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Balgair · 2024-06-10 · Original thread
Hey, not OP, but maybe I can help a bit.

Per what Claude is say, yes, generally true-ish.

Honestly, if you want to dive in more, you'll need to read https://www.amazon.co.uk/Principles-Development-Lewis-Wolper... . Textbooks tend to be gold standards still. You can also look up review articles for the specific thing you want to know more about. Simple googling at google scholar should get you to a good review article in <15 minutes.

I want to caution that in general, DevBio is still an active field. Things are moving and grooving, so you'll need to check back in about every 5 years or so.

In general, DevBio works off of a gradient of some sort (we think). A new daughter cell looks at the gradients that she is in, then uses the genome to figure out what to do next. What to do next and the gradient are both hyper complicated. Think, like, 50+ co-interacting variables for gradient, with functional race conditions then set on the genome. It's rough for us humans to figure it all out, we largely think we haven't a real clue yet.

When we say voltage gradient, think the traditional ions and the like. But also think of the voltage gradient that a protein can have too, with binding pockets and stuff. Think voltage gradients that are held in place by lipid rafts on the membrane too. Think also the osmotic potential that ion concentration will have, not just the raw total voltage of a voltmeter. There are a lot of components, and therefore gradients, that make up the voltage potential.

Also, yes, you're right to think of the action potential. That's a voltage gradient across a membrane. In DevBio though, it's not just the voltage gradient across the membrane, but along the cells and among them too. The pancreas has a lot of this kind of stuff happening, from what I remember of my MolBio classes.

Let me know what other question you have and I'll try to get to them today.

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