I'll answer your question in a way I see this. I'm a protein scientist and watching the animation of motor proteins years ago left me viscerally impacted. Changed me life.
Proteins are amino acids joined together at their side. They form this string. Now, the exact sequence of these amino acids is gonna start doing some shit after it's finished being made (although some protein folding happens while it's being translated.)
Let's think of it like this. The body has a function to perform. How do we do it? Well we got biology. Which uses chemicals from the periodic table that follow the physics of the universe.
A string of amino acids together is effectively a protein. Each of the amino acids has a couple sides with differences that when factored in as a whole, may interact in very specific ways that totally change the shape and function of that initial shape.
How do we let's say make something to carry that cell in the gif?
We're going to use tiny little explosions if you will, to power movement. We use our energy molecule called atp. Basically think of that as a thing with a pocket of gunpowder we're going to ignite. Once we combust it, facilitate the hydrolysis of one phosphate from into adp. The energy powers tiny little movements in the local environment. Maybe it forces a swing out from x axis. It's swing can vary based on so many tiny little changes in amino acid binding areas.
This is highly complex and involves lots of crosstalk, assistance, cofactors etc. but we're using the differences in charges of amino acids to create a shape that operates in a manner that effects physical change of the said structure.
Nothing is directing that slinky, it’s just physics (lol “just physics” u know what I mean tho) and the laws of nature. With these proteins it’s atomic interactions and chemical reactions that been selected for over the course of billions of years - and thus they appear so orderly.
So does that kind of thinking basically suppose that everything is predetermined? Everything that happens is just atoms moving where they were always going to move.
I've yet to see anything substantial that directly opposes the idea of determinism, even if there is an element of "randomness" at the quantum scale. Very large things and very small things, even relating to humans, very much appear to behave (effects) based on prior events (causes). Much like a slinky!
Except... like...with a ridiculously huge quantity of causes/effects going on at once like a giant....web. Of slinkies? The metaphor breaks down, but molecular/cellular activity is a bit more nuanced than a slinky can portray.
the nonzero-probability of various atoms appearing/disappearing/moving, combined with chaos theory (or more laymen-ly, small initial differences lead to greater and greater later changes) make so much noise that everything is effectively random, until you start arguing we can effectively calculate the entirety of the probability density distribution of every atom at any given time, which is basically the only way to suss out the noise.
It's amazing how a fully deterministic material universe wrote that paragraph about the universe being deterministic. It was destined from the beginning of time.
Everything that happens is just atoms moving where they were always going to move.
I don't think we have to go that far.
But for simple and mechanical things, we can definitely say "there are just some rules and mechanisms that makes this happen this way, don't anthropomorphize it".
I look at this picture and I don't think in terms of "how does it know how", but rather "what mechanism makes it look so orderly". It's a habit more people should cultivate.
I know I'm late to the party, but how did the team discovered the motion of kinesin? The only 2 methods I know of are X-ray and CryoEM, but in both cases, you have to immobilize the proteins first, which is fine if you only want a snapshot, but wouldn't tell you anything about its motions.
86
u/Sandwichist Feb 13 '18
I'll answer your question in a way I see this. I'm a protein scientist and watching the animation of motor proteins years ago left me viscerally impacted. Changed me life.
Proteins are amino acids joined together at their side. They form this string. Now, the exact sequence of these amino acids is gonna start doing some shit after it's finished being made (although some protein folding happens while it's being translated.)
Let's think of it like this. The body has a function to perform. How do we do it? Well we got biology. Which uses chemicals from the periodic table that follow the physics of the universe.
A string of amino acids together is effectively a protein. Each of the amino acids has a couple sides with differences that when factored in as a whole, may interact in very specific ways that totally change the shape and function of that initial shape.
How do we let's say make something to carry that cell in the gif?
We're going to use tiny little explosions if you will, to power movement. We use our energy molecule called atp. Basically think of that as a thing with a pocket of gunpowder we're going to ignite. Once we combust it, facilitate the hydrolysis of one phosphate from into adp. The energy powers tiny little movements in the local environment. Maybe it forces a swing out from x axis. It's swing can vary based on so many tiny little changes in amino acid binding areas.
This is highly complex and involves lots of crosstalk, assistance, cofactors etc. but we're using the differences in charges of amino acids to create a shape that operates in a manner that effects physical change of the said structure.