Unicellular can remember harmful substances — scientists
Scientists have discovered memory in some of the simplest unicellular organisms. It turned out that some ciliates of Stentor roeselii can remember information and even substances that are harmful to them, and avoid them at the next meeting. Conclusions biologists from Harvard University published the scientific journal Current Biology.
According to Jeremy Gunawarden, the author of a modern experiment, he fed Stentor roeselii with plastic balls, which irritated the ciliates noticeably more than the natural dye.
It turned out that Stentor roeselii randomly shrink upon contact with plastic balls or immediately detach from the eaten organic matter with a 50% probability.
It turns out that ciliates do not always run away from substances hazardous to them, but most often they use some kind of protopamy mechanisms to understand the safety of a particular material. However, how Stentor roeselii makes this choice is still unknown.
According to Jeremy Gunawarden, the author of a modern experiment, he fed Stentor roeselii with plastic balls, which irritated the ciliates noticeably more than the natural dye.
It turned out that Stentor roeselii randomly shrink upon contact with plastic balls or immediately detach from the eaten organic matter with a 50% probability.
It turns out that ciliates do not always run away from substances hazardous to them, but most often they use some kind of protopamy mechanisms to understand the safety of a particular material. However, how Stentor roeselii makes this choice is still unknown.
