1,165
edits
Difference between revisions of "C Elegans"
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
no edit summary
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
<blockquote> | <blockquote> | ||
''So it's this worm that was chosen by this guy, Sydney Brenner, who just died. And it's a shame because he would have been a great podcast guest, just, like, one of the most brilliant biologists that we didn't focus on. And he said, " | ''So it's this worm that was chosen by this guy, Sydney Brenner, who just died. And it's a shame because he would have been a great podcast guest, just, like, one of the most brilliant biologists that we didn't focus on. And he said, "You know what, we're missing a species that we can completely describe. Soup to Nuts. Here's the one that's about the simplest thing with a brain. It's only got 1000 cells. And 300 of those cells make up a very primitive neural system. And we're going to track where every goddamn cell—", like, bring up—Jamie, if I could ask you, sir, to bring up the cell lineage diagram for C. elegans. This will be the first of two images. Well, that is a complete map of how one fertilized egg becomes a tiny microscopic worm for every possible division.'' | ||
''Right now, here's the thing. Everyone in biology knows how cool this thing is. And very few people, not enough people outside of biology, know that we have completely mapped how one cell—like if you're 30 trillion cells around. It's too big to write a diagram. It's only possible because they're only 1000 cells. And this thing has locomotion. It has sexual reproduction. You know, it eats. So, you're looking at the architectural plans for an actual organism.'' | ''Right now, here's the thing. Everyone in biology knows how cool this thing is. And very few people, not enough people outside of biology, know that we have completely mapped how one cell—like if you're 30 trillion cells around. It's too big to write a diagram. It's only possible because they're only 1000 cells. And this thing has locomotion. It has sexual reproduction. You know, it eats. So, you're looking at the architectural plans for an actual organism.'' | ||