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Alien Cells
Topic Started: Feb 12 2010, 07:19 AM (385 Views)
The Dodo
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I've noticed in a lot of the topics that the cells or other similar structures that make up the macro-organisms generally aren't gone into to too much. Also things like single celled organisms aren't gone into much either.
So I was wondering what an alien cell or similar structure would be like and how it would differ from Earth cells.
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Holben
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If they've been just formed, the amount of DNA could bge variable. I mean, they could have metres and metres of DNA, for protection commands and reflexes within the cell. They could be programmed to release enzymes on penetration, for example. A cellular immuhne system.

They would probably form colonies like ours, but there is a possibility of ecosystems on the celluylar scale,with protist analogues eating algae and stuff.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Rhob
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The Dodo
Feb 12 2010, 07:19 AM
I've noticed in a lot of the topics that the cells or other similar structures that make up the macro-organisms generally aren't gone into to too much. Also things like single celled organisms aren't gone into much either.
So I was wondering what an alien cell or similar structure would be like and how it would differ from Earth cells.
Well, I'd say that the way eukaryotic cells arose on Earth is probably unique among life in the universe. There could conceivably be elaborate (better for "advanced") multicellular life-forms whose cells are prokaryotic.
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T.Neo
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Well, Equmazoman allozoans have plant or fungi-like cell walls, despite being heavily convergent with metazoans of Earth.
A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork.
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Holben
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Eukaryotic life forms aren't the only successful ones. Bacterial cells could form 'communal' style animals, but they would only move slowly. Each cell could have its own nerves, and connect to every other. Voila, a brain!
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Rhob
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Holbenilord
Feb 12 2010, 03:09 PM
Eukaryotic life forms aren't the only successful ones. Bacterial cells could form 'communal' style animals, but they would only move slowly. Each cell could have its own nerves, and connect to every other. Voila, a brain!
Why would they only move slowly?
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Holben
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Reactions take longer through the thicker, denser, and better protected bacterial sheaths.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Rhob
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Holbenilord
Feb 13 2010, 04:16 AM
Reactions take longer through the thicker, denser, and better protected bacterial sheaths.
How does it follow that all prokaryotic cells must have bacteria-esque cell walls/envelopes?
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T.Neo
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Yeah. They could just be large and complex prokaryotes, for example- they don't need to be exactly like bacteria.

The only general rule of alien cells is that they have a boundary to contain their interior structures, and a metabolism and means of storing cellular information (the interior structures themselves).
Edited by T.Neo, Feb 13 2010, 09:34 AM.
A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork.
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Holben
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They don't actually need a sheath. They can support DNA in a fluid structure, but if you want proper life, you'll need some kind of membrane.

With a fluid-supported guy, metabolism isn't needed. And metabolism is a result of structures with their own DNa in terran life, so they could have some ATP factories which are not coding.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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