5 ms·

I'm always awe-struck thinking about the fact we know this. For example the ATP synthase motors in the Mitochondria— we have figured out ways to discover these

by aylmao 6y ago

I'm always awe-struck thinking about the fact we know this. For example the ATP synthase motors in the Mitochondria— we have figured out ways to discover these sorts of things without seeing them, just by chemical analysis, computer modeling, trial and error. Moreover, this is just what we know, but there must be so much more we don't know. It's astounding to think just how much more might be hiding in these very complex systems.

HenryKissinger 6y ago
To think that the machinery of the human body evolved from water and basic elements. It's hard to believe sometimes.
- mdavidn 6y ago
  Most of life's history on this planet was single-celled. That's especially astounding when you consider the short generation time of single-celled life. The building blocks for these complex molecular machines existed before multicellular life was possible.
  - wombatmobile 6y ago
    The first 2 billion years was single celled. Since then, life on earth has been a combination of single celled prokaryotic cells, and much larger (100x) eukaryotic cells. The evolution of eukaryotes, which comprise all the plants and animals you see on David Attenborough's Life on Earth show, didn't occur until the Earth had developed an oxygen rich atmosphere. What's amazing about eukaryotic cells is that they formed from colonies of prokaryotic cells, in a process called endosymbiosis. There's a reason why the mitochondria in eukaryotic cells look like little bacteria like organisms. They actually were once separate prokaryotic organisms. Same for chloroplasts in plant cells. How Two Microbes Changed History https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhF5G2k45vY&t=343s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhF5G2k45vY&t=343s
    - jfarlow 6y ago
      Search space for the first billion or so years was likely around atoms/chemistry. Search space for the next billion or so years was likely around mutations in well-defined genetic space (4 nucleic acids as building blocks, 20 amino acids as building blocks). Search space for the past 700M years has included 'recombination' (copy/swap/paste) of larger chunks of (existing) genetic code (in addition to the prior two mechanics). There are probably many such abstraction layers, including like you mention, copying/pasting of entire organisms, environments, biospheres...
acomjean 6y ago
> but there must be so much more we don't know. I was pretty surprised at the amount of biology we don't know (I'm writing software to help geneticists, a recent development for me). We know a lot, but its astounding how complex these biological systems are. It is kinda amazing we're alive.
- ncmncm 6y ago
  Biology is unusual among sciences in that a five year old can ask questions it can't answer. To get an idea about what life processes are like, you need to read endocrinologists like Robert Sapolski or Robert Lustig. A lot of processes only work because there are so many moving parts each pushing only a little of the way, so that when something is wrong it doesn't all collapse.
  - Balgair 6y ago
    > Biology is unusual among sciences in that a five year old can ask questions it can't answer. You can do this in a lot of fields, but you're right, Bio is one where it's very easy to do. I'm always struck by the 'pathways' side of mol-bio. It's not easy, but many grad students can come up with experiments that will lead to discoveries of new signaling pathways inside a cell. I'm sure someone has done a census of the number of pathways in their particular cell, but for all cells? It must be a gigantic number of proteins that interact. And I'd hedge that we're no where even close to knowing how they all interact
deugtniet 6y ago
Actually, the rotation of the ATPsynthase motor was observed under the microscope to be proven. The investigators attached a very small copper rod to the rotor to show that it indeed made a full rotation.

by aylmao 6y ago

HenryKissinger 6y ago

To think that the machinery of the human body evolved from water and basic elements. It's hard to believe sometimes.

mdavidn 6y ago
Most of life's history on this planet was single-celled. That's especially astounding when you consider the short generation time of single-celled life. The building blocks for these complex molecular machines existed before multicellular life was possible.
- wombatmobile 6y ago
  The first 2 billion years was single celled. Since then, life on earth has been a combination of single celled prokaryotic cells, and much larger (100x) eukaryotic cells. The evolution of eukaryotes, which comprise all the plants and animals you see on David Attenborough's Life on Earth show, didn't occur until the Earth had developed an oxygen rich atmosphere. What's amazing about eukaryotic cells is that they formed from colonies of prokaryotic cells, in a process called endosymbiosis. There's a reason why the mitochondria in eukaryotic cells look like little bacteria like organisms. They actually were once separate prokaryotic organisms. Same for chloroplasts in plant cells. How Two Microbes Changed History https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhF5G2k45vY&t=343s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhF5G2k45vY&t=343s
  - jfarlow 6y ago
    Search space for the first billion or so years was likely around atoms/chemistry. Search space for the next billion or so years was likely around mutations in well-defined genetic space (4 nucleic acids as building blocks, 20 amino acids as building blocks). Search space for the past 700M years has included 'recombination' (copy/swap/paste) of larger chunks of (existing) genetic code (in addition to the prior two mechanics). There are probably many such abstraction layers, including like you mention, copying/pasting of entire organisms, environments, biospheres...

acomjean 6y ago

> but there must be so much more we don't know. I was pretty surprised at the amount of biology we don't know (I'm writing software to help geneticists, a recent development for me). We know a lot, but its astounding how complex these biological systems are. It is kinda amazing we're alive.

ncmncm 6y ago
Biology is unusual among sciences in that a five year old can ask questions it can't answer. To get an idea about what life processes are like, you need to read endocrinologists like Robert Sapolski or Robert Lustig. A lot of processes only work because there are so many moving parts each pushing only a little of the way, so that when something is wrong it doesn't all collapse.
- Balgair 6y ago
  > Biology is unusual among sciences in that a five year old can ask questions it can't answer. You can do this in a lot of fields, but you're right, Bio is one where it's very easy to do. I'm always struck by the 'pathways' side of mol-bio. It's not easy, but many grad students can come up with experiments that will lead to discoveries of new signaling pathways inside a cell. I'm sure someone has done a census of the number of pathways in their particular cell, but for all cells? It must be a gigantic number of proteins that interact. And I'd hedge that we're no where even close to knowing how they all interact

deugtniet 6y ago

Actually, the rotation of the ATPsynthase motor was observed under the microscope to be proven. The investigators attached a very small copper rod to the rotor to show that it indeed made a full rotation.