12/17/2010
Technology Review Published
by MIT
“… Rhanama and co hypothesise that
microtubules can act as wave guides, channeling light from one part of a cell
to another.
“Microtubules
are the internal scaffolding inside cells, providing structural support but
also creating highways along which molecular machines transport freight around
the cell. They're extraordinary things. Could it be that they also work like
optical fibres? …
“Maybe. They go on to suggest that the
light channelled by microtubules can help to
co-ordinate activities in different parts of the brain. It's certainly true
that electrical activity in the brain is synchronised
over distances that cannot be easily explained. Electrical signals travel too
slowly to do this job, so something else must be at work….
“And of course Rhanama
and co are not the first to suggest that microtubules
play a central role in the functioning of the brain. 15 years ago, Roger
Penrose suggested that consciousness is essentially a phenomenon of quantum
mechanics and that microtubules were the medium in which quantum mechanics
takes place. “
“What's for
sure is that biophotonics is one of the fastest
moving and exciting fields in science today.”
http://trsub.com/blog/arxiv/26151/