Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
according to the (unpredictable) environment in which they find themselves. Using adap-
tive self-organization, a mitotic spindle can locate kinetochores that are as hidden in the
vast complexity of a living cell as a needle would be in a haystack; two cells that meet
can adhere and align their junctions and cytoskeletons precisely (Chapter 15); a wound
that was never 'expected' in a developmental programme can be closed automatically
(Chapter 17); the different structures of the body can form in perfect proportion to one
another (Chapter 22) and at a spatial resolution far finer than the 'patterning' signals of
a growing embryo. Adaptive self-organization will be a recurring theme throughout
this topic. It has to be; it is one of the defining features of life itself.
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