projectilevomitingrainbows:

Introducing my favourite protein: Kinesin! It’s so cute and I really want it as a plushie.

Kinesin is the little orange-y thing that looks like two big feet, walking over a microtubule. The big blue ball it carries is a vesicle full of large molecules that were produced in the center of the cell. Kinesin is a motor protein that carries this vesicle to where the molecules are needed in the cell, e.g. at the membrane. Kinesin’s partner in crime is Dynein that walks the microtubules towards the center of the cell. Especially Kinesin is thought to play an important role in mitosis, meiosis, axonal transport and more.

This gif was made from the brilliant animation made by BioVisions for Harvard University. ‘The Inner Life of the Cell’ is amazing and I think everybody should have seen it at least once in their life to get a better idea how much of a miracle life really is.