[HN Gopher] What Can a Cell Remember?
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       What Can a Cell Remember?
        
       Author : chapulin
       Score  : 40 points
       Date   : 2025-07-31 19:31 UTC (4 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.quantamagazine.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.quantamagazine.org)
        
       | kylehotchkiss wrote:
       | "Remember?" this sounds more like we have so little observation
       | of cells that when they respond to stimuli they have receptors
       | for, we just never know that receptor existed.
       | 
       | Anthropomorphizing cells as anything beyond little machines seems
       | silly.
        
         | shwaj wrote:
         | You might want to look into the work of Michael Levin's lab to
         | give you a broader perspective on the intelligence of
         | individual cells and tissues. Your machine metaphor is arguably
         | as misleading as anthropomorphization.
         | 
         | Edit: did you read the article? The examples described go far
         | beyond your straw man about undiscovered receptors.
        
       | ravenstine wrote:
       | I think the memory of slime molds (which are referenced in the
       | article) can go further than merely relying on paths of slime
       | they leave behind.
       | 
       | Recently, I acquired a sample of Physarium polycephalum and have
       | been keeping it as a sort of "pet", if one can call it that. For
       | those who don't know, slime molds like Physarium are actually
       | considered a single-celled organism, at least when it's in its
       | plasmodial phase. People typically feed them oat flakes because
       | that's what they seem to love most, though I started trying some
       | other foods to see what my little slime mold would be willing to
       | eat. Carby things like pieces of bread, etc. The funny thing is
       | that it seemed to really like those other foods, even multiple
       | feedings in a row, but would then spontaneously refuse to respond
       | to those same foods again. I've heard some anecdotes suggesting
       | I'm not the only one to witness this. It really does seem like
       | the slime mold is "remembering" at a level that may go beyond
       | slime trails.
        
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