Does the cell have a brain

Before starting medical school, my serious hobby was Amateur Radio, also known as Ham Radio. I would build radio transmitters, receivers, and antennas, all for the fun of experimenting with technology during the pre-internet, trunk-call era. Machines held my fascination.

Upon entering medicine, my journey into the workings of the human body (the best machine ever) led me to delve deeper into understanding it. The one thing that still excites me is the way a cell functions. Many consider the cell the fundamental unit of a living organism, representing the epitome of perfectly coordinated workings.

Recently, I've been reading the book "The Song of the Cell" by Siddharth Mukherjee. It provides a profound exploration of the cellular orchestra within the human body. However, I never expected to be surprised by the evolutionary marvel of bacteria. Escherichia coli, commonly found in our gut, can exhibit notorious strains. An article on the locomotion of this bacterium was an eye-opener to its most primitive form of neural function. It almost felt as though the cell possessed a brain. Reading it emphasized how binary life can be.

If you have any interest in biology, I highly recommend reading this article. Additionally, the aforementioned book is also quite informative.