From: Grant Callaghan (grantc4@hotmail.com)
Date: Sat 02 Nov 2002 - 03:10:14 GMT
>
>You mean, I'm sure, in their own electrochemical language; right?
>
I would say that cells send each other both electrical and chemical
messages. But I'm not just talking about neurons. I'm talking about every
cell in the body sending messages to the cells that surround it. Most of
those messages are chemical in nature. Other chemical messages are sent via
the blood stream. How does testosterone and adrenalin influence the cells
of the heart to beat faster? They are chemical messengers. They also send
messages to the stomach and liver telling those cells to adjust their output
of certain chemicals such as acid and bile. The body is a veritable
chemical internet.
Genes are turned on and off as needed in the cells these messages reach.
Stem cells become other kinds of cells depending on the messages they
receive from the cells near where they lodge. We tend to think of messages
being the passing of electrochemical signals along the nerve cells and
neurons. But every cell sends and receives messages, most of them chemical.
I think I posted something on this a month or so ago from the Scientific
American.
Cheers,
Grant
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