Biological complexity: phase separation (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, November 09, 2022, 21:37 (745 days ago) @ dhw

QUOTE: How do the right proteins organize themselves in a sea of fluid swarming with millions of molecules? Do they bump into each other by chance, or does the cell actively organize its fluid space to bring the correct partners together?
[…]
DAVID: Of course, a science article cannot allow God to put His toe in. Those molecules somehow know exactly what to do in the soup.

dhw: Yes, they do. And I don’t know why a theist shouldn’t accept the possibility that his all-powerful God, who has endowed humans with the intelligence to organize their own forms of cooperation etc., might endow micro-organisms with the intelligence to organize THEIR forms of cooperation.

Evidence of intelligent actions takes us to their DNA and related factors, all of which
I think was coded by God.

dhw: Two tiny tales for you:

One day, Pete Opossum spied a dead opossum in the distance. A predator approached the dead body, took one look, said “Yuk!” and walked away. The next day, Pete saw a predator before it saw him. There was no escape route. It meant certain death, unless...maybe you can guess the rest.

One day God, who has the whole world (even universe) to watch over, spotted Pete Opossum and a predator in the wilds of North America. As for some unknown reason Pete’s individual survival was crucial to God’s plan for all humans and their ecosystems, he whispered in fluent Opossumese: “Lie down, Pete, and pretend you’re dead.” And Pete did lie down, and thus he was saved.

I wonder which of these tales tickles your fancy.

You are a great author!

Quorum sensing: how it works in bacteria and viruses

DAVID: As usual you elevate bacteria, viruses and single cells to the human thought level.

dhw: A silly exaggeration. Do you really think I’m arguing that bacteria, viruses and cells philosophize, design rockets to the moon, write novels and symphonies, and conduct forums discussing the existence of God and of cellular intelligence?

DAVID: Thank you for finally recognizing the difference. They signal with molecules they are built to sense.

dhw: “Finally”? When have I ever claimed that bacteria etc. were as intelligent as humans??? Back to the subject: bacteria signal, and they respond to signals, using the communication mechanisms at their disposal, just as we do. The question is how they decide on the correct interpretation of signals they receive, and how they decide on what messages to send. You only want to focus on the signalling and gloss over the whole process of decision-making.

All of the responses are controlled by fully coded signals.