Scientists from Barcelona and Harvard demonstrate how small cells can learn

A team of scientists from Barcelona and Harvard University in Boston (USA) have described how tiny single-celled creatures are able to learn and develop a kind of cellular memory – behavior that was always thought to be characteristic only of animals with brains.

This is clear from a study conducted by a research team in Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) Barcelona and Harvard Medical School in Boston (USA), which may mean a significant change in the perception of the fundamental units of life.

Specifically, the researchers used a computational tool to better understand the behavior of single-celled ciliates. Stentor ruzelihas the shape of a pipe and can be two millimeters in size.s, making it one of the largest single-celled organisms in existence.

This discovery suggests that these small units of life could open the door to opening how cancer cells develop resistance to chemotherapy or how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics.

“Cells are considered to be entities with a basic ability to make decisions based on learning from the environment, as opposed to entities that follow preprogrammed genetic instructions,” explained Harvard Medical School professor and study co-author Jeremy Gunawardena.

Research published in the journal Current Biology, analyzed addiction the process by which the body gradually stops responding to a repeated stimulusFor the same reason, people stop listening to the ticking clock or are less distracted by flashing lights.

“These creatures are very different from animals with brains. Learning would mean that they use internal molecular networks that somehow perform functions similar to those performed by neurons in the brain,” said study co-author and researcher at CRG Rosa Martinez. .

Combination of molecular chains

The modeling used in the study suggests that cells use a combination of at least two molecular circuits to refine their response to a stimulus and reproduce all the hallmarks of habituation seen in more complex life forms.

One of the key conclusions is the requirement “division of the time scale“in the behavior of molecular chains, where some reactions occur much faster than others.

“We think this may be a type of cellular memory that allows cells to respond immediately and influence future responses,” Martinez said.

The conclusion may also highlight the debate between neuroscience and cognitive researchdisciplines that have held different views over the years about how addictive power relates to the frequency or intensity of stimulation.

Neuroscientists focus on observable behavior, pointing out that organisms exhibit stronger habituation to more frequent or less intense stimuli, while cognitive scientists insist on demonstrating the existence of internal changes and memory formation after habituation.

According to their methodology, addiction is stronger with less frequent or more intense stimuli.

The study shows that the behavior of the models is consistent with both points of view, since during habituation the response decreases more for more frequent or less intense stimuli, but after habituation the response to a common stimulus is also stronger in these cases.

Possible application in cancer research

The research also deepens understanding of how learning and memory work at the most basic level of life.

So if individual cells are able to “remember,” it could also help explain how cancer cells develop resistance to chemotherapy or how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics. cells seem to “learn” from their environment.

This work may lay the groundwork for experimental scientists to design laboratory experiments and test these predictions.

“Our approach can help the scientific community prioritize which experiments are most likely to produce worthwhile results, save time and resources, and create new advances,” Martinez concluded.