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Last evening, I found another book, while sorting through my
father's reference library, that I decided to skim through and had another
revelation. The book is "The Lives of a Cell; Notes of a Biology Watcher"
By Lewis Thomas. This isn't your usual biology book on cells! The contents lists
the following as chapters:
The Lives of a Cell
Thoughts for a Countdown
On Societies as Organisms
A Fear of Pheromones
The Music of This Sphere
An Earnest Proposal
The Technology of Medicine
Vibes
Ceti
The Long Habit
Antaeus in Manhattan
Autonomy
Organelles as Organisms
Germs
Your VeryGood Health
Social Talk
Information
Death in the Open
Natural Science
Natural Man
The Iks
Computers
The Planning of Science
Some Biomythology
On Various Words
Living Language
On Probability and Possibility
The World's Biggest Membrane
What got me, in a big way, was the discussion on organelles. I've
posted quite often on the subject of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)here and my
bafflement on why medical science isn't studying the relations between
mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA, with an eye towards disease pathology
resulting from a dysfunction in this relation, etc.
Well, Lewis Thomas began talking about chloroplasts-- the
organelles in all plant cells which are responsible for photosynthesis.
Specifically, he discussed the fact that chloroplasts have their own DNA as
well!!! (ctDNA) I have never heard anything about DNA in chloroplasts prior to
this, and I'm into plants in a big way. So this was an amazing
discovery for me, which I have been researching ever since.
I was wondering if I'm the only one, on the list, who never heard
about this before? (Would you guys admit it???)
Judith
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