Re: Chemical bonding inside living vs non-living things

From: Scott Coutts (SPAMFILTER-scott.coutts_at_med.monash.edu.au)
Date: 12/02/04 

Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2004 12:02:50 +1100

AA Institute wrote:

> Trond Erik Vee Aune wrote:
>
>>There aren't really
>>mysterious forces in play here, it's just a matter of utilizing (with
>>enzymes) the atoms in food to create the molecules that make up our
>>cells. The mechanics is well-known and characterized, but it is still
>>amazing, especially as you start to really dive deep into it, but it's
>>never so amazing that you have to create divine beings to answer it.
>
> So how do the molecules *know* they have to group themselves into
> cells which form into the baby's eyes?
>

They dont 'know' to do it... they're trafficked in and out by other
molecules and constructed in the cell from smaller molecules. Many are
constructed from enzymes etc. These have evolved to function in this way.

>
> Another set arrange themselves
> another way to form into ears. Yet further sets form the fingers, etc,
> etc? The cells are surely scattered widely apart along the body of the
> foetus during the 'assembly' process...? What *oversees* that whole
> process? Why do the cells on the head form into hair and the ones near
> the forehead form into eyes?
>

Ok, this is not fully understood, but it has to do with which genes are
expressed at which time during development. If you read about the
genetics of embryogenesis it will give you more information on this.
Cells influence their neighbours by secreting certain substances that
are detected by other cells. These substances trigger off certain
signalling pathways and cause the expression of certain genes. These
genes produce proteins that carry out various functions that change the
structure and or function of the cell.

By the way, hair is a secreted protein, not made of cells (:

>
> That's the miracle that I'm talking about.
> Okay it's not scientific to use that m***** word, sure, but a miracle
> it still is all the same!
>

I disagree... it's not a miracle, it's a chemical reaction. Not very
romantic, I know, but that's how it happens (I guess lots of people will
be ready to debate it).

>>The
>>evolution from inert matter to catalytic organic molecules to what we
>>could define as living cells, is intricate and not fully understood.
>
> That's the part that I'm puzzled over.
>

It's not understood how the first cell came into being, but you might be
interested to look up the minimal genome or the minimal cell/organism on
google.

>>But
>>there are no steps that circumvent our understanding of chemistry.
>
> Ah, but the way those molecules inside living cells behave in their
> configurations is different to the way they behave in non-living
> matter. Is that right?
>

Yes and no... it depends on what you mean by 'behave'. They would still
behave the same way, but they dont have the effect, because they dont
have the other components of the cell with which to interact.

>>
>>The cell cycle is well understood. We know the basics in why a cell
>>divides. and how a differentiated multicellular organism develops.
>>Please pick up a molecular biology book.
>>
>
> I can sort of intuitively understand the physical mechanisms, but my
> question in all of this is more about the 'why'? Why do the cells
> divide like that? There is a certain amount of intelligent programming
> involved here, and I wanted to know what that was. *Something* is
> guiding that process (as a scientific conversation let's say that
> isn't God), so what is that *something*?
>

Well I guess it comes down to a fundamnetal physics principle at the
most basic level... the flow of energy. You can certainly stop them from
behaving in that way if you disrupt the flow of energy by any means.

Scott.

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