71–80 of 412 posts
Name a single biological entity that has a better PR department. The only one that comes close is Athlete's Foot, which makes the victim sound cool.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it just attacks the wholeness of ‘self’ and starts to reveal the true complexity of nature.
We didn't evolve to understand "self", and indeed most animals do not. There was no evolutionary pressure to do so. We're having to discover it piece by piece.
I read the article waiting for an answer to the question "in what operational sense does this matter?" but it never arrived. The question posed is whether we consider mitochondria to be "alive". It's just a word, who cares. What do we do differently given this assumption?
Exactly. Seems similar to "are LLMs alive"? What practical purpose would an answer to that question serve?
What practical purpose does studying ancient civilizations have? Why do we send expensive telescopes into space to study faraway galaxies and try to uncover mysteries of the big bang? When can we expect the results from number theory to lower the price of gas at the pump?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Organelles are alive too. All active biological systems are alive. Mitochondria have for many generations now been known to have their own DNA and replicate on their own. So I’m not sure what new distinction is being drawn?
I _think_ what they mean is it's not typically listed as a "life form" in its own right, i.e., there's no Domain under which one would classify Mitochondria - maybe just calling them bacteria would capture the article's intent? So, the modification would be that we are living in symbiosis with mitochondrial bacteria, similar to how we live in symbiosis with our gut bacteria, rather than them being classified as "orga…
The fact that every child on the planet is religiously taught that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell is all the evidence I need that we're upholding a primordial contractual agreement and these are the conditions to which we are beholden. Name a single biological entity that has a better PR department. The only one that comes close is Athlete's Foot, which makes the victim sound cool.
My biology classes did have us gene editing bacteria to chance its color. That was fun!
> The only one that comes close is Athlete's Foot, which makes the victim sound cool.
The best cure for athletes foot is a 30 minute soak in diluted bleach. Get a wash basin, fill it with warm water, and add enough bleach so that it tingles a little bit.
Do this every other day 3 times, e.g. Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Problem solved.
Make sure to clean out the shoes as well, ideally not wearing any infected shoes for a few days at least, and soak the insides with Lysol a few times to prevent reinfection.
I read the article waiting for an answer to the question "in what operational sense does this matter?" but it never arrived. The question posed is whether we consider mitochondria to be "alive". It's just a word, who cares. What do we do differently given this assumption?
The fact that every child on the planet is religiously taught that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell is all the evidence I need that we're upholding a primordial contractual agreement and these are the conditions to which we are beholden. Name a single biological entity that has a better PR department. The only one that comes close is Athlete's Foot, which makes the victim sound cool.
Are there mitochondria in neurons?
In Earth’s history, mitochondrial endosymbiosis occurred once. Without that you don’t have the energy budget for complex life. Moreover, there may be a narrow window where it can happen: modern microbiology has defences and selection pressures that it make inhospitable to the hobbling chimeræ the first mitochondrial cells would have been.
Until mitochondria, the emergence of life from nothing is plausible. With mitochondria, its progression to complex, multicellular and intelligent life makes sense. Both processes in small steps can be replicated, more or less, in the lab. But that one moment is not and has not been. As a result, I think the universe has lots of living slop but very few plants and animals.
(Aside, look at ATP go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUrEewYLIQg&t=939s)
The fact that every child on the planet is religiously taught that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell is all the evidence I need that we're upholding a primordial contractual agreement and these are the conditions to which we are beholden. Name a single biological entity that has a better PR department. The only one that comes close is Athlete's Foot, which makes the victim sound cool.
Excellent point. Are there mitochondria in neurons?
Yes [1].
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"If we think of mitochondria as non-living organelles..." mitochondria were thought to just be a component of the cell. But they have their own DNA separate from that in the cell's nucleus. They replicate on their own like bacteria.
> mitochondria were thought to just be a component of the cell. ... hundreds of years ago, for a short time after they were discovered. We know that they behave like bacteria for almost as long as we know that they exist.