Intrinsic Biochemical Intelligence (IBI) and Design Sy Garte Are - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Intrinsic Biochemical Intelligence (IBI) and Design Sy Garte

Are single cells intelligent? “… cells are essentially autonomous, sentient and ingenious. …they create and regulate activity, respond to current conditions and, crucially, take decisions to deal with unforeseen difficulties .” Ford BJ. 2010 “ Cells are cognitive entities possessing great computational power.” Shapiro JA. 2006 “…slime molds… are capable of… behaviors like problem -solving skills and the ability to learn .” Pagan O. 2014

Isn’t intelligence a function of brains? • Animals use neural-based intelligence with sensory feedback. • Single-cell intelligence is based on complex biochemical pathways. • Cells communicate using binding of signals to receptors. • Cells evolve using the protein synthesis machinery and environmental feedback.

SIGNAL-INDUCED CELLULAR RESPONSE

THE EVOLUTIONARY MECHANISTIC CYCLE DNA/GENOTYPE Heredity Biochemistry Natural Selection PROTEINS PHENOTYPE ENVIRONMENT

Biochemistry of evolution is DNA-directed protein synthesis (translation) DNA PROTEINS Nucleic Acid Chemistry Amino Acid Chemistry 1. mRNA (with codons from DNA) 2. tRNAs (with anti-codon & AA binding site) 3. Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases (with AA and tRNA binding sites) 4. Ribosome (with lots of stuff) 5. Etc.

Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetase (aaRS)

Putting the right amino acid on the right tRNA

AA tRNA Synthetases have an editing site

Evolution is based on changes in proteins • Protein sequences, determined by the genetic code and the translation machinery, result in specific protein functions. • Mutations in DNA ultimately produce changes in protein function. • Such changes may be harmful, neutral, or beneficial to the cell. • Natural selection, based on the fitness of new protein functionality, determines which cells survive in an environment. • The interaction of the biochemical system with the environment produces IBI.

Evolution of Proteins by Intelligent (Human) Design

Evolution is a product of Intrinsic Biochemical Intelligence & natural selection Cellular protein synthesis with environmental feedback from natural selection results in the evolution of proteins and cells with increasing fitness. This process resembles an intelligent system, in the same way that signaling evokes comparisons with higher-level intelligence. If we think of evolution as a process of intelligent design, then the designer might be the cell itself.