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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

The ‘net’ that leads to excruciating stones in the belly

Immune cell extrudes a webbing that can encourage the growth of gallstones, a common and painful malady.
Human gallstones under white light and 488 nm light, with extracellular DNA deposits appearing in red colour

Human gallstones (top row). Blue light reveals patches of DNA (in red, bottom row) that encourage stone growth. Credit: L. E. Muñoz et al./Immunity

The hard lumps called gallstones can be as large as golf balls and cause intense pain, but new insights suggest a way to stop their growth.

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Nature 572, 418 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02449-z

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