And this study has gotten cell membranes to divide into daughter cells which possess completely different functions to the parent cell. All this without involving genes or cellular machinery !
New technique sheds light on the mysterious process of cell division
Quote:
The team members note that the new modeling technique seems to suggests that simple chemical and physical interactions within cells -- such as self-assembly, phase separation, and partitioning -- can result in seemingly complex behaviors – like asymmetric division -- even when no additional cellular machinery is present. "Since there were no nucleic acids nor enzymes present, we clearly didn't have genes governing how our model cells would behave," Keating said. "So our study supports the hypothesis that structural and organizational 'cues' work in concert with genetic signals to achieve and maintain polarity through successive cell-division cycles."
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Keating also explained that experimentation on non-living model cells that contain no DNA could help point to clues explaining the mysterious process of abiogenesis.
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I don't know whether 'a simple drop of water' is capable of achieving this feat ??
Cheers