"Who would have thought that a mitochondrial protein could also live at the cell surface and be responsible for helping airway cilia beat and move?”

—Doug Robinson, professor of cell biology, pharmacology and molecular sciences, describing new research (begun in amoebas) that has helped scientists find a potential way to help sweep out mucus from the lungs of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The scientists, who reported their findings in Journal of Cell Science, identified a family of genes known as adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT) as a focus for intervention. Learn more.