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VERSION:2.0
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
PRODID:UW-Madison-Physics-Events
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SEQUENCE:0
UID:UW-Physics-Event-1267
DTSTART:20080916T170500Z
DURATION:PT1H0M0S
DTSTAMP:20260506T205428Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20080908T172848Z
LOCATION:4274 Chamberlin (Refreshments will be served)
SUMMARY:What are your 'thinking genes' doing in a plant?\, Chaos & Com
 plex Systems Seminar\, Edgar Spalding\, UW Department of Botany
DESCRIPTION:It's hard to keep an open mind. If we don't shut down some
  possibilities\, create certain boundaries\, we'd never get anywhere t
 hrough thought. But it's easy to go overboard and start throwing up bl
 ocks and dividers left and right to keep things simple and manageable.
  Excesses in this coping method inevitably run afoul of new facts and 
 findings and then hindsight shows its waste. My presentation will be a
  story that exemplifies this folly of ours. The protagonist is a group
  of genes encoding protein molecules known as glutamate receptor chann
 els. In our brains\, they play fundamental signal-transmitting roles\,
  chemically connecting one neuron to another. Their properties make le
 arning and other higher cognitive functions possible. If ever there co
 uld be a molecule that sets sentient beings like us apart from the res
 t of the living world\, the glutamate receptor channels might be it. S
 o what on earth are genes encoding these 'molecules for thinking' doin
 g in the DNA of plants? We have been researching this question with ge
 netics\, electrophysiology\, and computerized image analysis. I will d
 escribe some of the progress we have made and what we may risk by lett
 ing conventional wisdom about plants and animals rule our thinking.<br
 >
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URL:https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/?id=1267
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