Size matters, sometimes

Sometimes size does matter

10.1083/jcb/1722iti3jcb1722iti3Sometimes size does matter D uring myofi broblast differentiation in vitro, “supermature” focal adhesions (FAs) arise due to increased physical stress, report Goffi n et al. (page 259). Additionally, increased tension induces accumulation of αsmooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in stress fi bers that are anchored at these FAs. In vivo, the extracellu...

Size matters

Charles Darwin when developing his theory of evolution. And a new study of work on the islands' marine iguanas may help throw some more light on the evolution of body size within these populations. Body size is one of the most important traits of organisms and allows predictions of an individual's morphology, physiology, behaviour and life history. However, explaining the evolution of such comp...

Rich Offender, Poor Offender: Why It (Sometimes) Matters in Sentencing

Matters of Size

Size does matter. At least that’s what the tagline of the movie Godzilla claims (one of the many renditions of the franchise). A quick glance at the great beasts of our past—dinosaurs, marine animals, snakes, why even disturbingly massive dragonflies, scorpions and camels—would make it appear as if increased body size conferred some sort of advantage then. Yet biologists concur that overall, th...

(Genome) size matters.

The quotation above has led to the commonly held view that all bacteria will eventually become resistant to any antibiotic given enough time and exposure. However not all bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics at the same rate (and perhaps some species of bacteria may never develop resistance to certain antibiotics). And some bacteria that have been labeled “resistant” are not, in any clini...