What are microtubules?
Microtubules are tiny subcomponents of cells.
They are prominant aspects of the skeleton of all eukaryotic cells (being
parts of a ubiquitous structure known as the cytoskeleton) -
they are the structural and dynamical basis of the cells: for example they
mediate cell
division.
They may participate in quantum mechanical
phenomena which have relevance to biology...
"Microtubules (MTs) are cylindrical protein polymers
interconnected by cross bridging proteins (MAPs), which structurally and
dynamically organize functional activities in living cells, including
synaptic regulation inside of the brain's neurons. They are the most
prominent feature of the cytoskeleton, which
is at once 1) structural scaffolding of cells, 2) transport
system, and 3) onboard computer."
Stuart Hameroff
Microtubules are composed of internetworked "tubulin"
- Tubulins are internetworked and undergo "conformational state changes."
- The numerology
of tubulins and tubes are interesting...
Do they compute?
| The idea that the cytoskeleton acts as a
"computer," is indirectly supported by many observations, including the
complex behavior of unicellular creatures such as the paramecium.
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Could the
cytoskeleton underlie even consciousness?
"The role of neurons, in this picture, is perhaps
more like a magnifying device in which the smaller-scale cytoskeletal
action is transferred to something which can influence other organs of the
body - such as muscles."
Roger Penrose, Shadows of
the Mind p. 376
Are MTs quantum mechanical?
The cytoskeleton, and particularly the tube-shaped microtubules
and the tubulins, are ideal quantum mechanical resonators (in
contrast to bulky cells, for example). Resonance in the cytoskeleton might
support, via something like the Frohlich
mechanism, the existence of a Bose-Einstein
condensate across the brain...
"To summarize, cytoskeletal microtubules are likely candidates
for quantum coherence relevant to consciousness because...
- Microtubule individual subunit (tubulin) conformations may
be coupled to quantum-level events (electron movement, dipole, phonon)
in hydrophobic protein regions.
- Microtubule paracrystalline lattice structure, symmetry,
cylindrical configuration and parallel alignment promote long-range
cooperativity and order.
- Hollow microtubule interiors appear capable of
water-ordering, waveguide
super-radiance and self-induced
transparency."
Stuart Hameroff,
Quantum Coherence in
Microtubules
(1994) |
Research Multiwave Oscillators by Georges Lakhovsky
Microtubules are tiny subcomponents of cells.
