linkedin post 2021-01-23 05:24:13
THE THESIS. “Cellular functions, such as signal transmission, are carried out by ‘modules’ made up of many species of interacting molecules.” https://www.nature.com/articles/35011540 View in LinkedIn
linkedin post 2021-01-23 05:22:04
FRAGMENT FROM NATURE for this and next weekend features an interesting article entitled, ‘From molecular to modular cell biology’, by Leland H. Hartwell, John J. Hopfield, Stanislas Leibler & Andrew W. Murray. It is well known that some lateral genetic transfer and engulfment events or the endosymbiosis theory of Lynn Margulis led to whole cassettes of foreign genes being imported into cells. And it is well known that modularity is very important in living systems as an efficient building strategy. Enjoy this string on metabolic modularity. https://www.nature.com/articles/35011540 View in LinkedIn
linkedin post 2021-01-22 05:21:38
A California marshscape by the renowned plene air painter Brian Blood that I am lucky enough to own. View in LinkedIn
linkedin post 2021-01-22 05:19:46
QUANTUM UNIVERSE. “The quantum state of the universe may be described by a wave function which is a functional of the metric and matter fields of a hypersurface which divides the spacetime into two parts.” The Density Matrix of the Universe, S. H. Hawking. https://lnkd.in/dBT4i_m View in LinkedIn
linkedin post 2021-01-23 05:39:37
LANGUAGE AND REALITY. “Russell and Wittgenstein believed that the structure of language mirrors the structure of the external universe independently of mind.”Charles Pinter, Mind and the Cosmic Order, How the Mind Creates the Features & Structure of All Things, and Why this Insight Transforms Physics (an outstanding book). https://lnkd.in/dzVBa7X Charles Pinter, Mind and the Cosmic Order, How the Mind Creates the Features & Structure of All Things, and Why this Insight Transforms Physics View in LinkedIn
linkedin post 2021-01-23 05:36:50
STABILITY WITH FLEXIBILITY. “Modular structures may facilitate evolutionary change. Embedding particular functions in discrete modules allows the core function of a module to be robust to change, but allows for changes in the properties and functions of a cell (its phenotype) by altering the connections between different modules.” https://www.nature.com/articles/35011540 View in LinkedIn
linkedin post 2021-01-23 05:36:10
MASTER MODULE ISSUE. “Does cellular integration merely emerge from a web of pairwise connections between different sensory modules, or are there specific modules that act as a cellular equivalent of the central nervous system — integrating information and resolving conflicts?” https://www.nature.com/articles/35011540 View in LinkedIn
linkedin post 2021-01-23 05:35:11
THE MANY INPUTS PROBLEM. “One must also ask how a cell integrates information and instructions that come from the many different modules that monitor its internal and external environment. Neurobiology has an analogous problem, where the central nervous system integrates information from different senses and dictates the organism's behaviour.” https://www.nature.com/articles/35011540 View in LinkedIn
linkedin post 2021-01-23 05:34:34
MODULAR HIERARCHIES. “The function of a module can be quantitatively regulated, or switched between qualitatively different functions, by chemical signals from other modules. Higher-level functions can be built by connecting modules together.” https://www.nature.com/articles/35011540 View in LinkedIn
linkedin post 2021-01-23 05:33:04
VALIDITY OF MODULES. “Some modules, such as those for protein synthesis, DNA replication, glycolysis, and even parts of the mitotic spindle (the cellular machinery that ensures the correct distribution of chromosomes at cell division), have been successfully reconstituted in vitro. Others are intrinsically more difficult to reconstruct from purified components and, for these, other methods have established the validity of the module.” https://www.nature.com/articles/35011540 View in LinkedIn