Re: OT: Cells may possess hidden communication system

On 27/04/2024 12:17 am, John Larkin wrote:

On Fri, 26 Apr 2024 05:42:55 GMT, Jan Panteltje <alien@comet.invalid>
wrote:
 

Cells may possess hidden communication system
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240424160454.htm
New research finds ion gradients across membranes form an information network for rapid cellular decision-making independent of DNA
Date:
April 24, 2024
Source:
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
>
Seems logical to me...

 "For decades, scientists have viewed DNA as the sole source of
cellular information."
 Well, some of the dumber ones did. Cellular function studies have a
long and honored history of stupidity.

Nerve cells communicate with with one another by fiddling local potassium to sodium ion ratios. It changes the voltage difference across the cell-to-cell junctions. The signals can propagate fairly fast.
https://nba.uth.tmc.edu/neuroscience/m/s1/chapter03.html
"In fact, the propagation velocity of the action potentials in nerves can vary from 100 meters per second (580 miles per hour) to less than a tenth of a meter per second (0.22 miles per hour)."
DNA doesn't come into it (or at least not directly).
Science daily was suggesting that regular cells use a similar sort of system for communicating with their near neighbours. Why this would be a "hidden communication system" escapes me. If nobody looked for it, it wouldn't have to be "hidden" to be unknown.
--
Bill Sloman, Sydney