NUS researchers uncover how fish get their shape
Monday, December 23, 2019 - 05:00
in Biology & Nature
A team of researchers from the Mechanobiology Institute at the National University of Singapore investigated the science behind the formation of the 'V' patterns - also known as chevron patterns - in the swimming muscles of fish. The study focused on the myotome (a group of muscles served by a spinal nerve root) that makes up most of the fish body. These fish muscles power the fish's side-to-side swimming motion and the chevron pattern is thought to increase swimming efficiency. The research team found that these patterns do not simply arise from genetic instruction or biochemical pathways but actually require physical forces to correctly develop.