Clever bacteria

Phronesis said:
An active search of random space and rewiring of genetic circuits to solve a problem. Sounds like an intelligent strategy. Bacteria can do it...
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"Active" se voet. Looks like normal cause-and-effect evolution to me. Have these things got brains, or are they brainless, like some others?
 
Phronesis said:
Sly, dishonest? Your slander and mud slinging are not going unnoticed.
Could you perhaps differentiate between intentionality and nano-intentionality? Also, could you differentiate between nano-intentionality and "molecular autonomous agents?
Please address these questions in the correct thread here!
Thank you for your cooperation.
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Intentionality: the notion that consciousness always is consciousness of something ( NOT related to "purpose" )

Nano-intentionality: the misguided notion that organisms without brains are conscious and can plan

Molecular autonomous agents - the misguided notion that simple molecules have brains, are conscious, and can exhibit purposeful behaviour

Intent: aim, plan, purpose

Mineral-intentionality: the notion that rocks can think


BTW TelePhrone, you like Dennett don't you? His "Consciousness Explained" has a great chapter on the evolution of consciousness and the birth of reasoning in organisms ( seeing as you are always muttering that only god could create suchlike ).
 
rwenzori said:
"Active" se voet. Looks like normal cause-and-effect evolution to me. Have these things got brains, or are they brainless, like some others?
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rwenzori said:
Intentionality: the notion that consciousness always is consciousness of something ( NOT related to "purpose" )

Nano-intentionality: the misguided notion that organisms without brains are conscious and can plan

Molecular autonomous agents - the misguided notion that simple molecules have brains, are conscious, and can exhibit purposeful behaviour

Intent: aim, plan, purpose

Mineral-intentionality: the notion that rocks can think
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ROFL, these replies look more like cause and effect.

rwenzori said:
BTW TelePhrone, you like Dennett don't you? His "Consciousness Explained" has a great chapter on the evolution of consciousness and the birth of reasoning in organisms ( seeing as you are always muttering that only god could create suchlike ).
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THIS is what I was hoping you would read up for yourself :rolleyes:.
Popperian creatures et al. Do you think it is a coherent answer? let's see what you know ;).
 
No no, not going down that path again. I asked YOU a question to answer, this time YOU can answer it for a change ;)
 
Phronesis said:
No no, not going down that path again. I asked YOU a question to answer, this time YOU can answer it for a change ;)
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I think that part of the book is rather good - quite in line with my own musings on the topic. Have you read it?
 
rwenzori said:
I think that part of the book is rather good - quite in line with my own musings on the topic. Have you read it?
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Well, here is your chance to actually set out YOUR understanding of something you find interesting. So, in your own thread, muse ahead and tell us why you find it so good. No, I have not read the whole book, so your input will be appreciated ;).
 
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Phronesis said:
Well, here is your chance to actually set out YOUR understanding of something you find interesting. So, in your own thread, muse ahead and tell us why you find it so good. No, I have not read the whole book, so your input will be appreciated ;).
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Not really much point doing so if the PD section is going to be closed, is there?
 
Lol, how is that summary going? Going to be constructive for a change?

More marvelous microbes.

Toward A Rosetta Stone For Microbes' Secret Language
ScienceDaily (Dec. 31, 2007) — Scientists are on the verge of decoding the special chemical language that bacteria use to "talk" to each other, British researchers report. That achievement could lead to new treatments for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including so-called superbugs that infect more than 90,000 people in the United States each year, they note.
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David Spring, Martin Welch, and James T. Hodgkinson explain that researchers long have known that bacteria communicate with each other. Microbes release small molecules that enable millions of individuals in a population to coordinate their behavior.

Disease-causing bacteria use this language to decide when to infect a person or other host. Decoding the structure and function of compounds involved in this elaborate signaling process, known as "quorum sensing," could lead to new medicines to block the signals and prevent infections.

The report describes development of a group of powerful compounds, called N-acylated homoserine lactone (AHL) analogues that are effective against a broad-range of bacterial types, including those that cause diseases in humans.

These compounds are "some of the most potent synthetic modulators of quorum sensing" identified to date, they say. In addition to showing promise for fighting antibiotic-resistant infections, the compounds may help prevent the growth of biofilms that foul medical implants and cause tooth decay and gum disease, the scientists note.

The commentary article, "Learning the Language of Bacteria," is published in the November issue of ACS Chemical Biology.
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Genes that make bacteria make up their minds
Bacteria are single cell organisms with no nervous system or brain. So how do individual bacterial cells living as part of a complex community called a biofilm "decide" between different physiological processes (such as movement or producing the "glue" that forms the biofilm)?

In the prestigious 2009 Fleming lecture, given at the Society for General Microbiology's meeting in Harrogate, (Monday 30 March) Dr Nicola Stanley-Wall from the University of Dundee explained that it is important to understand how biofilms form as they are often the basis of chronic infections and also of bioremediation processes. More detailed information on how bacteria develop into biofilms will allow scientists to work on alternative strategies to treat biofilm related infections and may improve technologies for waste water treatment plants or microbial fuel cells.

Using a soil bacterium called Bacillus subtilis, Dr Stanley-Wall has investigated the genes and proteins required for biofilms to develop. She has shown that a protein called DegU helps the individual bacteria to "decide" whether to form a biofilm or not.

"Presumably the bacteria need to achieve the best outcome in response to changes in environmental conditions. DegU protein enables the bacteria to switch between swarming movement and the production of biofilm materials to suit the particular circumstances" said Dr Stanley-Wall.
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From : Specificity in two-component signal transduction pathways.
Two-component signal transduction systems are one of the most prevalent means by which bacteria sense, respond, and adapt to changes in their environment or in their intracellular state. These signaling systems, comprised of sensor histidine kinases (HK) and their cognate response regulator (RR) substrates, are found in nearly every sequenced bacterial genome, with some encoding as many as 200. The prevalence of these systems underscores their tremendous versatility and their utility to bacteria. These pathways have been implicated in mediating the response of bacteria to a wide range of signals and stimuli, including nutrients, cellular redox state, changes in osmolarity, quorum signals, antibiotics, and more.
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picture.php

Mycobacterium tuberculosis 2 component system signal receiver (3eul.pdb)​
 
Foresight... a hallmark of intelligence.
Nano-intentionality... A hallmark of molecular autonomous agents (all living things).
Present ever since the emergence of life.
Scientists Show Bacteria Can 'Learn' And Plan Ahead
ScienceDaily (June 18, 2009) — Bacteria can anticipate a future event and prepare for it, according to new research at the Weizmann Institute of Science. In a paper that appeared June 17 in Nature, Prof. Yitzhak Pilpel, doctoral student Amir Mitchell and research associate Dr. Orna Dahan of the Institute's Molecular Genetics Department, together with Prof. Martin Kupiec and Gal Romano of Tel Aviv University, examined microorganisms living in environments that change in predictable ways.
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Their findings show that these microorganisms' genetic networks are hard-wired to 'foresee' what comes next in the sequence of events and begin responding to the new state of affairs before its onset.

E. coli bacteria, for instance, which normally cruise harmlessly down the digestive tract, encounter a number of different environments on their way. In particular, they find that one type of sugar – lactose – is invariably followed by a second sugar – maltose – soon afterward. Pilpel and his team of the Molecular Genetics Department, checked the bacterium's genetic response to lactose, and found that, in addition to the genes that enable it to digest lactose, the gene network for utilizing maltose was partially activated. When they switched the order of the sugars, giving the bacteria maltose first, there was no corresponding activation of lactose genes, implying that bacteria have naturally 'learned' to get ready for a serving of maltose after a lactose appetizer.

Another microorganism that experiences consistent changes is wine yeast. As fermentation progresses, sugar and acidity levels change, alcohol levels rise, and the yeast's environment heats up. Although the system was somewhat more complicated that that of E. coli, the scientists found that when the wine yeast feel the heat, they begin activating genes for dealing with the stresses of the next stage. Further analysis showed that this anticipation and early response is an evolutionary adaptation that increases the organism's chances of survival.

Ivan Pavlov first demonstrated this type of adaptive anticipation, known as a conditioned response, in dogs in the 1890s. He trained the dogs to salivate in response to a stimulus by repeatedly ringing a bell before giving them food. In the microorganisms, says Pilpel, 'evolution over many generations replaces conditioned learning, but the end result is similar.' 'In both evolution and learning,' says Mitchell, 'the organism adapts its responses to environmental cues, improving its ability to survive.' Romano: 'This is not a generalized stress response, but one that is precisely geared to an anticipated event.'

To see whether the microorganisms were truly exhibiting a conditioned response, Pilpel and Mitchell devised a further test for the E. coli based on another of Pavlov's experiments. When Pavlov stopped giving the dogs food after ringing the bell, the conditioned response faded until they eventually ceased salivating at its sound. The scientists did something similar, using bacteria grown by Dr. Erez Dekel, in the lab of Prof. Uri Alon of the Molecular Cell Biology Department, in an environment containing the first sugar, lactose, but not following it up with maltose. After several months, the bacteria had evolved to stop activating their maltose genes at the taste of lactose, only turning them on when maltose was actually available.

'This showed us that there is a cost to advanced preparation, but that the benefits to the organism outweigh the costs in the right circumstances,' says Pilpel. What are those circumstances? Based on the experimental evidence, the research team created a sort of cost/benefit model to predict the types of situations in which an organism could increase its chances of survival by evolving to anticipate future events. They are already planning a number of new tests for their model, as well as different avenues of experimentation based on the insights they have gained.

Pilpel and his team believe that genetic conditioned response may be a widespread means of evolutionary adaptation that enhances survival in many organisms – one that may also take place in the cells of higher organisms, including humans. These findings could have practical implications, as well. Genetically engineered microorganisms for fermenting plant materials to produce biofuels, for example, might work more efficiently if they gained the genetic ability to prepare themselves for the next step in the process.
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Phronesis said:
Intelligence
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Lekker! A Wikipedia quote nogal!

Intelligence (also called intellect) is an umbrella term used to describe a property of the mind that encompasses many related abilities, such as the capacities to reason, to plan, to solve problems, to think abstractly, to comprehend ideas, to use language, and to learn.
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All of which your "intelligent" bugs have?
ROFL! :D:D
 
You did not read, otherwise you would not have assumed they do, and understood that I did not imply they do. More straw for you?
 
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