Friday, December 14, 2018

A Simple Explanation's Scientific Prediction Regarding Organoids

Scientists are now able to harvest pluripotent stem cells from aborted fetuses and prod them to grow into tiny little fake organs called "organoids." 
A pluripotent stem cell is also called an embryonic stem cell. These cells are the basic building blocks of the body's many organs, reproducing themselves "in vivo" (meaning in a live body) into whatever the body needs by way of cells for organ development.
When scientists attempt to reproduce organs from these pluripotent stem cells, they generally hit a developmental wall within the organoids they've built. The little organoids can only develop so far before they die. The organoids typically die because there is no way to feed the interior cells once they get thicker than one or a few layers. Plus, the darned cells keep forming themselves into cell-shaped toruses rather than shaping themselves into organs. Whereas normal tissue is fed nutrients via blood vessels, the scientists have been unable to coax blood vessels to grow into the organoids' toroidal interiors and so they starve once they get so thick.

Here is the problem as I see it, and this makes yet another Simple Explanation hypothesis that can be tested and proved. According to the Simple Explanation, every cell has an informational torus associated with it. The pluripotent stem cells have all of the cellular information needed to differentiate themselves into every type and quantity needed for the developing fetus.

Scientists have become very clever at isolating and coaxing stem cells to grow in special mediums and on top of special scaffolding. Through manipulations of the stem cells, they are able to coax a cluster of cells to grow into whatever little organoid they wish to study. I keep saying "little" because they only grow so big before they starve to death. But in that short period of life, the organoids are able to become the type of cell desired and to perform as a cell of that age and type would perform. Little heart organoids beat. Little brain organoids do what little baby brains would at a few days of age. Little skin organoids link up around themselves and try to become skin. 

Here is my observation and prediction: The organoids can only develop at the cellular level and never become true organs that could be used, for example, in organ transplants. Why? Because the organ-level Unit of Consciousness cannot attach to the bunch of cells unless those cells reach out to each other to "level up" using the Simple Explanation's Golden Rule

According to the Simple Explanation, at each level of rising sophistication, a Unit of Consciousness arises to guide and govern that level. Without that next level up's informational Unit of Consciousness, the cellular units can never organize themselves into the coordinated function and growth that give rise to true organs.  

In other words, while you can grow a brain organoid, it's only going to become a group of cellular-level Units of Consciousness--it will not foster an organ-level Unit of Consciousness. 
This is a brain organoid. You can clearly see the toroidal nature of the clumping of brain cells. True brains do not reflect this toroidal clumping at the organ level. The Simple Explanation of these cellular clumps is that they lack the emergent brain's Unit of Consciousness that would give them an overall structure at the organ level. Lacking the young brain's Unit of Consciousness, the organoid gets stuck at the cellular level.
I'm glad the organoids can't attach an organ-level Unit of Consciousness to their poor little cells. Imagine the hellish existence of coming to human consciousness in a petri dish or jar! Yikes.

1 comment:

  1. This proposal--that the organ level will not be achieved from cell level organoids--begs the question why not? Looking at the Simple Explanation's hierarchy charts, it certainlyappears as though the lower levels create the next level up's unit of consciousness by instantiating the Golden Rule of holding hands to level up. But this organoid case makes it clear to me that that must not be the case. Because if the disembodied cells could level up through scientific machinations (Dr. Frankenstein's electricity; 3-D meat printers), and organoids could create true organs, then there would be no stopping the creation of organ levels prodded up to organisms. Like Orcs. These would surely be an abomination, would they not? Creatures not enlivened by nature but by man and machine?

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