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A New Frontier in Biology

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      Bernard Nebel
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      The following is presented not as another lesson with more facts to lean but as the opening of a new frontier awaiting exploration and mind-blowing discoveries. I hope that it will entice some kids to aim toward entering the field of cell biology, just as AI is enticing many kids to enter the field of computer technology. 

      The last 100 years or so might be called the age of DNA. It extends from the discovery (ca 1900) that units of heredity reside on chromosomes, to finding that those units (genes) are unique strings of DNA to learning how DNA serves as a template to make particular proteins and how those proteins are made. In short, we have gleaned a tremendous amount about the “mechanics” of how a cell functions. 

      However, a great mystery remains. It is the arena of cell differentiation. How is a cell signaled/guided as to which of the multitude of different kinds it should differentiate into. Furthermore, numerous different kinds of cells join together in precise ways to make and maintain a functional organ, a kidney versus a liver for example. How is cell differentiation/development coordinated to give rise to a functional tissue/organ—even more, the organism as a whole. 

      More than knowledge for its own sake, every genetic disease, including every type of cancer and physical abnormality, is basically a failure of coordinated cell differentiation. In short, discovery of what controls differentiation and how we might control it will yield untold cures and health benefits. 

      Connecting this to the study of cells, every electron micrograph of fresh biological tissue shows numerous specks within each cell. These specks have been long overlooked—meaningless ‘noise’— as attention was focused on discerning larger organelles such as mitochondria. Recently, however, some researchers have taken a closer look and found that these specs are precise clusters of protein and RNA that come apart and reform throughout the cell including within the nucleus. There is suggestive evidence that these clusters, given the name  ‘bimolecular condensates’, may be instrumental in guiding/controlling cell differentiation but how is totally unknown. It is as though we have discovered a ‘jungle’ that awaits our exploration. Who wants to be an explorer?                                     I look forward to your comments!

      Dr. Brnie Nebel 

      Information is from: Ball, Philip (A New Understanding of the Cell) Scientific American, Feb. 2025, pp. 23-27

      Google: bimolecular condensates

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