New discoveries in the human cell

[Laird]

Biologists Uncover Previously Unknown Structure Hiding Inside Human Cells

By Natalia Mesa for GIZMODO on June 30, 2025.

“You can think of vesicles like little delivery trucks inside the cell,” Ebrahim said in a statement. “The hemifusome is like a loading dock where they connect and transfer cargo. It’s a step in the process we didn’t know existed.”

Despite their fleeting nature, hemifusomes are not rare. They appear to be surprisingly common in certain parts of cells, particularly near the cell membrane.

Still, scientists aren’t exactly sure how or why hemifusomes form and then disappear. They’re hoping to find that out—as well as understand what happens when hemifusomes fail to function properly.