Is consciousness to be found in quantum processes in microtubules?

[Write4U]

In furtherance of reference to:

Here we study the extent and the characteristics of self-organization using microtubules and molecular motors 2 as a model system. These components are known to participate in the formation of many cellular structures, such as the dynamic asters found in mitotic and meiotic spindles 3,4. Purified motors and microtubules have previously been observed to form asters in vitro 5.

As described in post # 2211.

Call-and-response circuit tells neurons when to grow synapses
Scientists explains signaling mechanism between astrocyte cells and neurons that regulates synaptic development, Date: October 25, 2021

Brain cells called astrocytes play a key role in helping neurons develop and function properly, but there's still a lot scientists don't understand about how astrocytes perform these important jobs. Now, a team of scientists led by Associate Professor Nicola Allen has found one way that neurons and astrocytes work together to form healthy connections called synapses. This insight into normal astrocyte function could help scientists better understand disorders linked to problems with neuronal development, including autism spectrum disorders. The study was published September 8, 2021, in the journal eLife.

"We know that astrocytes could play a role in neurodevelopmental disorders, so we wanted to ask: How are they playing a role in typical development?" says Allen, a member of the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory. "In order to better understand the disorders, we first have to understand what happens normally."

Synapses form critical connections between neurons, allowing neurons to send signals and information throughout the body. Astrocyte cells play a role in synapse development by giving neurons directions, such as telling them when to start growing a synapse, when to stop, when to prune it back, and when to stabilize the connection.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211025172108.htm

Introduction
Rapidly accumulating physiological and genetic evidence establishes that the molecular diversity of synapses extends far beyond that envisioned by traditional classification schemes based solely on neurotransmitter identity. For instance, it is now clear that within each neurotransmitter category (e.g., glutamatergic, GABAergic, cholinergic) there is substantial diversity in the expression of many intrinsic synaptic proteins, including neurotransmitter transporters and receptors (Gupta et al., 2000; Häusser et al., 2000;taple et al., 2000;Cherubini and Conti, 2001; Craig and Boudin, 2001; Cull-Candy et al., 2001; Grabowski and Black, 2001;Huang and Bergles, 2004; Mody and Pearce, 2004; Grant, 2006 ). [/quote]

Until synapse molecular diversity is properly fathomed, it is likely to be a troublesome source of variability in physiological and neurodevelopmental experimentation.

Conversely, a systematic understanding of synapse diversity (i.e., the synaptome) is likely to provide valuable new perspectives on the organization of synaptic circuitry (i.e., the connectome), its development, plasticity and disorders. It is easy to envision, for instance, that a potential catalog of molecular synapse types (Grant, 2007) would help explorations of the synaptic basis of specific memory or disease processes to focus more fruitfully on specific synapse subpopulations.

https://www.cell.com/cms/10.1016/j....3799f533-26b8-40c5-ab6e-85bba89596da/mmc6.mp4

I find it remarkable that in this in-depth study there is no mention at all of microtubules which illustrates the fractured nature of scientific research. I have seen about five different descriptions of microtubules and their functions, but each study uses a different made-up name as if they were the first to discover the organelle.

When is a dedicated researcher going to combine all those separate studies and come up with a comprehensive and orderly compendium of the types and roles of microtubules (by any other name)?

I am too old and uninformed about neural science, but if I can find common denominators, then a knowledgeable student with access to libraries on formal neural research, should be able to put all this together and instead of asking the "hard question", be able to offer a comprehensive overview of "hard facts", that would surely lead to some "informed answers.

(A) A volume rendering of 60 serial sections (200 nm each) through the entire cortical depth, including portions of the striatum. While all subsequent experiments and analysis were performed on thinner, 70 nm sections, the thicker sections in this case have allowed us to collect a larger volume and to better visualize the extensive dendrites of pyramidal neurons. Synapsin (magenta), tubulin (blue), and YFP (green). Scale bar, 50 μm.
(B) A close up of layer 5 pyramidal neurons labeled with YFP.
(C–H) Zoomed-in view of layers 1 (C), 2/3 (D), 4 (E), 5a (F), 6a (G), and white matter and striatum (H).
Scale bar for (B)–(H), 10 μm.

See also Movie S1 for a more revealing rendering of the same image volume and Figure S1 for comparison of different synapsin antibodies.

Volume rendering from 20 sections, 70 nm each, from an array stained with 11 antibodies (Table S1, data set KDM-SYN-090416).
(A) Tubulin (blue), synapsin (magenta), YFP (green), and DAPI (gray) fluorescence.
(B–D) The boxed area in (A). DAPI (gray) and YFP (green). (B) Distribution of all presynaptic boutons as labeled with synapsin (magenta). (C) Distribution of VGluT1 (red), VGluT2 (yellow), and VGAT (cyan) presynaptic boutons. (D) Postsynaptic labels: GluR2 (blue), NMDAR1 (white), and gephyrin (orange) next to synapsin (magenta).
Scale bar 10 μm. See also Table S1 for sequence of antibody application.

In addition to the YFP labeled neurons, the apical dendrites of pyramidal cells not expressing YFP are evident from tubulin immunostaining of their core microtubule bundles (Figure 1D).

https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(10)00766-X?_return

 

[Write4U]

Quantum mind

Bohm

David Bohm viewed quantum theory and relativity as contradictory, which implied a more fundamental level in the universe.[9] He claimed that both quantum theory and relativity pointed to this deeper theory, which he formulated as a quantum field theory. This more fundamental level was proposed to represent an undivided wholeness and an implicate order, from which arises the explicate order of the universe as we experience it.

Bohm's proposed order applies both to matter and consciousness. He suggested that it could explain the relationship between them. He saw mind and matter as projections into our explicate order from the underlying implicate order. Bohm claimed that when we look at matter, we see nothing that helps us to understand consciousness.

Bohm discussed the experience of listening to music. He believed that the feeling of movement and change that make up our experience of music derive from holding the immediate past and the present in the brain together. The musical notes from the past are transformations rather than memories. The notes that were implicated in the immediate past become explicate in the present. Bohm viewed this as consciousness emerging from the implicate order.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind#Bohm

Quantum cognition

Quantum cognition is a new research program that uses mathematical principles from quantum theory as a framework to explain human cognition, including judgment and decision making, concepts, reasoning, memory, and perception. This research is not concerned with whether the brain is a quantum computer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_cognition

Fisher had found two substances, alike in all important respects save for quantum spin, and found that they could have very different effects on behavior. For Fisher, this was a tantalizing hint that quantum processes might indeed play a functional role in cognitive processing.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/11/quantum-brain/506768/

Markov Chain-Like Quantum Biological Modeling of Mutations, Aging, and Evolution
by Ivan B. Djordjevic
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Arizona, 1230 E. Speedway Boulevard, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA

https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/5/3/1518/htm#[/quote]

 

[Write4U]

Moved from thread "Unworthy of Life.

I read something about the anesthetics going on the outside of the microtubules and disrupting the flow of the electrons in the mictrotubles by exerting charges upon them.
What do you know about it?

First, the number of microtubules in the brain alone are :

Modelling Microtubules in the Brain as n-qudit Quantum Hopfield Network and Beyond

Given 10,000 microtubules (or 100 million tubulin-dimers) per neuron, it represents 100 megabytes of processing power per neuron which translates into a total information storage capacity of human brain (with 100 billion neurons) of 10 exabytes (i.e. of the order of at least 1 exabyte = 10^18 bytes).

Abstract

The scientific approach to understand the nature of consciousness revolves around the study of human brain. Neurobiological studies that compare the nervous system of different species have accorded highest place to the humans on account of various factors that include a highly developed cortical area comprising of approximately 100 billion neurons, that are intrinsically connected to form a highly complex network.

Quantum theories of consciousness are based on mathematical abstraction and Penrose-Hameroff Orch-OR Theory is one of the most promising ones. Inspired by Penrose-Hameroff Orch-OR Theory, Behrman et. al. (Behrman, 2006) have simulated a quantum Hopfield neural network with the structure of a microtubule. They have used an extremely simplified model of the tubulin dimers with each dimer represented simply as a qubit, a single quantum two-state system. The extension of this model to n-dimensional quantum states, or n-qudits presented in this work holds considerable promise for even higher mathematical abstraction in modelling consciousness systems ....more

https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1505/1505.00774.pdf

For much more do a little browsing in this thread and I would like your comments on items that interest you.

 

[Write4U]

Another piece of the puzzle;

Helical growth in plant organs: Mechanisms and significance

Many plants show some form of helical growth, such as the circular searching movements of growing stems and other organs (circumnutation), tendril coiling, leaf and bud reversal (resupination), petal arrangement (contortion) and leaf blade twisting. Recent genetic findings have revealed that such helical growth may be associated with helical arrays of cortical microtubules and of overlying cellulose microfibrils.

An alternative mechanism of coiling that is based on differential contraction within a bilayer has also recently been identified and underlies at least some of these growth patterns.

Here, I provide an overview of the genes and cellular processes that underlie helical patterning. I also discuss the diversity of helical growth patterns in plants, highlighting their potential adaptive significance and comparing them with helical growth patterns in animals......more

(PDF) Helical growth in plant organs: Mechanisms and significance (pdf)

​

 

[Write4U]

Just ran across another study on possible quantum functions in the neural system, specifically in microtubule networks.

Emergence of Quantum Coherence in Liquid Water and Aqueous Systems

Water CDs

The ensemble of time-dependent frequencies assumes a two-fold role:
a) It is the dynamic agent producing the selective attraction among
molecules and therefore the behavior of the soma.
b) The ensemble of frequencies, considered in itself, becomes a sort of MIND, the meaning of the specific living organism. When perceived by other organisms this ensemble of frequencies transmits to them the knowledge of the transmitting organism.

MIND MAP (credits: ID: 1101108873 Creative Multimedia (Media Innovations)

The basis for the dialogue among living organisms and between them and the environment becomes therefore possible.

https://waterjournal.org/uploads/vol5/supplement/DelGiudice.pdf

 

[Write4U]

And in furtherance of possible quantum processes in the brain, this may be of interest.

Quantum Vacuum Dynamics, Coherence, Superluminal Photons and Hypercomputation in Brain Microtubules Luigi Maxmilian Caligiuri and Takaaki Musha

I. INTRODUCTION

The connection between brain's functions and quantum physics has become more and more evident due to several results from the latest research developments.

For many times the possibility to interpret, in the light of quantum physics (QP), such functions (as well as many other physical phenomena) was hindered by the deeply erroneous conviction that quantum physics was limited to the description of the microscopic world. The fallacy of this belief firstly lies in the ascertainment that QP actually concerns not just phenomena occurring in the microscopic world only but, more correctly, all the phenomena involving quantized exchanges of energy.

Fundamental examples coming from condensed matter physics [1,2,3,4] have proved the rightness of this statement as, for example, the discovery of superconductivity (cold and hot) and ferromagnetism, all showing the presence of a quantum behavior over macroscopic (with respect the atomic or molecular size) distances and at relatively high temperatures.

One of the most fascinating connections between QM and biological processes could be related to the emergence of consciousness, the formation of memory and computational functions in the human brain. In particular, the unity and non-local manifestations of consciousness [5-7] could be naturally explained in terms of quantum coherence and long-range correlation as well as the non-algorithmic and non-computational features of certain brain functions, as argued by Penrose [8,9].

Quantum mechanics is also a good candidate to explain the unique distributed features of some brain's functions as memory storage and perceptual processing for example in connection to the so-called holographic model of the brain firstly proposed by Pribram [10] in which such functions are linked to the associative features of parallel distributed processes at the basis of holographic optical techniques. The general requirement of non - locality and cooperative activity is also strongly suggested by the persistence of memory and perception functions in the brain, even in the presence of extensive tissue damage [11].

https://attivismoquanticoeuropeo.it/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/APPLIED-16.pdf

 

[Write4U]

https://7news-com-au.cdn.ampproject..._gsa=1&amp_js_v=a6&usqp=mq331AQIKAGwASCAAgM=#

I bet Microtubules were very instrumental in the creation of these new cells. They form the mitotic spindle that controls cell division.

Would be interesting to find out.
This may be related:

Cross-talk between microtubules and the linker of nucleoskeleton complex plays a critical role in the adipogenesis of human adipose-derived stem cells

Background

Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) that show multidifferentiation and anti-immune rejection capacities have been widely used in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Previous studies have indicated that mechanical and biophysical interactions between cells and their surrounding environment regulate essential processes, such as growth, survival, and differentiation, and the cytoskeleton system plays an important role in the mechanotransduction. However, the role of mechanical force in the determination of lineage fate is still unclear.

Methods

Human ASCs (hASCs) were obtained from three different donors by liposuction. Adipogenesis and osteogenesis were determined by Oil Red O and Alizarin Red staining, respectively. The mRNA levels of the cytoskeleton system, PPARγ, and C/EBPα were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The level of cytoskeleton, PPARγ, and C/EBPα protein levels were measured by Western blotting. The morphology of the cytoskeleton system during adipogenesis was observed with confocal microscopy. hASCs were transfected with a SUN2-specific shRNA to knockdown sun2, and a nontargeting shRNA was used as a control.

Results

We found that disrupting the physiological balance between the cytoskeleton and the linker of the nucleoskeleton and cytoskeleton (LINC) complex (especially SUN2) could impact the adipogenesis of hASCs in vitro. Microtubule (MT) depolymerization with nocodazole (which interferes with the polymerization of MTs) increased the expression of SUN2 and PPARγ, while taxol (an inhibitor of MT disassembly) showed the opposite results. Meanwhile, hASCs with sun2 knockdown overexpressed MTs and decreased PPARγ expression, thereby inhibiting the adipogenesis. Furthermore, knockdown of sun2 changed the structure of perinuclear MTs.

Conclusions

We demonstrated the presence of cross-talk between MT and SUN2, and this cross-talk plays a critical role in the rebalance of the mechanical environment and is involved in the regulation of PPARγ transport during adipogenic differentiation of hASCs.

https://stemcellres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13287-018-0836-y

 

[Write4U]

I think this may be of interest to those who like to investigate the role microtubules play in the evolution of sensory awareness and by extension the evolutionary emergence of consciousness.

The Paramecium Enigma (Do one cell organisms have a form of intelligence?)
by Mol Smith, (November 2014)

Part of my research has brought to light work by Roger Penrose, an eminent mathematician and one of the bright minds in the early Stephen Hawking camp back a few decades ago. Of particular interest to me is some of the text from one of his many books 'Shadows of the mind' ISBN 9780099582113. It refers to characteristics of the humble Paramecia (Paramecium pl.).

Paramecium possess interesting characteristics and behaviour. They are able to detect food in the form of bacteria, algae, and yeasts in the water, swim towards them by using waving cilia (fine hair-like processes) on the surface of the cell membrane, absorb food into a gullet to create food vacuoles, and they are able to produce by both sexual and non-sexual reproduction, depending on environmental conditions.

More... they are also able to detect light, and perhaps the most profound of all - they are able to make a series of maneuvers to negotiate their way around obstacles they 'bump' up against. In these circumstances, they back up, change their swimming angle, and swim forward again. This might be repeated several times until they find a way past.

The enigma though: what is it that is so mysterious about this tiny life-form?

If the paramecium had a brain or even a small group of nerve cells somewhere, we could understand a system exists within it to preside over these actions. Nerve cells (neurons) are the only cells we really understand as being able to become an organised bio-mechanism of rudimentary or sophisticated intelligent actions.

There are processes in the brain which are small enough and abundant enough to be considered potential sites for quantum activity. They are called microtubules. As you will understand, studying anything in the brain, even the activities of brain cells is quite difficult, let alone trying to detect sub-atomic activity at another entirely different scale.

So, here's a thing. Paramecium have microtubules too!

I am going to let Roger Penrose take over for a moment here, by typing a paragraph or two from his book (without premission being asked for, may I say, but I hope it might encourage other people to buy it)

..."There must be indeed be a complicated control system governing the behaviour of a paramecium - or indeed other one-celled animals like the amoeba - but it is not a nervous system. The system responsible is apparently part of what is referred to the cytoskeleton. As its name suggest, the cytoskeleton provides the framework that holds the cell in shape, but it does more. The cilia themselves are endings of the cytoskeleton fibres, but the cytoskeleton also seems also to contain the control system for the cell, in addition to providing 'conveyor belts' for the transporting of various molecules from one place to another. In short, the cytoskeleton appears to play a role for the single cell, rather like a combination of skeleton, muscle systems, legs, blood circulatory system, and nervous system all rolled into one!It is the cytoskeleton's role as the cell's 'nervous system' that will have the importance here. For our own neurons are themselves single cells, and each neuron has its own cytoskeleton! Does this mean that there is a sense in which each neuron might itself have something akin to its own 'personal nervous system'? This is an intriguing issue, and a number of scientists have been coming round to the view that something of this general nature might actually be true!"

I'll leave Roger there but he does quote references to publications which support his final statement. His book goes on to closely examine those cilia and their microtubule make-up with quite staggering impications on the possibility that the human brain interacts with the quantum world directly.

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/ind...uk.org.uk/mag/artnov14/paramecium-engima.html

So now we have a little taste of Roger Penrose's perspective on the possible utility of microtubules and the cytoskeleton itself, in addition to the neural network itself.

Because I have tried to stay away from Penrose and quantum, I never checked to see why Penrose would be interested in microtubules. Now we have a glimpse of his perspective.

 

[Write4U]

It appears then that not only do all eukaryotic organisms have microtubules in common, but all individual biological cells have microtubules in common. AFAIK, no non-biological matter has microtubules.

And does that change the equation of what constitutes living matter vs inanimate matter?

If all living things have microtubules in common, does that suggest microtubules are a necessary ingredient in the evolution of abiogenesis from inanimate to biological and ultimately animate (living) matter, along with the required conscious relationship to the environment?

Can anyone offer an alternative, more plausible hypothesis?

 

[Write4U]

Perhaps we can fight the virus in a different way.

Viruses depend on cell division to procreate, which means that if we can prevent the cell from dividing the virus dies.

Cell division (mitosis) is regulated by microtubule mitotic spindles.

Are microtubules in mitotic spindle?

spindle fibers

Spindle fibers form a protein structure that divides the genetic material in a cell. The spindle is necessary to equally divide the chromosomes in a parental cell into two daughter cells during both types of nuclear division: mitosis and meiosis. During mitosis, the spindle fibers are called the mitotic spindle. Meanwhile, during meiosis, the spindle fibers are referred to as the meiotic spindle.

At the beginning of nuclear division, two wheel-shaped protein structures called centrioles position themselves at opposite ends of the cell forming cell poles. Long protein fibers called microtubules extend from the centrioles in all possible directions, forming what is called a spindle. Some of the microtubules attach the poles to the chromosomes by connecting to protein complexes called kinetochores. Kinetochores are protein formations that develop on each chromosome around the centromere, which is a region located near the middle of a chromosome.

Other microtubules bind to the chromosome arms or extend to the opposite end of the cell. During the cell division phase called metaphase, the microtubules pull the chromosomes back and forth until they align in a plane along the equator of the cell, which is called the equatorial plane. The cell goes through an important checkpoint to ensure that all of the chromosomes are attached to the spindle and ready to be divided before it proceeds with division. Next, during anaphase, the chromosomes are simultaneously separated and pulled by the spindle to opposite poles of the cell.

https://www.nature.com/scitable/definition/spindle-fibers-304/

If we could control the mitotic spindle via some specific command that prevents full mitosis, the viruses become trapped inside the cell and just die. How to remove those cells is another question, but preventing mitosis also prevents the virus from spreading.

Just a thought on some practical use microtubules might be used for?

p.s. Who knows, might this also be effective in combatting cancer?

 

[exchemist]

Perhaps we can fight the virus in a different way.

Viruses depend on cell division to procreate, which means that if we can prevent the cell from dividing the virus dies.

Cell division (mitosis) is regulated by microtubule mitotic spindles.

Are microtubules in mitotic spindle?

spindle fibers

https://www.nature.com/scitable/definition/spindle-fibers-304/

If we could control the mitotic spindle via some specific command that prevents full mitosis, the viruses become trapped inside the cell and just die. How to remove those cells is another question, but preventing mitosis also prevents the virus from spreading.

Just a thought on some practical use microtubules might be used for?

p.s. Who knows, might this also be effective in combatting cancer?

Jesus. More microtubule crap.

 

[billvon]

Jesus. More microtubule crap.

Come on, you KNEW this was coming. Not only can microtubules stop COVID, they can even combat cancer! Can world peace be far behind?

 

[Write4U]

Jesus. More microtubule crap.

Yes. single celled organisms do not have neurons, but they do have cytoskeletons, i.e. microtubules and that allows them to walk, swim, avoid, memorize, act as rudimentary sensory processors, such as detection of light, warmth, time, balance, symmetry.
Look it up if you doubt my veracity. There are 100+ pages devoted on the abilities and roles microtubules play in the human cytoskeleton and in ALL Eukaryotic life forms!!!!!

The protoplasmic liquid without any cell organelles is known as hyaloplasm. This part of the protoplasm is known to perform various metabolic activities like glycolysis, amino acid metabolism, EMP pathway, fatty acid oxidation, charging of tRNA, protein synthesis and many others. These are executed by soluble enzymes.

The rest is posted in my thread on microtubules. Check it out!

Come on, you KNEW this was coming. Not only can microtubules stop COVID, they can even combat cancer! Can world peace be far behind?

Microtubules control mitosis. When that control is disturbed or stops we get cancer. If we can control mitosis we can control cell division and therefore both reduce cell diseases, but potentially also increase healthy cell division.

Are you that short-sighted, that these simple potential biological processes escape your brilliant mind?

 

[Write4U]

In furtherance of the thread "Questions about COVID" this may explain why microtubules might conceivably be employed to combat viral infections.

Protoplasmic Cytoskeleton Elements

The protoplasmic liquid without any cell organelles is known as hyaloplasm. This part of the protoplasm is known to perform various metabolic activities like glycolysis, amino acid metabolism, EMP pathway, fatty acid oxidation, charging of tRNA, protein synthesis and many others. These are executed by soluble enzymes.

It was believed in the past that such hyoloplasmic fluid is free from any other structures and it is just a clear liquid part containing host of enzymes. But electron microscopic studies, made it clear that the fluid portion contains a large number of fine filamentous structures of various sizes and dimensions. Such structures were once believed to be the artifacts of methods employed for electron microsocpy.

Now the complex network of filaments has been identified as cytoskeleton fabric. In fact, the entire cytoplasm is pervaded with cytoskeleton material and various functions have been attributed to them such as mechanical support to cytoplasm, determination of cellular shapes, intracellular transportation, protoplasmic streaming, cell polarity fixation, cytoplasmic cleavage, protein synthesis, etc. Protoplasm is a dynamic fluid.

Protoplasm also contains what is called ergastic substances; they are nonliving components like crystals, tannins, resins, oil globules starch granules etc. Protoplasm also contains different active organelles like mitochondria, golgi bodies, lysosomes, plastids, vacuoles and the most important organelle ‘The Nucleus’.

Isolation of cytoskeletal components by Sol-Gel transformations and differential high- speed centrifugation techniques has been made it easy. Isolation and purification of them greatly helped in understanding the chemical composition, 3D structure and functions of these components.

The network of these filaments is so extensive they are virtually associated with all kinds of organelles and membranes, with the exception mitochondria. But mitochondria are associated with ER and ER is associated with cytoskeletons. (Contrasting explanation in different texts). The cytoskeletal fabric is primarily made up of four to five components like microtubules, microfilaments, and microtrabaculae and intermediary filaments. They are associated with each other as structural and functional components. Sometimes the functions performed by them overlap because their functions are coordinated actions.

Schematics for three different distribution patterns of cytoskeletal filaments: (A) Microtubules (red) are hollow cylindrical filaments with a diameter of 25 nm, radiating from the cell nucleus. The intracellular fluid-cytosol is a crowded solution of many different types of molecules and structures that fills much of the volume of cells.

Microtubules:

Microtubules are tubular protein structures with a diameter of 250A-280A and several micrometers in length. The wall of such tubule is 50A thick. A large number of such tubules from a network and they are associated with various membrane structures like plasma membrane, ER, etc. They form an important component of centrioles (animal cell), kinetochores and mitotic apparatus. It is also surprising to find that more than 20% of the total proteins of brain cells are microtubules. Plant cells are no exception to the presence of such fibers and in actuality they are found distributed all over in the cytoplasm. Further more cilia, flagella, basal granules found in unicellular, motile algae are made up of microtubules. (Refer to proteins).

Cytoskeletons; Wikipedia

Microtubules are organized by the microtubule organizing centers (centrioles and basal bodies). They are capable of growing and shrinking to generate force. They can be used by motor proteins that support the movement of organelles and other cellular factors along the microtubules. (B) The intermediate filaments (blue) have an average diameter of 10 nm, and they are mostly cytoplasmic (except the nuclear filaments known as lamins).

These filaments are deformable proteins that can be stretched to several times their initial length. Such a large deformation is possible due to their hierarchical structure (Qin et al., 2009). (C) The actin microfilaments (green) are the thinnest cytoskeletal filaments (7 nm in diameter). They are assembled in highly versatile bundles and networks, they can be cross-linked and they resist both tensile and compressive forces. They are distributed both in the cortical cytoplasm and throughout the entire cell. They are able to generate force by either elongating or depolymerizing, and they work as part of the actinoomyosin molecular motor (Alberts et al., 2002). http://www.intechopen.com/

http://plantcellbiology.masters.grk...-Plant_Protoplasmic_Cytoskeletal_Elements.htm

 

[exchemist]

Come on, you KNEW this was coming. Not only can microtubules stop COVID, they can even combat cancer! Can world peace be far behind?

Indeed. It reminds me of Flanders and Swann's "Wompom" :

But essentially this is just more internal spam for his microtubule thread, which nobody reads.

 

[Write4U]

But essentially this is just more internal spam for his microtubule thread,

No It is the only place I am allowed to post anything on microtubules. And that's ok with me .

which nobody reads..

Your loss. It is a truly fascinating subject.

But it allows me to discount your uninformed derogatory comments as based on ignorance, by your own admission.

 

[Write4U]

A very interesting review on the state of consciousness science by Sabine Hossenfelder.

 

[Write4U]

Can world peace be far behind?

Do you realize how stupid this remark is?

We have consciousness and regardless of how consciousness manifests itself, we do NOT now have world peace!
So where is the fundamental logic contained in the observation that I would claim emergent consciousness from the microtubule network might solve the question of world peace ?

If you are going to use "clever" sarcasm, at least try to maintain a level of common sense, if not scientific objectivity.

As it stands it makes you the fool, not me.

 

[RainbowSingularity]

Do you realize how stupid this remark is?

We have consciousness and regardless of how consciousness manifests itself, we do NOT now have world peace!
So where is the fundamental logic contained in the observation that I would claim emergent consciousness from the microtubule network might solve the question of world peace ?

If you are going to use "clever" sarcasm, at least try to maintain a level of common sense, if not scientific objectivity.

As it stands it makes you the fool, not me.

obviously its an emotionally based insult
defining your science as being an emotional plea to collective non action

from a gun slinger ?
thats probably high praise

fyi
i am quite fascinated by your theory
"emergent consciousness from the microtubule network"

it "feels" like it has a vast amount of relevant factual construct to it even if the finer precise point may be potentially un-definable
soo many of my fringe science notes & side plates are getting lit up by this the more i postulate the ethereal holistic imagery

"clever"

imagine quantum computers oscillating at this level
but with waves of variance running over them like waves in the sea effecting change which defines difference in process function
it creates randomness variance to define potential frequency shift to potential life creation as a conscious binding attribute
it lives as long as its powered.
its personality is complex & varied

it all makes perfect sense
pure logic running like rainbow colours all interacting with butterfly effects effecting other tubes & functions
(you may copy n paste my post to your thread on the subject if you like please could you ?)

i guess the difference is when you press the brain with your finger on one point
drugs impact what ever
does it change the personality ?
does it change the function as well as the over all aspect ?
is the action absorbed by the greater over all function ?

 

[RainbowSingularity]

this is all so far above my pay grade
& outside my knowledge base

wave functions
reflective oscillation frequency ranges
probability curves
butterfly effects
micro organism collective principals
host verses parasite consciousness concepts

at what stage does a lot of little actions become 1 big action ?
etc ...
this has me excited for next level computing & science