& # 39; Scutoid & # 39; is a new geometric shape that looks like a "twisted prism"

Image: Shutterstock / r.clbaden

There has been an exciting new development in the world of geometric shapes stuffed with action.

Researchers from the University of Seville and the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville have discovered a new form called "scutoid". And what a wonderful little discovery

Scutoid is the form taken by epithelial cells – the cells that line the inside and outside of your body, helping to define its shape – to allow tissues to bend and bend.

"Epithelial cells are the" building blocks "with which an organism is formed," said Luisma Escudero, a member of the faculty of the University of Seville, in a press release announcing this discovery. "They are like pieces of Tent or Lego from which the animals are made."

When an organism becomes a more complex being, the epithelial cells "begin to move and meet".

Image: Seville University

It was previously believed that epithelial cells were in the form of "prism" or of "truncated pyramids". But researchers at the University of Seville have discovered that their form is more complex than that. The press release notes that they could be better described as "twisted prisms."

Although it's cool and vaguely funny to talk about this news of a new form on the block, scutoid revelation might help future discoveries. As scientists better understand the formation of organs during development, they can potentially use this information to design new treatments.

Researchers at the University of Seville already have a plan for their next steps. They want to "find the molecules that cause the cells to adopt the escutoid form." So, in the medium term, we can begin to try to apply this knowledge to the creation of artificial tissues and organs in the laboratory, a challenge for biology and biomedicine. "

Note that this comprehensive study just appeared last week in the journal Nature Communications which you can read here