Intelligence in Nature - Jeremy Narby [99]
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P. 142: CELL COMMUNICATION
Scott and Pawson (2000) write: âThe body functions properly only because cells communicate with one another constantly. Pancreatic cells, for instance, release insulin to tell muscle cells to take up sugar from the blood for energy. Cells of the immune system instruct their cousins to attack invaders, and cells of the nervous system rapidly fire messages to and from the brain. Those messages elicit the right responses only because they are transmitted accurately far into a recipient cell and to the exact molecules able to carry out the directivesâ (p. 55). Wade (2000) writes: âThe bodyâs 100 trillion cells govern themselves through an exchange of chemical signals. Cells secrete chemical signals to influence the behavior of other cells, and they receive signals through special receptors embedded in their surfacesâ¦Mr. Haseltine has asserted for several years that the entire communications system of the human body, a set of some 11,000 signaling factors and their receptors, has been identified and captured by Human Genome Sciencesâ (p. 13). Jones (2001) writes: âCells are continually bombarded with messages of varying importance. Different cells in an organism have different jobs to do, yet they often receive the same molecular e-mails. Cells have to be selective, filtering out the relevant messages from this background buzzâ (p. 1). The quote in the main text is by Downward (2001, p. 759).
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P. 143: BACTERIA COMMUNICATE
Coghland (2002) writes: âAntibiotic-resistant superbugs are becoming a massive problem in hospitals worldwide. And if researchers in Britain are right, one reason is that the little devils can send signals through the air, telling other bacteria to turn on their resistance genesâ (p. 12). To date, this airborne signal has not been identified. Pollack (2001) writes: â(Research) indicates that bacteria, long thought to be lone operators, have a communication system that lets them determine how many of them they are. The system has been dubbed quorum sensing because it allows the bacteria to determine whether enough of them are present to get down to businessâ¦Bacteria, it turns out, are like bullies who will not fight unless they are backed up by their gang. An attack by a small number of bacteria would only alert the hostâs immune system to knock them out. So bacteria try to stay under the radar until their numbers are enough to fight the immune systemâ (p. D1). Molecular biologist Bonnie Bassler, who specializes in identifying the molecules which bacteria use to communicate, says: âThere are 600 species of bacteria on your teeth every morning, and they are in exactly the same structure every single time: this guy is next to that one, is next to that one. It just seemed to us that you canât do that if the only thing you can detect is yourself. You have to know âotherââ (quoted in Holloway 2004, p. 2).
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P. 144: SALMONELLA SNEAKS INTO CELLS
See Donnenberg (1999) and Centofanti (1996).
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P. 144: INTELLIGENT PROTEINS
Jones (2001) writes: âItâs surely every scientistâs dream: lab apparatus that does all your experiments for you. Dream onâbut look no further than your own body cells for the ultimate