Pulling Back to Move Forward

Pulling Back to Move Forward

Animal cells can change shape and move by using actin polymerization to drive plasma membrane protrusion. Giannone and coworkers (this issue of Cell) describe how cells periodically pull back on these protrusions in order to sense and respond to the rigidity of their environment.

Skin Microbiome: Looking Back to Move Forward

Trillions of bacteria, fungi, viruses, archaea, and small arthropods colonize the skin surface, collectively comprising the skin microbiome. Generations of researchers have classified these microbes as transient versus resident, beneficial versus pathogenic, and collaborators versus adversaries. Culturing and direct sequencing of microbial inhabitants identified distinct populations present at ...

Looking back as we move forward.

Stepping back to move forward: Expressive writing promotes self-distancing.

Prior research indicates that expressive writing enhances well-being by leading people to construct meaningful narratives that explain distressing life experiences. But how does expressive writing facilitate meaning-making? We addressed this issue in 2 longitudinal studies by examining whether and how expressive writing promotes self-distancing, a process that facilitates meaning-making. At bas...

Two decades of sunfleck research: looking back to move forward.

The study of how plants make use of sunflecks, relatively short duration but high-intensity patches of light in the understory and shaded tree canopy, has been of interest for decades. The potential ecological significance of sunflecks was recognized early in the 20th century (Allee 1926, Evans 1956), and the first few studies attempting to quantify the contribution of sunflecks to carbon gain ...