Complexity Digest 2004.36 - 13.01

06-Sep-2004

Theoretical Biology: Mushrooms In Cyberspace, Nature Bookmark and Share

Excerpts: Mushrooms arise largely from the inflation of pre-existing cells, which in part accounts for the startling speed with which they can appear. But what developmental processes are responsible for shaping those cells first into the primordial mushroom structure and then into the full-grown 'fruiting body' itself? (...) They have grown cyber fungi like the mushroom shown here. As well as creating primordial fruiting bodies whose cell arrangements mimic the real things, the authors' computer models provide predictions that can be tested.