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Author Topic:   Questions about the living cell
Lithodid-Man
Member (Idle past 2921 days)
Posts: 504
From: Juneau, Alaska, USA
Joined: 03-22-2004


Message 116 of 182 (527832)
10-02-2009 7:22 PM
Reply to: Message 112 by Theodoric
10-02-2009 4:35 PM


Re: Topic please!!!
Theo writes:
Why is laminin so special because it might be construed as resembling a cross, but other things like potassium channels in nerve cells that look like swastikas have no relevance? Or how about DNA itself.
Nice post! The whole laminin thing is bizarre, I have seen several of Louie Giglio's talks about it, great showmanship and little else. Besides the molecules that look like other symbols one has to ask how many ways can a few linear objects be put together?
One thing that I think is even funnier is that the typical cross used to symbolize Christianity is tradition, not Biblical. We do not know what the shape of the crucifixion instrument was that Jesus was tacked to (assuming it happened). The word used throughout the gospels is 'stauros' which refers to a simple pole that was a very common crucifixion device during that time. Arguments have been made that stauros could also refer to a cross, which may be true but hardly conclusive. I know off topic, but laminin related (could be an interesting topic?).

Doctor Bashir: "Of all the stories you told me, which were true and which weren't?"
Elim Garak: "My dear Doctor, they're all true"
Doctor Bashir: "Even the lies?"
Elim Garak: "Especially the lies"

This message is a reply to:
 Message 112 by Theodoric, posted 10-02-2009 4:35 PM Theodoric has not replied

  
Lithodid-Man
Member (Idle past 2921 days)
Posts: 504
From: Juneau, Alaska, USA
Joined: 03-22-2004


(1)
Message 171 of 182 (529466)
10-09-2009 12:45 PM
Reply to: Message 166 by bluescat48
10-09-2009 11:03 AM


Disease and sin
As an aside, I would argue that parasitically-driven disease is more than an inconvenient fact of nature but a critical component of ecosystems. At risk of hyperbole, I like to use the phrase 'parasites run the world'. For example, it is becoming more and more apparent in oceanic systems that phytoplankton blooms worldwide are probably more limited by viral load than by nutrient depletion (gross over-simplification, it is more than simple mortality but also the viral component of the microbial loop which is at play here). These annual (or more often) die-offs are driving forces in oceanic nutrient content in surface waters (i.e. they provide the raw materials for the next bloom) and sinking nutrients drive deep sea ecosystems, which area-wise is most of our planet.
Likewise I believe that in terrestrial systems the role of parasites (including or especially that gray area between parasitism and commensalism) is under appreciated. Parasites have been shown to actually increase the total biomass in certain closed systems, and I suspect this process is probably occurring on a larger scale but is harder to resolve.
I look at this as something of a monkey wrench in the creationist adage about disease being a negative consequence of the Fall.

Doctor Bashir: "Of all the stories you told me, which were true and which weren't?"
Elim Garak: "My dear Doctor, they're all true"
Doctor Bashir: "Even the lies?"
Elim Garak: "Especially the lies"

This message is a reply to:
 Message 166 by bluescat48, posted 10-09-2009 11:03 AM bluescat48 has not replied

  
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