This Cell Has One of Nature's Fastest Contractions

Spirostomum ambiguum is a single-celled organism known for having one of the fastest contraction speeds in nature. "Spiro" is capable of shrinking to roughly half its length in only a few milliseconds. Scientists still have lots of questions about this remarkable creature, and Mary Elting, a 2024 Whitman Fellow at the Marine Biological Laboratory, spent the summer in pursuit of answers.