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COMMUNICATION TUBE ALIGNMENT. “Attractants such as food increase the local oscillation frequency and initiate contraction waves propagating outwards. Tubes within the network that lie parallel to the direction of propagation are reinforced, as cytoplasm moves towards them, while perpendicular tubes decay. The reinforced tubes become thicker, the tubes that link the network via the shortest path accommodate the highest flow per unit time and the network length becomes optimised by positive feedback.” https://academic.oup.com/femsre/article/40/6/798/2400841 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

LESSER SOMATIC SELECTION. "Somatic stem cell maintenance mechanisms are likely geared to maximize the probability of reaching reproductive age. Selection, as observed in the germline, would in somatic stem cells lead to rapid attrition and therefore to insufficient tissue maintenance and replacement to be compatible with life up to reproductive age." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S193459091500209X View in LinkedIn

THE HAND AT THE WHEEL. "Use of glycolysis for ATP production in somatic stem cells as opposed to mitochondrial respiration in the germline suggests that mitochondria play a critical role in stem cell maintenance and gamete selection." The mitochondrion was of bacterial origin. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S193459091500209X View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this second weekend contemplating the marvelous slime mold. They are examples of how our simplistic thinking has led us to false conclusions. For a very long time, biology has failed to deliver a view of the world that is realistic. Infused with nonsense about human self-importance, we have been in a delusional bubble and dismissed great swaths of the living world as primitive and non-sensate. Very slowly, we are realizing the error of our ways, and the world becomes a richer place as a result. View in LinkedIn

PROGRAMMING SLIME MOLDS. “We show how to program living slime mold machines by configurations of repelling and attracting gradients and demonstrate the workability of the living machines on tasks of computational geometry, logic, and arithmetic.” http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/ARTL_a_00110 View in LinkedIn