This is how a coral produces the pulsating movements of its tentacles – without a brain and in perfect synchronization
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 15-Jun-2026 07:16 ET (15-Jun-2026 11:16 GMT/UTC)
A joint study by Tel Aviv University and the University of Haifa set out to solve a scientific mystery: how a soft coral is able to perform the rhythmic, pulsating movements of its tentacles without a central nervous system. The study’s findings are striking, and may even change the way we understand movement in the animal kingdom in general, and in the corals studied in particular.
Researchers used Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold2 and ProteinMPNN to speed development of antibody-based probes that can be used to see key functions and chemical changes inside living cells as they happen. This AI-driven method is significantly faster than previous manual testing and development approaches, allowing the CSU team to rapidly create and test 19 new potential probes. The work enables continuous imaging of living cells, which may help researchers better understand errors in genetic expression that can lead to cancer and other disorders.
Key Study Highlights:
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Reinforces Insilico’s broader AI-guided discovery approach for uncovering shared mechanisms across disease and aging
A new machine-learning-based approach to mapping real-time tumor metabolism in brain cancer patients, developed at the University of Michigan, could help doctors discover which treatment strategies are most likely to be effective against individual cases of glioma. The team verified the accuracy of the model by comparing it against human patient data and running mouse experiments.