[Texas Songwriter]

Hi Betty. I have not been on FR for a while. There are also numerous studies regarding the genus Paramecium studying hyperosmolarity introduced in a medium and the paramecium tried to use its mobility, away from the hyperosmolar fluid. Of course eventually the solute became isotonic and killed the creature. The same response studies have been done with thermal differentials, pH differentials. These studies were done with Amoeba. I do not know if flagellated bacteria were likewise studied, but I feel sure they were. Sentience is the operative word...self awareness.

There is a very informative book entitled "The Metabolic Basis of Inherited Disease", by Stanbury,Wynngaarden, and Fredrickson. The book covers the entire spectrum of metabolic disease from diseases primarily manifested as disorders of carbohydrate metabolism to disorders of amino acid metabolism, to lipid metabolism, steriod metabolism, purine and pyrimidine metabolism, and on and on and on. One disease called Lesch-Nyhan syndrome is the manifestation of a genetic abberation of the complete lack of an enzyme of purine metabolism, hypoxanthine-guanine Phosphoribosyl-transferase. It results in the excess production of uric acid, and results in neurologic features, including self-mutilation, choreatheosis, spaciticityd, and mental retardation. This enzyme defect is due to a single genetic mutation. It is analogous to the mutation of the genetic 'defect' of the oft-dredged 'antibiotic' resistance mutation. Now there is no doubt that nosocomial infections are real. Pseudomonus aerougenosis and Staph come to mind. I have had to contend with those two more than I care to think about. But the point is these unfortunant people afflicted with Leysh-Nyan are people and Pseudomons is Pseudomonas. The same might be said of people who genetically are afflicted with Albinism, Juvenile Onset Diabetes (Type I), Phenylketonuria, Alcaptonuria, Hyperinsulinemia, Fabry's disease, Wilson's disease, and hundreds others....they are all conditions, the result of mutiation, and they are all Homo sapien

I think we need to step back to define life, truth, science, and another word which keeps being played like a palmed card, useless.

[allmendream]

Are either of you aware that an amoeba has a genome up to one hundred times larger than a human being?

Typical moving of the goal post. I ask about sentience in bacteria and the behavior of a highly complex Eukaryote with a genome a hundred times larger than our own and many thousands of times larger than a bacteria is brought out as an example of supposed sentience.

One need not have sentience to display complex behavior based upon molecular interactions.

But it might help to understand those interactions if you know what DNA is and what it does.

It is easy to assume that everything is magical when you don’t have any idea how things actually work.