Defining sentient cells (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, October 25, 2014, 15:36 (3682 days ago)

The word sentient has caused confusion in our discussions. Cells do sense things, usually by chemical signals but as shown here, it can also be a sense of force:--"The mechanism of sensing ligand spacing and adhering to a substrate appears to be force-mediated, he says. "The integrin receptors need to be closely spaced in order for the engine in the cell that generates force to engage with them and commit the force."
 
"Now the researchers are using the DNA-based tools they've developed to study the forces of more sensitive cellular pathways and receptors.
 
"Integrin receptors are kind of beasts, they apply relatively high forces in order to adhere to the extracellular matrix," Salaita says. "There are lots of different cell receptors that apply much weaker forces.""-
 Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-10-molecular-beacons-cells.html#jCp-Think they (the cells) can plan a strategy for a rugby or football play?