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Cells reach out and touch each other with tunneling nanotubes

Like teenagers, cells require constant communication with their peers. Today’s teens chatter endlessly over wireless networks. Cells, on the other hand, seem a bit more old-fashioned. A clandestine web of high-speed wires physically links cells like a biological Internet, scientists have discovered.

LIVE WIRES | Glowing infectious proteins called prions move through a network of mouse brain cells linked by tunneling nanotubes.