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    • What distinguishes the elephant from E. coli: Causal spreading and the biological principles of metazoan complexity

      PHILIP BALL

      Perspectives Volume 48 Published: 4 May 2023 Article ID 0014

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      https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/jbsc/048/0014

    • Keywords

       

      Biological causation; biological complexity; gene regulation; intrinsically disordered proteins; metazoan evolution

    • Abstract

       

      Jacques Monod famously said that ‘What is true for E. coliis true for the elephant.’ While this might be correct in the basic sense that both use nucleic acids and proteins, it is no longer clear that they use them in quite the same way. The many qualitative differences in the biomolecular constitution and mechanisms of protozoans and metazoans, from the proportions of non-coding DNA to those of multidomain and disordered proteins and the mechanisms of gene regulation, seem to reflect different generic principles in how the two types of organism operate at the molecular and cellular levels. Here I suggest that one way to think about those differences is as a shift in the locus of biological causation – a shift that has implications for making biomedical interventions in humans.

    • Author Affiliations

       

      PHILIP BALL1

      1. Freelance writer, London SE22, UK

    • Dates

       
      Published
      4 May 2023

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    • To trigger further research on plant mitochondria, the Journal of Biosciences is bringing out a special issue titled "Plant Mitochondria: Properties and Interactions with Other Organelles".


      Plant mitochondria are quite distinct and have unique features, such as a cyanide-insensitive alternate pathway. They also interact with chloroplasts to optimize photosynthetic carbon assimilation.


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