Nerve Cell

The “interconnectedness of all things” is a notion embraced by the spiritual community and, more recently, by science in the field of quantum mechanics.

This area of research is still regarded as largely theoretical by the scientific community, however, unlike the “nuts and bolts” science that focuses on improving our medical and technological knowledge with solid, peer-reviewed studies.

Yet a recent finding made by UCSF scientists seems to a have distinctly quantum flavor to it: in a discovery that directly contradicts the standard biological model of animal cell communication, researchers discovered that typical cells in animals have the ability to transmit and receive biological signals by making physical contact with each other, even at long distance. The mechanism appears to be similar to the way neurons communicate with other cells, and contrasts the standard understanding that non-neuronal cells “basically spit out signaling proteins into extracellular fluid and hope they find the right target,” explained senior investigator Thomas B. Kornberg, PhD, a professor of biochemistry with the UCSF Cardiovascular Research Institute.

In the study, the results of which was published earlier this year in the […]