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REDUCTIONISM HAS LIMITS. "But if you look at molecular biology as breaking Humpty Dumpty into as many pieces as possible, then systems biology is about trying to put him back together again. And that's actually a great deal more difficult. It's about recognising that every physical component is part of a system and that everything interacts with everything else." (Professor Nobel). https://lnkd.in/eZTtZJ3 View in LinkedIn

VASTNESS FROM SMALLNESS. "The algae represent major producers of calcium carbonate and silica among the world’s biota. Calcification involves the precipitation of CaCO3 from Ca and CO ions. Algal calcification may account for up to half of global oceanic CaCO3 production. Silicification is less widespread among algal groups, which transform dissolved silicate to skeletal material. Diatoms play a key role in marine silica cycling." High carbon sink. https://lnkd.in/eXTtntg View in LinkedIn

SHELLS TO EXPLOSIVES. "Alfred Nobel implemented one of the earliest commercial applications of diatomite with his discovery that highly explosive nitroglycerine could be stabilized by absorption into diatomite, thereby producing dynamite." High surface area within the biocrystals. https://lnkd.in/eXTtntg View in LinkedIn

DIATOMITE. "It is estimated that over 30 million km2 of ocean floor are covered with sedimentary deposits of diatom shells. Diatomite is a low-density and highly porous opaline silica sedimentary rock formed by the compaction of diatom frustule deposits between 50 and 80 million years ago in both marine and freshwater locations." 30 m km2 and who knows how deep. Remarkable material from a microscopic algal biocrystalline shell. I use it regularly as a natural pesticide. https://lnkd.in/eXTtntg View in LinkedIn

COCCOLITHS. "There are two main types of coccoliths, with quite different modes of biomineralisation. Heterococcoliths are formed of a radial array of complex calcite (CaCO3) crystals and are produced inside the cell. By contrast holococcoliths are formed of numerous minute euhedral crystallites arranged in continuous arrays and calcify outside the cell." (Beautiful images). https://lnkd.in/euKdfr8 View in LinkedIn

BIOLOGICAL CRYSTALS. "The calcite crystals, as coccolith plates, lie in specific locations and are oriented with respect to the crystallographic axes of calcite; whereas the mollusk shell crystallites are aragonite, which in standard laboratory conditions is a less stable form of calcium carbonate than is calcite. The calcite crystals from the human inner ear exhibit a spindle-like shape that is quite different from that of synthetic calcite." https://lnkd.in/eVX4ANS View in LinkedIn

ALGAE SPACE SHIPS. "Unicellular phytoplanktonic algae make elaborate and beautiful calcite plates called heterococcoliths, which constitute the largest carbonate sink in oceanic biogeochemical cycles and are major sediment formers. E. Huxleyi is one of these that assembles the calcite plates from complex photo-crystals in a highly complex manner, to construct a plate that resembles our images of space ships." https://lnkd.in/e7TYvqy View in LinkedIn

MORPHOLOGICAL TEMPLATES. "The placolith morphology allows the coccoliths to interlock closely on the coccosphere, forming a robust structure. This morphology has evolved repeatedly, but many other coccolith morphologies also occur." (Stunning SEM images). https://lnkd.in/eUUB9pU View in LinkedIn

COCCOLITH video that is a must watch. A major player in planetary cycles, this ancient creature is complex and sophisticated. https://lnkd.in/eftV7Ci View in LinkedIn

NEO-LAMARCKISM. "The neodarwinistic paradigm of chance mutations and selection is refuted nowadays through research results which identify a higher order regulation code in the non-protein coding regions of genome architecture. This higher order regulation code is subject/object to environmental influences which become hereditable, with the effect that a different use of protein coding core components leads to different genetic organization." https://lnkd.in/eDswHmC View in LinkedIn