4 ms·

This makes me think of a few follow-up questions: - Since we know that fusion happens to damaged jellies, do they remain permanently fused? Or do they eventual

by k_sze 2y ago

This makes me think of a few follow-up questions: - Since we know that fusion happens to damaged jellies, do they remain permanently fused? Or do they eventually grow back the missing parts and split up again? - If they do split up again, do both individuals wait for the other one to completely heal before splitting? If one side started off less damaged and healed faster, can it abandon/reject the other side without waiting for the other side to completely heal?

pests 2y ago
Any time anything like this comes up I think back to a documentary on sponges and how they can have multiple individuals in one body, or one individual taking on multiple bodies. Maybe I am wrong, but this has always fascinated me in terms of what an organism is, about super organisms, and even more outlandish thoughts.
- asplake 2y ago
  Perhaps more surprising (certainly it was to me), the Portuguese man o' war is a colony organism also.
  - throwup238 2y ago
    They’re even more interesting than most colonial organisms because they’re made up of seven different colonies, all sharing the exact same genetics but morphing into different functions. They have a level of differentiation normally ascribed to much more complex organisms, that also looks nothing like their lifecycle.
  - DonHopkins 2y ago
    There are two types of slime mold: one that's a colony of many cells, and another that's a single organism: one giant super cell with multiple nuclei. I don't know which one tastes better though, but I do know a recipe for dog vomit slime mold, which is plasmodial, or acellular: an giant single cell organism, not a colony. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/slime-molds.htm#:~:text=There%20are%20two%20types%20of,they%20remain%20as%20single%20cells https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/slime-molds.htm#:~:text=The.... >There are two types of slime mold: cellular and acellular (plasmodial). During the life cycle of cellular slime molds, they remain as single cells. When an individual cell encounters a food source, it sends out a chemical signal which attracts others of its kind, drawing them in until they form a mass which is capable of movement in an amoeba-like fashion, with each cell maintaining its individual integrity. The fruiting bodies of cellular slime molds release spores, each of which becomes a single amoeboid cell when it germinates. Cellular slime molds are rarely visible to the naked eye. >On the other hand, plasmodial slime molds start out as individual amoeboid cells, but join together to form a multi-nucleate mass having only one cellular membrane (a "super-cell" containing multiple nuclei). This mass is referred to as a plasmodium and is frequently observed as threads of "slime" on rotting wood. The plasmodium matures into a network of interconnected filaments, which slowly moves as a unit as its protoplasm streams along the network. These plasmodia can be quite large; some species have been recorded to be over thirty square meters in size! >Also referred to as myxomycetes, plasmodial slime molds are commonly seen on decaying forest litter and rotting wood. They play an important role as decomposers and recyclers of nutrients in the food web. Their diet consists of the bacteria which feed on decomposing plant matter. In turn, slime molds may be consumed by nematodes, beetles, and other larger life forms. In the laboratory, slime molds have demonstrated the ability to navigate a maze in order to reach a food source, and to anticipate the reward of food at a future time after having been fed on a regular schedule at one location. They communicate via chemical signals to others of their kind. That's pretty impressive for an organism without a brain! They can be found throughout the world, but the Pacific Northwest and Mount Rainier National Park provide ideal habitat for these amazing creatures. Harvesting, cooking and eating Dog Vomit Slime Mold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfbLSl_4o78 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfbLSl_4o78 >Fuligo septica is a species of slime mold, and a member of the class Myxomycetes. It is commonly known as the scrambled egg slime, or flowers of tan[2] because of its peculiar yellowish, bile-colored appearance. Also known as the dog vomit slime mold, it is common with a worldwide distribution, and it is often found on bark mulch in urban areas after heavy rain or excessive watering. Their spores are produced on or in aerial sporangia and are spread by wind.
- jbotz 2y ago
  What about humans? Are we individual, indivisible beings or are we colonies of cells cooperating as a superorganism? That may sound like a dumb question since our cells are so specialized that they can't survive individually and can't "stop cooperating"... or can they? They can, that's what we call cancer... it's some of our cells rebelling and deciding to do their own thing, and to hell with the superorganism. Of course that isn't all that smart since the cancer will die when we die, right? Well, maybe not... although I don't know of any documented case in humans, some cancers are known to migrate off their original organism and colonize others! An example of this is the tasmanian devil face cancer... it started on one individual and spread to others, the tumors on all infected devils having the genes of the original individual. But what about individual cells? Surely the buck stops there and they are individual, indivisible organisms? Not so fast! Cells of all eucaryotes (that's us) contain "organs" (mitochondria) that were once a separate form of life and still have their own genetic code, completely separate from the nuclear genetic code of our cells. Not only that, but it was recently discovered that they are still independent enough that they can migrate from one cell to another on their own. So, yeah, "individual organism" is an abstract concept that has different meanings at different scales and even at a specific scale is rather fluid. And I think "individual self" (or mind) is like that too, but that's another story...
  - spratzt 2y ago
    This was wonderfully explored in the following paper https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/668166 https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/668166
  - sandworm101 2y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_chimera https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_chimera It happens, although only when we are at a very early stage of development, a time when we share some traits with jellyfish. The growth of an embryo tracks our evolution. If you ever see a dog, or a person (see the model taylor muhl) with a color split down the middle of their body, there is a reasonable chance they joined with a twin in utero. Absent a color split, no doubt many of us are totally unaware that we may contain multiple gene sets.
  - 2y ago
- jsrcout 2y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Immortal_Life_of_Henrietta_Lacks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Immortal_Life_of_Henrietta...

by k_sze 2y ago

pests 2y ago

Any time anything like this comes up I think back to a documentary on sponges and how they can have multiple individuals in one body, or one individual taking on multiple bodies. Maybe I am wrong, but this has always fascinated me in terms of what an organism is, about super organisms, and even more outlandish thoughts.

asplake 2y ago
Perhaps more surprising (certainly it was to me), the Portuguese man o' war is a colony organism also.
- throwup238 2y ago
  They’re even more interesting than most colonial organisms because they’re made up of seven different colonies, all sharing the exact same genetics but morphing into different functions. They have a level of differentiation normally ascribed to much more complex organisms, that also looks nothing like their lifecycle.
- DonHopkins 2y ago
  There are two types of slime mold: one that's a colony of many cells, and another that's a single organism: one giant super cell with multiple nuclei. I don't know which one tastes better though, but I do know a recipe for dog vomit slime mold, which is plasmodial, or acellular: an giant single cell organism, not a colony. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/slime-molds.htm#:~:text=There%20are%20two%20types%20of,they%20remain%20as%20single%20cells https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/slime-molds.htm#:~:text=The.... >There are two types of slime mold: cellular and acellular (plasmodial). During the life cycle of cellular slime molds, they remain as single cells. When an individual cell encounters a food source, it sends out a chemical signal which attracts others of its kind, drawing them in until they form a mass which is capable of movement in an amoeba-like fashion, with each cell maintaining its individual integrity. The fruiting bodies of cellular slime molds release spores, each of which becomes a single amoeboid cell when it germinates. Cellular slime molds are rarely visible to the naked eye. >On the other hand, plasmodial slime molds start out as individual amoeboid cells, but join together to form a multi-nucleate mass having only one cellular membrane (a "super-cell" containing multiple nuclei). This mass is referred to as a plasmodium and is frequently observed as threads of "slime" on rotting wood. The plasmodium matures into a network of interconnected filaments, which slowly moves as a unit as its protoplasm streams along the network. These plasmodia can be quite large; some species have been recorded to be over thirty square meters in size! >Also referred to as myxomycetes, plasmodial slime molds are commonly seen on decaying forest litter and rotting wood. They play an important role as decomposers and recyclers of nutrients in the food web. Their diet consists of the bacteria which feed on decomposing plant matter. In turn, slime molds may be consumed by nematodes, beetles, and other larger life forms. In the laboratory, slime molds have demonstrated the ability to navigate a maze in order to reach a food source, and to anticipate the reward of food at a future time after having been fed on a regular schedule at one location. They communicate via chemical signals to others of their kind. That's pretty impressive for an organism without a brain! They can be found throughout the world, but the Pacific Northwest and Mount Rainier National Park provide ideal habitat for these amazing creatures. Harvesting, cooking and eating Dog Vomit Slime Mold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfbLSl_4o78 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfbLSl_4o78 >Fuligo septica is a species of slime mold, and a member of the class Myxomycetes. It is commonly known as the scrambled egg slime, or flowers of tan[2] because of its peculiar yellowish, bile-colored appearance. Also known as the dog vomit slime mold, it is common with a worldwide distribution, and it is often found on bark mulch in urban areas after heavy rain or excessive watering. Their spores are produced on or in aerial sporangia and are spread by wind.
jbotz 2y ago
What about humans? Are we individual, indivisible beings or are we colonies of cells cooperating as a superorganism? That may sound like a dumb question since our cells are so specialized that they can't survive individually and can't "stop cooperating"... or can they? They can, that's what we call cancer... it's some of our cells rebelling and deciding to do their own thing, and to hell with the superorganism. Of course that isn't all that smart since the cancer will die when we die, right? Well, maybe not... although I don't know of any documented case in humans, some cancers are known to migrate off their original organism and colonize others! An example of this is the tasmanian devil face cancer... it started on one individual and spread to others, the tumors on all infected devils having the genes of the original individual. But what about individual cells? Surely the buck stops there and they are individual, indivisible organisms? Not so fast! Cells of all eucaryotes (that's us) contain "organs" (mitochondria) that were once a separate form of life and still have their own genetic code, completely separate from the nuclear genetic code of our cells. Not only that, but it was recently discovered that they are still independent enough that they can migrate from one cell to another on their own. So, yeah, "individual organism" is an abstract concept that has different meanings at different scales and even at a specific scale is rather fluid. And I think "individual self" (or mind) is like that too, but that's another story...
- spratzt 2y ago
  This was wonderfully explored in the following paper https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/668166 https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/668166
- sandworm101 2y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_chimera https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_chimera It happens, although only when we are at a very early stage of development, a time when we share some traits with jellyfish. The growth of an embryo tracks our evolution. If you ever see a dog, or a person (see the model taylor muhl) with a color split down the middle of their body, there is a reasonable chance they joined with a twin in utero. Absent a color split, no doubt many of us are totally unaware that we may contain multiple gene sets.
- 2y ago
jsrcout 2y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Immortal_Life_of_Henrietta_Lacks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Immortal_Life_of_Henrietta...