A model for protocell based on Pollack effect

I learned about extremely interesting Quanta Magazine article telling about findings related to water droplets as protocells able to perform chemical metabolism as a transfer of molecules to exterior and back.

The work is doen by David Zwicker and collaborators at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems and the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, both in Dresden. The work is published in Nature Physics.

In a simplified model for the droplets (P-granules in C-elegans cell is the real life example) the proteins in droplet can be in two states: in state A the stay in droplet and do not get out but can enter to the droplet from outside. In state B they can get out from droplet. To get into state B energy such as sunlight would be required.

The model has real life realization!

1. The exclusion zones (EZs) discovered by Pollack (see this) behave just like this. For TGD based model see this. The formation of EZs requires water bounded by a gel phase and they are negatively charged. Their really strange feature is that they throw out impurities just like state B in the model: this seems to defy second law telling that gradients tend to disappear. This makes possible primitive chemical metabolism involving exchange of chemicals between droplet and exterior. Light signal initiating the transfer by providing the metabolic energy needed. Transfer would stop as light signal stops.
   
   In TGD inspired quantum biology EZs are in crucial role. For instance, cell is negatively charged as also DNA double strand. Interpretation as EZs is natural.
   
   
2. The explanation for the negative charge of EZ is that part of protons and possibly other ions go to magnetic flux tubes forming the magnetic body (MB) of the system (see this). Dark ions form phases with nonstandard value h_eff=n×h₀>h of effective Planck constant as cyclotron Bose-Einstein condensates. This system has long length scale quantum coherence and serves as a master controlling bio-chemistry, which is in the role of slave. This forces the mysterious coherence of the ordinary bio-matter impossible in life-as-mere-chemistry approach.
   
   
3. MB could control chemical metabolism of the droplet by sending dark photons to the droplet transforming to bio-photons and generating EZ state in the droplet and initiating transfer of molecules to the outside. The transition reducing the value of h_eff at MB would bring protons back to EZ droplet and it would become normal again. Secpnd law would force the molecules from outside to diffuse back to the droplet.
   
   
4. There is still one hard problem to be solved. What causes the mysterious removal of impurities from EZ challenging second law? Here zero energy ontology (ZEO) comes in rescue (see this). In ZEO macroscopic quantum jump corresponding to ordinary state function reduction changes the arrow of time . This would occur to MB as EZ is formed. Second law holds still true but in reverse time direction. MB is the boss and forces time reversal also at the level of ordinary bio-matter. The usual diffusion of molecules to cell occurs but with reverse arrow of time and explains the mysterious removal of impurities observed by Pollack for EZs.
   
   

All biological self-assembly processes would use this mechanism. In fact, self-organization quite generally would be dissipation in reverse direction of time: this would explain self-assembly aspect of self-organization. The big quantum jumps would inducing change of the arrow of time would tend to increase of h_eff in statistical sense (h_eff is identifiable number theoretically essentially as dimension of extension of rationals and bound to increase). This would correspond to the evolutionary aspect of self-organization. The increase of h_eff requires energy since the energy of state increases with h_eff with other parameters kept constant. Energy feed is therefore needed.

See the article A model of protocell based on Pollack effect, the article Some applications of TGD inspired quantum biology: bio-chemistry, metabolism, replication, or the chapter Getting philosophical: some comments about the problems of physics, neuroscience, and biology.

For a summary of earlier postings see Latest progress in TGD.

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