Understanding life by electro-physiological responses in the living and non living

A number of pioneering discoveries made by Jagdish Chandra Bose of India, 

more than 100 years ago, 

leave us to visualize about the broader concept of life;
encompassing animals, plants as well as non living material too,

proving with his own designed instruments that:

1. Elecrical nature of conduction of stimuli in animals are same as to the plants and they can "feel pain, understand affection etc."

2. Cells as well as metals both show fatigue response to the stimulation. 

Perhaps this was the first time in history of biophysics, 

that a comparative study of living and non living world has been performed 

and demonstrated so successfully.

Jagadish Chandra Bose
in Royal Institution, London

 Bose's place in history has now been re-evaluated, and he is credited with the invention of the first wireless detection device and the discovery of millimetre length electromagnetic waves and considered a pioneer in the field of biophysics.



Many of his instruments are still on display and remain largely usable now, over 100 years later. They include various antennas, polarisers, and waveguides, which remain in use in modern forms today.


Electro-physiology of animals and plants: His major contribution in the field of biophysics was the demonstration of the electrical nature of the conduction of various stimuli (e.g., wounds, chemical agents) in plants, which were earlier thought to be of a chemical nature.

From the analysis of the variation of the cell membrane potential of plants under different circumstances, he hypothesised that plants can "feel pain, understand affection etc."

The central hall of the Royal Society in London was jam-packed with famous scientists on May 10, 1901. Everyone seemed to be curious to know how Bose’s experiment will demonstrate that plants have feelings like other living beings and humans. Bose chose a plant whose mots were cautiously dipped up to its stem in a vessel holding the bromide solution. The salts of hydrobromic acid are considered a poison. He plugged in the instrument with the plant and viewed the lighted spot on a screen showing the movements of the plant, as its pulse beat, and the spot began to and fro movement similar to a pendulum. Within minutes, the spot vibrated in a violent manner and finally came to an abrupt stop. The whole thing was almost like a poisoned rat fighting against death. The plant had died due to the exposure to the poisonous bromide solution.

Metal fatigue and cell response: Bose performed a comparative study of the fatigue response of various metals and organic tissue in plants. He subjected metals to a combination of mechanical, thermal, chemical, and electrical stimuli and noted the similarities between metals and cells. Bose's experiments demonstrated a cyclical fatigue response in both stimulated cells and metals, as well as a distinctive cyclical fatigue and recovery response across multiple types of stimuli in both living cells and metals.

Bose documented a characteristic electrical response curve of plant cells to electrical stimulus, as well as the decrease and eventual absence of this response in plants treated with anaesthetics or poison. The response was also absent in zinc treated with oxalic acid. He noted a similarity in reduction of elasticity between cooled metal wires and organic cells, as well as an impact on the recovery cycle period of the metal.

# share courtesy:http://en.wikipedia.org
# books:
Response in the Living and Non-living, 1902
Comparative Electro-physiology, 1907
Researches on Irritability of Plants, 1913
The Nervous Mechanisms of Plants, 1926
# more references:

Jagadish Chandra Bose: Biography

J.C. Bose: 60 GHz in the 1890s

Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose: the unsung Hero of Radio Communication

Understanding life by the cycle of matter and energy in animate world

As in previous blogpost (understanding life by the cycle of matter and energy in inanimate world)
we concluded that:

•  World (animate and inanimate, both) seems to be an interactive play of 'matter and energy', 
•  Dual nature of matter could be explained well as: 'matter is a condensed energy',
•  As per our understanding ('law of thermodynamics'), energy 'can not be created or destroyed',
•  An actual end ('annihilation') is not there,
•  What we call 'death', is a phase of evolutionary change of existence; better to say: a 'gene journey'.

Likewise in animate world the duality of matter is available at all level, 

i.e. from cell to organ. 

Physiology is complete only by a constant conversion of matter and energy 

i.e. electrical and chemical both:

('Electrophysiology' and 'Electrochemistry' explains the 'Responses' and 'Nervous Mechanism')

•  As a single cell functions on fundamentals of duality of matter; exerting both chemical and electrical commands to sustain and communicate within and without,
•  And on further complex level, even a single organ functions again on chemical and electrical, both kinds of control,
•  So be it a cell or a complex organ of a living being, here again like the material world, we find a constant inter-conversions between matter and energy.
  

Electrical and chemical working of individual neuron is an example of dual behavior of matter in a single cell :

The human body is made up of trillions of cells. Cells of the nervous system, called nerve cells or neurons, are specialized to carry "messages" through an electrochemical process. The human brain has approximately 100 billion neurons.

#picture courtesy: http://www.dummies.com, http://en.wikipedia.org

#further reference for transmission of a nerve impulse

Neurotransmitters and receptors

Animation: The nerve impulse

Neuron is an electrically excitable cell that processes and transmits information through electrochemical signals. These signals between neurons occur via synapses, specialized connections with other cells.

The key to neural function is the synaptic signaling process, which is partly electrical and partly chemical.

Neurons communicate by chemical and electrical synapses in a process known as neurotransmission also called synaptic transmission. The fundamental process that triggers the release of neurotransmitters is the action potential, a propagating electrical signal that is generated by exploiting the electrically excitable membrane of the neuron. This is also known as a wave of depolarization.

Certain brain parts of human work both ways; electrical and chemical:

The hypothalamus, as its name implies, is situated below the thalamus — a huge collection of nuclei in the centre of the cerebral hemispheres. It forms part of the walls and floor of the central chamber of the cerebral ventricles, called the third ventricle. Hanging on a stalk underneath the hypothalamus is the pituitary gland.

Although small, this is one of the most important parts of the grey matter of the brain, for it participates in a number of vital activities. It regulates a variety of hormonal functions by action on the pituitary gland, and it exerts magisterial control over the blood vessels and glands of the body via the autonomic nervous system. It is an integral part of the limbic system, which influences important aspects of our behaviour and even our very survival, regulating such functions as emotion, sexual and nutritional appetites, rhythms, and sleep cycles. Some cells of the hypothalamus detect changes in body temperature and chemistry, and participate directly in the control of our temperature and chemical balance.

Many nerve cells in the hypothalamus have a so-called ‘neuroendocrine’ function — instead of producing transmitter substances that simply communicate directly with other neurons, they secrete chemicals that act as hormones, circulating in the blood and affecting other parts of the body. (by Laurence Garey)

ATP, molecular currency of intracellular energy transfer:

ATP can be produced by various cellular processes, most typically in mitochondria by oxidative phosphorylation under the catalytic influence of ATP synthase or in the case of plants in chloroplasts by photosynthesis.

Energy is released by hydrolysis of the third phosphate group. After this third phosphate group is released, the resulting ADP (adenosine diphosphate) can absorb energy and regain the group, thus regenerating an ATP molecule; this allows ATP to store energy like a rechargeable battery.

# picture thankfully shared:http://en.wikipedia.org and various other internet sources. 

Undersatnding life by the cycle of matter and energy in inanimate world

Abstract:

•  World (animate and inanimate, both) seems to be an interactive play of 'matter and energy', 
•  Dual nature of matter could be well explained as: 'matter is a condensed energy',
•  As per our understanding ('law of thermodynamics'), energy 'can not be created or destroyed',
•  An actual end ('annihilation') is not there,
•  What we call 'death', is a phase of evolutionary change of existence; better to say: a 'gene journey'.

Matter and energy equivalence

In physics, mass–energy equivalence is the concept that the mass of an object or system is a measure of its energy content. 

E=MC2

where E is energy, m is mass, and c is the speed of light. Thus, this mass–energy relation states that the universal proportionality factor between equivalent amounts of energy and mass is equal to the speed of light squared. This also serves to convert units of mass to units of energy, no matter what system of measurement units is used.

According to the older theories of classical physics, energy is treated solely as a continuous phenomenon, while matter is assumed to occupy a very specific region of space and to move in a continuous manner. 

According to the quantum theory, energy is held to be emitted and absorbed in tiny, discrete amounts. An individual bundle or packet of energy, called a quantum (pl. quanta), thus behaves in some situations much like particles of matter; particles are found to exhibit certain wavelike properties when in motion and are no longer viewed as localized in a given region but rather as spread out to some degree.

Matter: according to the de Broglie concept, the matter has dual nature. It means when the matter is moving it shows the wave properties (like interference, diffraction etc.) are associated with it and when it is in the state of rest then it shows particle properties. Thus the matter has dual nature. The waves associated with moving particles are matter waves or de-Broglie waves.

(In 1924 a young physicist, de Broglie, speculated that nature did not single out light as being the only matter which exhibits a wave-particle duality. He proposed that ordinary ``particles'' such as electrons, protons, or bowling balls could also exhibit wave characteristics in certain circumstances. Quantitatively, he associated a wavelength to a particle of mass m moving at speed v :) 

 

Electron: sometimes acts like a particle and sometimes it acts like a wave. It really depends on the situation (i.e the experiment you are doing and how you measuring things).

In 1905, Albert Einstein provided an explanation of the photoelectric effect, a hitherto troubling experiment that the wave theory of light seemed incapable of explaining. He did so by postulating the existence of photons, quanta of light energy with particulate qualities.

In the photoelectric effect, it was observed that shining a light on certain metals would lead to an electric current in a circuit. Presumably, the light was knocking electrons out of the metal, causing current to flow.

First law of thermodynamics: energy can be changed from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed. The total amount of energy and matter in the Universe remains constant, merely changing from one form to another. The First Law of Thermodynamics (Conservation) states that energy is always conserved, it cannot be created or destroyed. In essence, energy can be converted from one form into another.

Second law of thermodynamics: states that "in all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves the system, the potential energy of the state will always be less than that of the initial state." This is also commonly referred to as entropy. A watchspring-driven watch will run until the potential energy in the spring is converted, and not again until energy is reapplied to the spring to rewind it. A car that has run out of gas will not run again until you walk 10 miles to a gas station and refuel the car. Once the potential energy locked in carbohydrates is converted into kinetic energy (energy in use or motion), the organism will get no more until energy is input again. In the process of energy transfer, some energy will dissipate as heat. Entropy is a measure of disorder: cells are NOT disordered and so have low entropy. The flow of energy maintains order and life. Entropy wins when organisms cease to take in energy and die.

Annihilation of matter: annihilation is defined as "total destruction" or "complete obliteration" of an object; having its root in the Latin nihil (nothing). A literal translation is "to make into nothing"

In physics, the word is used to denote the process that occurs when a subatomic particle collides with its respective antiparticle, such as an electron colliding with a positron. Since energy and momentum must be conserved, the particles are simply transformed into new particles. They do not disappear from existence. 

Encounters between particles and antiparticles lead to the annihilation of both, giving rise to varying proportions of high-energy photons (gamma rays), neutrinos, and lower-mass particle–antiparticle pairs.

#further reference for study: GUT matter
#picture courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org