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Post by Vene on Mar 30, 2009 11:43:46 GMT -5
Even at the cellular level. I had an early cell biology professor tell me that equilibrium is death. Cells struggle to keep themselves compartmentalised and maintain gradients against equilibrium. That is very, very interesting, and I think really cool. Anyone have more info/links on that?Well of course it's cool, it biology. I have something else to add to the "equilibrium is death" comment. I'm taking cellular and molecular biology this semester and we're currently covering cell communication. Apparently if a eukaryotic cell doesn't constantly receive signals to not die, it undergoes apoptosis and commits cellular suicide. I realize that it's not the same thing as maintaining gradients, but I thought it was interesting.
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Post by deliciousdemon on Mar 30, 2009 12:21:19 GMT -5
Apoptosis is really important and a lot of people are interested in it (there is a journal called if I am not mistaken) and in some cases it does have to do with maintaining gradients! In some instances the endoplasmic reticulum will release calcium en masse that causes the mitochrondria to in turn take in calcium which triggers the release of cytochrome c. Obviously it is a complicated pathway, but the article describing the research is fantastic. Mattson, P. & Can, S. (2003) Calcium orchestrates apoptosis. Nature Cell Biology, 5: 1041-1043.
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Post by Vene on Mar 30, 2009 12:24:04 GMT -5
Thanks for the article. I will read it.
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Post by Death on Mar 30, 2009 13:44:17 GMT -5
i love youse guys :kiss:
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Post by Oriet on Mar 30, 2009 22:22:21 GMT -5
Not nearly as much as I'd like to be.
*reads what was posted*
Fascinating... I'll have to read the wiki articles when my brain is more functional, but it truly is quite interesting. I know a couple of my friends will also be interested (but not as much into the technicalities as I am). I really wish I could take a course in it, as that could be a lot of fun.
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Post by deliciousdemon on Mar 31, 2009 5:43:47 GMT -5
Means a lot coming from death herself Not nearly as much as I'd like to be.
*reads what was posted*
Fascinating... I'll have to read the wiki articles when my brain is more functional, but it truly is quite interesting. I know a couple of my friends will also be interested (but not as much into the technicalities as I am). I really wish I could take a course in it, as that could be a lot of fun. Cellular biology is a rather amazing subject. The trouble I find, is that it may be covered at too early an age in ones career--so much so that all the interesting and challenging material gets glossed over. I remember how amazed I was when I learned how dynamic cells are. Most think they are just bags of water or that mitochondria are little sausage shaped bags of water within the cell. This is not the case at all! Mitochondria are moving changing networks and the cell itself is a mosaic of environments where cellular machinery cloisters different molecules together and causes physically unlikely actions to occur like its going out of style!
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Post by Vene on Mar 31, 2009 12:16:56 GMT -5
Not nearly as much as I'd like to be.
*reads what was posted*
Fascinating... I'll have to read the wiki articles when my brain is more functional, but it truly is quite interesting. I know a couple of my friends will also be interested (but not as much into the technicalities as I am). I really wish I could take a course in it, as that could be a lot of fun. I like it, this is rapidly becoming my Bible. Seriously, that's what we call it.
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Post by szaleniec on Apr 1, 2009 6:33:39 GMT -5
Cellular biology is a rather amazing subject. The trouble I find, is that it may be covered at too early an age in ones career--so much so that all the interesting and challenging material gets glossed over. I remember how amazed I was when I learned how dynamic cells are. Most think they are just bags of water or that mitochondria are little sausage shaped bags of water within the cell. This is not the case at all! Mitochondria are moving changing networks and the cell itself is a mosaic of environments where cellular machinery cloisters different molecules together and causes physically unlikely actions to occur like its going out of style! It's not a case of it being covered too early as much as it being covered badly when it is. GCSE science is a joke about which the less said the better. I don't know what A-level biology is like because I didn't take it, but I hope it's more like A-level chemistry (a passable though not what I'd call excellent introduction to the subject) than A-level physics (you're better off getting some books from the library and teaching yourself)* in terms of the quality of the curriculum. * My experiences are as of 2002 and might be out of date.
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Post by deliciousdemon on Apr 1, 2009 6:56:06 GMT -5
Cellular biology is a rather amazing subject. The trouble I find, is that it may be covered at too early an age in ones career--so much so that all the interesting and challenging material gets glossed over. I remember how amazed I was when I learned how dynamic cells are. Most think they are just bags of water or that mitochondria are little sausage shaped bags of water within the cell. This is not the case at all! Mitochondria are moving changing networks and the cell itself is a mosaic of environments where cellular machinery cloisters different molecules together and causes physically unlikely actions to occur like its going out of style! It's not a case of it being covered too early as much as it being covered badly when it is. GCSE science is a joke about which the less said the better. I don't know what A-level biology is like because I didn't take it, but I hope it's more like A-level chemistry (a passable though not what I'd call excellent introduction to the subject) than A-level physics (you're better off getting some books from the library and teaching yourself)* in terms of the quality of the curriculum. * My experiences are as of 2002 and might be out of date. I was speaking about university level course material. I don't know of any secondary school that has a Cellular and Molecular Biology class.
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Post by szaleniec on Apr 1, 2009 7:10:48 GMT -5
It gets touched on, very briefly. I thought you were referring to it as the origin of the "cells are just bags of water" idea, which you'd be forgiven for thinking if all you had to go on was GCSE science. Didn't know undergrad courses could be just as bad.
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Post by Death on Apr 1, 2009 7:36:56 GMT -5
OK, a karma point for vene's cutest avatar in the whole world
soooo cute
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Post by deliciousdemon on Apr 1, 2009 13:04:24 GMT -5
It gets touched on, very briefly. I thought you were referring to it as the origin of the "cells are just bags of water" idea, which you'd be forgiven for thinking if all you had to go on was GCSE science. Didn't know undergrad courses could be just as bad. I should be more clear, in my first cell class within the first hour my perception of cells as little water bags was shattered. It was more advanced classes when I started to learn more about the cellular machinery (cytoskeletal elements et cetera) and enzyme activity. So it is more like two paradigm shifts, at least in my experience.
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