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NEURAL PATHWAYS. “We uncover analogies between the slime mold and neurons, and demonstrate that the slime mold can play the roles of primitive mechanoreceptors, photoreceptors, and chemoreceptors; we also show how the Physarum neural pathways develop.” http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/ARTL_a_00153 View in LinkedIn

DIFFERENTIATION. "During the early development of an organism, a certain cell type divides, and then its descendants gradually form stable differences in morphology, structure, and function, finally producing numerous different cell phenotypes. This process, differentiation, is the fundamental basis for development.” https://lnkd.in/gxtx9hi View in LinkedIn

PLANT REGENERATION (due to modular and decentralized design). "Plants can regenerate all body parts from precursor cells. Many trees, for example, can be cut off at the ground and, in due course, sprouts appear at the margins of the stump. These go on to develop new stems, leaves, and flowers. In the laboratory, entire plants can develop from a mass of undifferentiated cells growing in culture." https://lnkd.in/gqsdWf4 View in LinkedIn

THE CRUX. "If there were no regeneration, there could be no life. If everything regenerated there would be no death." (R. J. Goss, Principles of Regeneration,1969). https://lnkd.in/g4Nz9Kh View in LinkedIn

INFLAMMATORY AGING THEORY. "Aging is characterized by a state of inflammation that may set in motion or perpetuate aging in other tissues. The aging hematopoietic system may itself be a source of inflammatory mediators, produced by senescent memory lymphoid cells, which predominate in the immune system of aged individuals." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S193459091500209X View in LinkedIn

THE QUIET EXECUTIONER. "A second implication is that mitochondria may be both the driving force and one of the executioners of the aging process. Aging is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and bioenergetic failure. mtDNA is highly susceptible to mutation and deletion." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S193459091500209X View in LinkedIn

ATP INDEPENDENT. "A first implication of this idea is that through mechanisms that are as yet unclear, mitochondria may play a key role in somatic stem cell maintenance that is not dependent on ATP production. Indeed, loss of quiescence is typically associated with stem cell depletion and a shift toward OXPHOS and may be mediated at least to some extent by increased selection and attrition." (OXPHOS = oxidative phosphorylation). http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S193459091500209X View in LinkedIn

GAMETES, STEM CELLS AND SOMA. "In contrast to gametes, all somatic stem cells where metabolism has been studied rely predominantly on glycolytic ATP production, while most mature cells use mitochondrial respiration, which is more efficient." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S193459091500209X View in LinkedIn

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR. "Although sperm motility also requires ATP generated from glycolysis, a sperm’s success at fertilizing the oocyte is profoundly affected by mitochondrial dysfunction. In fact, mitochondrial dysfunction and mtDNA mutations, even those that have no discernible consequences in females, are strongly associated with male infertility." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S193459091500209X View in LinkedIn

MITOCHONDRIAL CROSSROADS. "Mechanisms underlying maintenance and accumulation of damaged somatic stem cells should act in diametrically opposite directions in gametes, where they mediate selection of the fittest to effect reproduction. The differential reliance of somatic stem cells and gametes on mitochondrial respiration for ATP production may be at least one such mechanism." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S193459091500209X View in LinkedIn