement. Find our work here: http://prakashlab.stanford.edu

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What an incredible flagellate did I stumble upon Today, while wandering through my favorite hiding spot; a swamp.

I believe this is Distigma proteus – what’s remarkable is the body shape change which was continuous. If you watch is carefully; a remarkable transformation is happening. I am trying to isolate as many of them and see if they grow – but each observation was a beautiful insight in itself.
Thanks to the Caltech community for visiting. Really hoping we can build a transformative set of materials for undergraduate students around the world. More on the latest news of Bio001 course at Caltech coming soon.
Thanks for Kai and Pamela at Caltech for supporting this collaboration and teaching the Caltech course.