finding
active
finding:bioelectric-control-of-melanocyte-behaviorBioelectric Control of Melanocyte Behavior
Serotonergic signaling from instructor cells controls melanocyte proliferation and invasiveness in frog embryos; bioelectric perturbations produce stochastic organism-level outcomes (70% conversion) while maintaining cell-level concordance.
Source paper
extracted_from(2023) · Levin, Michael
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Communities (4)
community
- Levin-led research showing bioelectric signals encode and control anatomical goal states in living systems.
- Bioelectric morphogenesis & memorymembers_ofMichael Levin's research on bioelectric signaling controlling anatomical goals, regeneration, and cancer.
- Membrane potential dynamics coordinate multicellular behavior, anatomical memory, and agency scaling across biological levels—studied via melanocyte fate, biofilm oscillations, and xenobotic morphology experiments (Levin et al. 2015–2023).
- Studies how gap junction-mediated ion gradients and bioelectric patterns regulate cell identity, morphogenesis, and disease states like cancer, pioneered by Levin's group.
Concepts (1)
concept
- Collective IntelligencesupportsRecognition that selves are composite systems of competent parts; all intelligences are higher-level selves made of cells or components.
Related by similarity (8)
cosine ≥ 0.65 · no typed edgeEntities in the same semantic neighborhood but without a typed relation to this one — candidates for new edges or unrecognized duplicates.
- Framework in which stable voltage patterns in non-neural cells serve as re-writable memory guiding regenerative anatomy, demonstrating software/hardware distinction in biology
- Depolarization of melanocytes converts them to a metastatic state; conversely, hyperpolarization prevents tumor formation even with oncogene expression.
- A key interface exploited by evolution to accomplish morphogenesis; cells perform computations via ion channel voltage dynamics; enables integration of information across scales toward large-scale morphogenetic goals.
- Bioelectric states can serve as master regulators of organogenesis, bypassing the need to manipulate downstream genetic cascades.hypothesis0.785Predicts that simple voltage changes can trigger complex modular morphogenetic programs, useful for regenerative medicine.
- Bioelectric signaling is a primary modality for coordinating cells into morphogenetic collectivesclaim0.779Voltage gradients and gap-junctional communication coordinate large-scale anatomical decisions in development and regeneration, prefiguring neural coordination.