Plant automatic response to climate change (Introduction)

by dhw, Friday, December 28, 2018, 12:23 (1951 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: Bacteria have complex organelles”): If the first cells of life were this complex only a designer could have created them. We know that cells in eukaryotes have compartments for different production functions. It is logical to find bacteria are the same and cellular function hasn't really changed since the beginning of life. Overall complexity is simply different functioning cells coming together to make complex organisms.

dhw: If cellular function hasn’t changed since the beginning, the beginning must have comprised “different functioning” cells. So single cell life already contained brain cells, liver cells, kidney cells, sex cells….I would suggest that cells have changed their functions in all the innovations that have taken place since multicellularity began.

DAVID: Hey, bacteria are single cells and the all do the same thing. An E. coli is an e. coli. I don't follow that comment of yours at all. The article shows that different parts of the single cells are programmed to do different jobs. The intelligence is in the gene instructions which tell the parts how to function. Multicellular organisms divided up the functions with differing cells, a great jump in complexity.

Perhaps I misunderstood your original statement. It’s obvious that complex organisms consist of cells/cell communities performing different functions. But if “cellular function hasn’t really changed since the beginning of life”, do you mean that single cells already had “compartments” for the brain, the liver etc. If not, then clearly cells took on new functions once multicellularity had begun. I’m not making a point here – I’m simply asking for clarification.