by jupiterelastica
3 subcomments
- For those interested in more details and quite mind blowing examples, here is a fascinating interview with Michael Levin (one of the researchers mentioned in the article).
https://youtu.be/c8iFtaltX-s?t=4751
Start at 1:19:11, the stuff before is him talking about biology, but from an intelligence perspective. After this time stamp is his retrospective on his bioelectricity research over the years, showing also examples of how they got a frog embryo to produce eyes, and many more things.
by marojejian
0 subcomment
- Even since reading about Michael Levin's work, I've been sold that there is a lot going on in terms of bioelectricity outside of neurons. But I haven't seen that much progress. This is one interesting, albeit simple example.
>In this way, bioelectrical flow across cell membranes lets tissues test which cells are the least healthy and mark them for extrusion. “They’re always pushing against each other and bullying each other. And what they’re doing is probing each other for which one’s the weakest link,” Rosenblatt said. “It’s a community effect.”
This fits with my model of how high levels of cooperation succeed in biology. Even in a community as homogeneous as cells you have the risk of defectors (cancer), or just poor members. As such you need a process to continually test your community members.
- Here's a study from 2023 where they apply external electricity to improve healing rate of wounds:
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2023/LC/D2LC0...
It enabled healing of diabetic wounds that are otherwise hard to heal.
- This is classic Quanta Magazine sensationalism. Here's what the study actually said:
As cells in epithelial tissue get crowded, their membranes start to allow more sodium ions to enter, which makes the cell more electrically positive (depolarization). The cells try to counter this, but cells with insufficient stored energy (ATP) will struggle to do so, and will lose water through their membranes, causing them to shrink, which causes them to signal their neighbors to extrude them.
So there's no "group decisions" being made, no "coordination" between cells using "bioelectricity". Yes, all cells rely on electrical potentials across their membranes for normal functioning, potentials that they have to maintain. That's all the involvement of electricity here.
And the only "decision-making" happening here is within a single cell, but of course cells don't "make decisions', cells are little machines, and part of the mechanism for epithelial cells -- a mechanism that works in part using chemistry and electricity -- includes the cell signaling that it needs to be extruded in certain circumstances, like shrinkage.
- Robert O. Becker also studied this. His book "The Body Electric" (1985) was quite interesting. Nice to see some more recent research into this topic.
- Electricity is the core of a single cell functionality as well, most biomolecules are on the exact boundary between a conductor and an insulator (and likely switch the state based on other molecules binding, pH, etc). A group of cells electricity is a higher level abstraction of that.
https://medium.com/the-physics-arxiv-blog/the-origin-of-life...
by jeffybefffy519
3 subcomments
- Could this lead into how there are people who thing non ionising radiation sources affect them?
- What was striking was how much of the cell's energy is spent maintaining that voltage. 25% is a lot.
- From a layman's perspective, another interesting (somewhat related?) example of a long-range effect that is not determined by neurons themselves (also a recent Quanta article: https://www.quantamagazine.org/once-thought-to-support-neuro...)
- It was known for a long time that some reflexes and responses are mostly spontaneous and don't require decisions from the mind. Such reactions, such as pulling away when touched a hot surface, do require muscle contraction which in turn requires electrical pulses, which indicates the presence of bio electrical charges everywhere. Can some help me understand what exactly is new here. I knew that something is new.
by simmanian
1 subcomments
- Michael Levin's ontology (that the body basically acts as pointers to the mind in Platonic Realm) is so crazy that I want it to be true.
- People can read these articles and go oh cool, but then in the same breath they will say radio frequency electromagnetic fields have no effect on human health.
- makes me wonder what effect a low current flowing through the body would have on this process. would it hinder/disrupt this coordination?
by FranklinJabar
3 subcomments
- Why not simply say electricity?
- Reminds me of Lakhovsky's book, The Secret of Life
- Michael Levine really opened my mind to phase space in biology.
- Yes, but how do they handle Byzantine fault tolerance?
- It'll blow their minds when they start researching chi kung and realise it's possible to draw in more energy by breathing and move it round the body. It's also possible to feel some kind of field around the body.
Auras and chakras don't sound so silly now do they.
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