Coloured Cells Chase Each Other To Make A Fish’s Stripes

This astonishing GIF shows a microscopic chase scene: A black cell flees from the touch of a yellow cell, and the yellow cell goes after it.

On their own, the two cells go round and round. But if there are lots of them, the yellow cells end up corralling the black ones into long bands. And that, according to Hiroaki Yamanaka and Shigeru Kondo from Osaka University, is why zebrafish gets its stripes. In all of his Just-So Stories, Rudyard Kipling never imagined anything like this—an animal pattern that results from hundreds of cellular pursuits, played out over the landscape of a skin.

Here’s a longer video, complete with the most appropriate music I could find.

Kondo’s work has a long

DON'T MISS THE REST OF THIS STORY!
Create a free account to continue and get unlimited access to hundreds of Nat Geo articles, plus newsletters.

Create your free account to continue reading

No credit card required. Unlimited access to free content.
Or get a Premium Subscription to access the best of Nat Geo - just $19
SUBSCRIBE

Go Further

Subscriber Exclusive Content

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet

Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars?

How viruses shape our world

The era of greyhound racing in the U.S. is coming to an end

See how people have imagined life on Mars through history

See how NASA’s new Mars rover will explore the red planet