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MOLECULAR OUTSOURCING. "The eventual outsourcing of metabolic functions (including the replication of nucleic acids) to more competent protein enzymes would complete the journey from an abiotic world to the molecular biology we see today." http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ar200325v View in LinkedIn

THE PUBLICATION. "Memory transfer through cannibalism in planarians." JV McConnell, 1962. The publication that provoked avalanche of interest in the subject. Eating the professor enhanced learning. https://lnkd.in/d2sqt4F View in LinkedIn

THE BOMBSHELL. "Nearly 55 years ago it was demonstrated that planarians could be trained to learn a task, and following amputation of the head, the animals regenerating from the original tail sections remembered the original training." (JV McConnell). http://jeb.biologists.org/content/216/20/3799 View in LinkedIn

METAMORPHOSIS BRAINS. "Studies have identified several insect organisms in which memories survive the drastic reorganization of metamorphosis." This defies thinking about. http://jeb.biologists.org/content/216/20/3799 View in LinkedIn

British power generation achieves first ever coal-free day https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/21/britain-set-for-first-coal-free-day-since-the-industrial-revolution?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other View in LinkedIn

NEW HEAD REGENERATION. "Adult stem cell populations (neoblasts) underlie their remarkable regenerative abilities, and whole worms can regenerate from only a small proportion of the adult worm: a cut off (or damaged) head is rebuilt perfectly within few days." http://jeb.biologists.org/content/216/20/3799 View in LinkedIn

"SELF-REPLICATION occurs when an informational molecule (such as a nucleic acid) directs the spontaneous synthesis of a replica of itself." http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-642-11274-4_1423 View in LinkedIn

TOWARDS ABIOTIC LIFE. "Scientists in the UK and Malaysia have created a self-assembling rotaxane that can replicate itself. The result may lead to the development of autonomous chemical systems that mimic cellular processes." https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/rotaxane-raises-the-bar-for-self-replicating-chemical-systems/9161.article View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS part I on the bombshell publication that suggested that memory could be eaten. This continues next weekend. Quite how the information contained in a memory gets codified into any molecule has been a confounding topic for decades, in part because memories tend to be extremely specific, and in part because they are so plentiful. View in LinkedIn

SPECIATION. "How new species emerge in nature is still incompletely understood and difficult to study directly. Self-replicating molecules provide a simple model that allows us to capture the fundamental processes that occur in species formation." https://lnkd.in/dfhRgv9 View in LinkedIn