The cell as a processor 2

 

[Visual thinking - something to look at and think about.]
[See also: The cell as a processor 1]

The cell as a processor 1

 

[Visual thinking - something to look at and think about.]
[See also: The cell as a processor 2]

Comment

I have tagged a few posts with the label 'Comment'. I have not said what I consider a comment to be in the context of this blog. Here, I shall set that right.

A 'Comment' is something I happen to have thought. I do not claim any rigorous academic basis for these comments. Thus, a post labelled 'Comment' can be almost anything. It may be an opinion, idea, thought, musing etc. It may come from left (or right) field. It is simply something 'put out there'. It is for the reader's consideration. It is something to think about. Accordingly, it is something the reader may choose to ignore.

Life bearing upon life

Now in retirement, much of how I look at the world is informed by insights and experiences gained over nearly 70 years of life. This leads me to wonder what insights and experiences might be available were human life span two or three times what it is now.

At the equivalent phase in such a life, I would be looking back with what had been gained from having lived nearly 200 years - not a mere 70! I could be looking at things today, remembering lessons learnt from a period beginning in the early Victorian era. It is not enough to know things through history books. What insights might I have now, had I had intimate experience of that time and those periods since?

Our lives last, on average, two or three times longer than our forebears a millennium or two ago. With much shorter lives, they must have had much less personal experience upon which to draw. (Presumably, they were able to draw upon other resources.)

It is our biology that gives us lives of a certain longevity. Subsequently, that longevity influences how much is available as we negotiate that very life.

Plaster of Paris meal

Somewhere in Britain, during the Second World War, a hospital X-ray department constructed a makeshift darkroom for processing its films. In those days, X-ray images were made on film, not digitally. These images required 'development'. That was achieved by passing an exposed film through a series of chemical baths. X-ray film was also sensitive to light which ruins the image by 'fogging'. Apart from a very dim red light to which the film was insensitive, darkrooms had to be light-proof. Unfortunately, the walls of the new darkroom had cracks in them. These were letting in light and fogging the films.

Somebody suggested filling the gaps with a mixture of Plaster of Paris and barium sulphate. A slurry of this mixture could be applied to the walls, allowed to dry and the gaps sealed. Furthermore, in those days, both Plaster of Paris and barium sulphate were readily available in hospitals. No extra expense was necessary.

Plaster of Paris was used for the plaster casts that supported broken bones. There was plenty of this available in the fracture clinic. Barium sulphate was used as a contrast agent for barium meals and enemas. The X-ray department already had plenty of that in store. The mixture was made but left unattended. Before it could be used, somebody mistook it for a standard barium meal mixture. Outwardly, nothing indicated the inclusion of Plaster of Paris. Typically, batches of barium meal mixture would be made up before use. This appeared to be part of such a batch.

Thus, it was given to a patient who duly drank it. By the time the mistake was realised, nothing could be done. Now inside the patient’s gut, the fear was that the Plaster of Paris would set and cause a blockage. This could prove fatal. At best, the removal of a section of the patient's intestine might be necessary. Even today this is radical surgery. In the 1940s, it was particularly hazardous.

Initially, the patient experienced no ill effects. All that could be done, was wait. Over several days, the patient’s abdomen was X-rayed to check on progress. Surprisingly, the Plaster of Paris did not set as feared - at least not into one single, gut-blocking mass. The mixture dissipated and passed through without harm. In this, the strength of the gut’s peristaltic action seems to have played an important role. It fragmented the swallowed bolus into small, transportable pieces that passed out naturally.

Everybody was relieved. Whether this included the patient is a moot point. The patient may have been left quite unaware of the mistake. In those days, patients were told much less about their conditions than they are today. That raises an interesting ethical question. If this happened today, should the patient be informed immediately of the mistake? That might cause undue distress and worry (and a lawsuit). Or, should we wait and, if no harm is done, simply let the matter rest?

I'll leave this up to the reader to decide. 

Metabiology

I first encountered the word ‘metabiology’ in J.O. Wisdom’s review* of J.H. Woodger’s book ‘Biology and Language: An Introduction to the Methodology of the Biological Sciences including Medicine’ (Cambridge University Press, 1952).

It was as a result of an online search. The story of how metaphysics got its name is well known. As organised by his editor, Andronicus of Rhodes, Aristotle’s treatises on (what we now call) metaphysics were placed after those on physics. The prefix, ‘meta’ means ‘beyond,’ ‘after,’ ‘along with,’ or ‘beside.’

I wondered whether the prefix ‘meta’ had been used with ‘biology’; I wondered too what those topics ‘beyond,’ ‘after,’ ‘along with,’ or ‘beside’ might be.

I have found that ‘metabiology’ is a term used to describe an interdisciplinary field that combines biology with concepts from other scientific disciplines. These include computer science, physics, and mathematics in studying complex biological systems. Here, the focus is on the fundamental principles that underpin biological processes. As such, its focus ranges from the molecular level to ecosystems.

That approach opens up a range of new questions. These are practical questions. They are in keeping with the current biological style. However, I had hoped to find metabiology addressing questions of a more philosophical nature. I still think (hope) that the word 'metabiology' can be used to encompass this kind of thinking. After all, it is something ‘beyond,’ ‘after,’ ‘along with,’ or ‘beside.’

* In: The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 4 (16): 339-344.

Cells can divide

The importance of the fact that cells can divide is something that goes largely unremarked. That they can divide is missed when learning about how they do divide.

We come to a biology class. We learn that there are such things as cells - and how we are composed of cells. We then learn about how they divide. However, the very fact that they divide is highly significant. Yet, we do not ponder the significance of this. We rarely ever stop to consider what this means for our lives.

I will not attempt a list of how cell division is significant. Any list I offer will be incomplete. However, we should always have this in mind.