Reader Comments

Post a new comment on this article

A MATHEMATICAL COUNTERPART TO BACTERIAL CLONES SHOWING SURPRISING INDIVIDUALITY

Posted by atozzi683 on 17 Sep 2019 at 19:59 GMT

Genetically identical bacteria should all be the same, but in fact, the cells are stubbornly varied individuals. That heterogeneity may be an important adaptation. When groups of identical cells diversify, they can divide up some of their tasks and start to specialize in certain processes. Possibly the bacteria we thought were completely identical were in fact behaving in a not identical way.
https://www.quantamagazin...

There is a pure mathematical/topological counterpart to this observation. The concepts of “sameness”, “equality”, “belonging together” stand for intertwined levels with mutual interactions. By showing that “matching” description is a very general and malleable concept, a novel testable approach to “identity” that yields helpful insights into physical and biological matters has been provided (https://www.sciencedirect...). Indeed, a novel mathematical approach derived from the Borsuk-Ulam theorem, termed bio-BUT, might explain the astonishing biological “multiplicity from identity” of evolving living beings as well as their biochemical arrangements.


Arturo Tozzi
Center for Nonlinear Science, Department of Physics, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA
1155 Union Circle, #311427Denton, TX 76203-5017 USA
tozziarturo@libero.it
Arturo.Tozzi@unt.edu

No competing interests declared.