Week 3 Bio: Prokaryotes, Eukaryotes, and Viruses
That was a nice tutorial on prokaryotes, eukaryotes and viruses!
I especially liked the section on what it's like to be bacteria (and I am made up of bacteria too!), especially these little facts: "at fairly high frequencies, spontaneous mutations cause you to turn into a female" , and , "Every time you mate with a female, she turns into a male. In bacteria, "maleness" is an infective venereal disease." That's nice to read about gender fluidity which comprises bacteria which comprises us -- not "he" or "she" but "they", and that makes sense to me, just like how in Native American and Siberian indigenous peoples, some are "twin spirits", who possess both the female and the male energy - and that fact is celebrated, it is a gift. We say in TCM that yin and yang are inter-transforming and this is a great example of that, how both exist at once, become one another, and are constantly in flux. Yin is never completely without Yang, and Yang is never completely without Yin. The separation of the two is thought of as death.
Another funny aspect is how bacteria live in an environment similar to asphalt, or that you can move at 30mph but can't stop! I don't know what that would feel like of course, except for in the dream world where it does seem like density and gravity changes, and that I can't control motion. Sometimes I can't turn left!
In general this was a great overview, especially the parts of the cell, but the best parts to me were about what life would be like from the perspective of bacteria. It was also useful to learn more about what is cystic fibrosis and how it is a collection of proteins not folding correctly. Something so small such as folding those proteins has a huge effect on the system - it just shows how finely tuned our biology is and how adaptable it is.
I especially liked the section on what it's like to be bacteria (and I am made up of bacteria too!), especially these little facts: "at fairly high frequencies, spontaneous mutations cause you to turn into a female" , and , "Every time you mate with a female, she turns into a male. In bacteria, "maleness" is an infective venereal disease." That's nice to read about gender fluidity which comprises bacteria which comprises us -- not "he" or "she" but "they", and that makes sense to me, just like how in Native American and Siberian indigenous peoples, some are "twin spirits", who possess both the female and the male energy - and that fact is celebrated, it is a gift. We say in TCM that yin and yang are inter-transforming and this is a great example of that, how both exist at once, become one another, and are constantly in flux. Yin is never completely without Yang, and Yang is never completely without Yin. The separation of the two is thought of as death.
Another funny aspect is how bacteria live in an environment similar to asphalt, or that you can move at 30mph but can't stop! I don't know what that would feel like of course, except for in the dream world where it does seem like density and gravity changes, and that I can't control motion. Sometimes I can't turn left!
In general this was a great overview, especially the parts of the cell, but the best parts to me were about what life would be like from the perspective of bacteria. It was also useful to learn more about what is cystic fibrosis and how it is a collection of proteins not folding correctly. Something so small such as folding those proteins has a huge effect on the system - it just shows how finely tuned our biology is and how adaptable it is.
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