This is a cellular slime mould from the Acrasiomycota phylum (or family). This organism has been intensly studied, not because of it's medical refernce, but because of it's ability to switch particular parts of it's behaviour according to it's circumstances.
The two main exaples of this are it's ability to switch between sexual and asexual reproduction, and also it's ability to agregate single cells into a slug like colony which can migrate as a single entity. Both of these proerties are connected to the availability of food and go to create a very interesting life cycle.
Click below to see a short animation on this organisms life cycle. Shockwave or QuicktimeReturn to:
An historical look at
muscle contraction