Enzymes and bacteria move directionally, but bacteria towards food, enzymes away

Although putting together the words “random” and “biased” can seem like a clash, these are the attributes that describe how bacteria navigate and fetch their food. They follow a random path, but biased toward the direction of the nutrients’ source. Scientists at the Center for Soft and Living Matter, within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS, South Korea), observed that enzymes, the molecules that help biological reactions to happen more quickly, move with a similar pattern, but in the opposite route—randomly traveling towards the area with fewer substrates. These results, obtained with new optical technologies and published as an inaugural article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), are particularly intriguing as they comprise a departure from the traditional view.