Some notes on A. whisleri that I've somehow salvaged from the fires of hell

"Few quests are so magical as that of the origins of life."

L. Margulis

Notes on A. whisleri:

A kaleidoscope of changing cell shapes was magnified right before my curious eyes. The once round alien cells shape-shifted into different temporal cell types–irregularly-shaped cells, large plasmodial cells, banana-shaped cells, amoeboid cells. You name it.

Funny. Daughter cells that, not so long ago, were pinched off of a common mother cell exhibited different shapes and sizes and behaviors from the mother cell. Same mother. Controlled environmental conditions. Different cell types. How is that possible? Are there triggers orchestrating a higher individual intelligence? Divergent behaviors?

Unlike other single-celled aliens I’ve encountered, the cell cycle of M. planulae’s is more complex and unpredictable. Death and rebirth are the only certain fate of the cells. What takes place in the middle, however, are the most captivating stages of M. planulae’s life cycle.

It is as if she has a will of her own. It is as if she refuses to conform to the spectator’s preconceptions of her. It is as if, a source independent from her mother protects, looks after and watches over her.

***

A letter to A. whisleri I wrote on a sticky note because I got bored af during our long ass Zoom meeting (and which, afterwards, I pasted on my lab notebook):

What’s up, bug? Errrm what should I call you? No, really. What do you want me to call you? My postdoc mentor encouraged me to be more empathic towards you. Ha hah! I mean, if only we could do science that way, bug, life would be a breeze, and we'd understand the perspective of every organism we study.

This reminds of a topic of interest of gramps Nagel. Have you heard of gramps Nagel, bug? Gramps Nagel is some kind of an American philosopher whom I believe is still kickin’ and who came up with the idea that the objective image of the world is incomplete because it can't capture subjective points of view simultaneously.

This brings me to my main point: What's the point? What’s the point of it all? What’s the point of listening to this smart ass talker lecture endlessly about Capsaspora aggregation if we can never get the POV of each Capsaspora cell to begin with? If we can never stand in Capsasora’s shoes and truly experience the world through her eyes? It’s not as if objective truths are the be-all and end-all. God.

If I could go back in time, I would’ve told Vikki, “Look. Vikki, I’m sorry but I don’t think I can empathize with M. planulae. It’s just not possible. I can only go so far as to sympathize with her and tell it straight to her face that I cannot truly understand her and I especially cannot hurt with her knowing at the back of my mind that I mercilessly massacred her progeny (Sorry, bug. I did. Multiple times).”

But you know what? Yesterday, when I was busy pretending to pipette water in the tubes with all them lab rats working tirelessly by my side, a question hit me: Why are they so pumped up over something so irrelevant?