The balance of physical forces that shape developing embryos, moving not quite like liquids or solids but somewhere in between, is compared by a researcher to an artist at work:
Far more than expected, according to results published in Nature earlier this month. For the first time, using a series of clever, state-of-the-art techniques, scientists have uncovered the balance of physical forces that shapes tissues in developing embryos. And the process they’ve identified has turned out to be surprisingly familiar — not for its role in biology, but for its part in revolutionizing how physicists understand a slew of materials ranging from toothpaste to glass…
Campàs and his colleagues measured all three properties in different regions of the developing zebra fish embryo, from head to tail, and showed that the way the cells get packed and change their behavior also fits the theory of jamming. Before, scientists had thought that cells essentially fine-tuned forces, applying more stress here, less there, to guide everything into place like a sculptor molding clay. “Instead,” Campàs said, “it’s more like blowing glass,” like liquefying a part that needs sculpting and then letting its new form set.Jordana Cepelewicz, “‘Traffic Jams’ of Cells Help to Sculpt Embryos” at Quanta
Like blowing glass? Biology’s language is poorly adapted to Darwinism.
Technically, the researcher means “blowing glass but there is no glassblower.” But most people can’t say that and still feel that they are making sense. And maybe they aren’t. But they can certainly make life difficult for any who challenge them.
See also: Fish turn into fluids, which aids embryo development
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