ALL OF THE CELLS IN OUR BODY HAVE MACHINE-MINDS OF THEIR OWN
Vern Bender
Chance and Necessity.
Cognition research. Cognition refers to the mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension.
Cellular cognition Cognitive function includes a variety of mental processes such as perception, attention, memory, decision-making, and language comprehension.
An intricate piece of machinery whose organization reflects a pre-existing design, whose structure is intelligible in reductionistic terms, and whose operation is governed by deterministic laws, rendering its behaviour predictable and controllable etaphorical terms like locks, keys, gates, pumps, and circuits have pervaded molecular biology’s language.
A picture of the cell is totally at odds with this machine-like conception. Four specific aspects of the cell: cellular architecture, protein complexes, intracellular transport, and cellular behavior. Cell self-organization and stochasticity undermine reductionist and deterministic notions of cellular behavior. Cellular intelligence. Cellular Architecture. Cells have traditionally been understood as arising through the process of self-assembly. The physical association of molecules into a static equilibrium structure without an external energy source. It is driven by local stereospecific interactions between the aggregating’ building blocks,’ which remain unchanged throughout the process.
Self-organization, a collection of molecules, can maintain itself in a far-from-equilibrium state by constantly expending energy and exchanging matter with its surroundings. The cell is better characterized as a meta-stable flux dynamically responding to environmental changes than a static macromolecular structure. The machine metaphor authorizes a picture of the cell as statically structured by a genetic program, much like a blueprint statically structures machines.
The self-organizing nature of the cellular architecture is not possible. Self-organization generates order in the absence of an external template or global plan.
Cellular architecture is in a constant state of flux as cellular components continually interact to bring about the architectural structures necessary in each moment to respond to the moment’s needs, after which those structures dissipate to be replaced by new ones. But how can this dynamism be explained without appealing to some level of cellular cognition? If cellular architecture is not static and specified by a pre-determined genetic plan but is instead in a dynamic state of flux that always responds appropriately to the momentary needs of the cell, intelligence would seem central to cellular behavior as a cognitive idea.
Why do cells favor self-organization over self-assembly? Because cells make a conscious choice. The cell builds static, equilibrium structures that do not require constant energy to maintain them. Self-assembly is more economical and efficient. Self-organization allows cells to respond rapidly and adaptively to external perturbations to safeguard systemic integrity. But if a cell can choose self-organization for its greater adaptive flexibility, it must be an intelligent agent. Favoring one thing over another is an activity of mind, not matter.
Protein Complexes represent fixed entities whose structure is determined by amino acid sequences specified in the DNA code. Machine-like functions are performed. Protein complexes are far more fluid and dynamic.
The globular protein lymphotactin has no fixed conformation but undergoes significant structural changes as it flickers back and forth between two different conformations. The intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) have no ordered conformations. Instead, they roam the cell as unfolded polypeptide chains. IDPs provide a distinct functional advantage because they can interact with various binding partners to adopt different configurations. Rather than having a fixed function based on a fixed three-dimensional shape, the role of these proteins is determined by the environment and the interactions they have with the molecules around them. There is no chemical necessity driving the various functions taken on by these fluid proteins. These proteins are coded to know what conformation and function to adopt at any given time. This provides cognitive ability at the level of molecules. Proteins have an inner life.
Wiring diagrams portray the complexity of cellular circuitry. The dynamic nature of proteins renders all fixed wiring diagrams neural rather than electronic circuitry.
