An encyclopedia by Alterspan Labs
The electric life of cells.
How living tissue uses voltage and energy to build, repair and decide. Written from 291 books and papers, 1852 to now, and rewritten every night as the library grows.
The library, drawn as living tissue
A large cell is an article. Brighter means the library holds more on it.
A small cell is a book held in full.
A hollow cell is a book still in copyright: described, not held.
A dotted wall joins two linked articles that touch.
Numbers mark the reading path, one to nine.
Start here
It begins with a current flowing from a wound.
Nine articles, in order, from a frog's cut muscle to cells that agree on the shape of a body. They are numbered on the map.
- 01from 1902 · 224 passagesAnimal electricityA cut muscle drives a current. Du Bois-Reymond measured it; the argument over what it means has not ended.
- 02from 1902 · 566 passagesThe resting potentialEvery cell holds a voltage across its membrane, not only nerve and muscle.
- 03from 1902 · 711 passagesPlants answer tooBose recorded electrical responses in plants and metals and asked where the living begins.
- 04from 1888 · 882 passagesOne cell, behavingJennings and Binet watched Paramecium and Stentor avoid, choose and adapt.
- 05from 1908 · 688 passagesMachine or agentLoeb called it forced movement. Jennings called it trial and error.
- 06from 1888 · 1,199 passagesGrowing backMorgan, Child and the planarian: what tells a fragment which end is the head.
- 07from 2016 · 75 passagesThe voltage mapPatterns of membrane voltage that precede anatomy, and what happens when they are rewritten.
- 08from 2013 · 48 passagesWhere the energy comes fromProton gradients across membranes: the cell's other electricity.
- 09from 2019 · 23 passagesHow big is a selfCells joined by gap junctions pursue goals no single cell holds.
The articles
110 ideas, each traced through the texts.
Oldest first within each strand. The year is the earliest source the article quotes; the mark is its colour on the map.
Bioelectricity17
- Ion channels in stem cell differentiation1896
- Membrane potential patterns in Drosophila oogenesis1896
- Cancer as a bioelectric disorder1899
- Galvanotaxis1899
- Current of injury1902
- Electrical response of living tissue1902
- Resting membrane potential1902
- Electrical resistance, conductivity and permeability as measures of injury and recovery1915
- Depolarization and hyperpolarization1923
- Potassium channels and pigment pattern formation2006
- Neurotransmitters before neurons2011
- Gap junctions2012
- Electrical activity of the brain2013
- Homeostatic learning rules for gap junction coupling2013
- Optical measurement of absolute membrane potential and growth-factor-induced hyperpolarization2015
- Bioelectric prepattern2016
- Ion channels and pumps2016
Bioenergetics8
- Light as the source of living energy1888
- Metabolism and cell fate1906
- The cell without a pumping membrane2010
- Chemiosmosis and proton motive force2013
- Mitochondrial membrane potential2013
- Oxidative phosphorylation2013
- Reactive oxygen species as signals2013
- Mitochondrial dynamics (fission, fusion and mitophagy)2017
Morphogenesis and form18
- Regeneration1888
- Canalization, bifurcation and gene circuit models1894
- Left-right asymmetry1894
- Cytoplasmic localization and prelocalized egg regions1896
- Physical forces and form1899
- Polarity1901
- Cephalization and physiological dominance of the anterior region1906
- Axial and metabolic gradients1915
- Electrical polarization and axon outgrowth1915
- Gradient modification by depressing agents and developmental acclimation1915
- Target morphology1924
- Gap gene network and positional information2006
- Neoblasts and planarian stem cell systems2012
- Mitogenetic radiation2015
- Morphogenetic field2015
- Gene regulatory networks as Boolean networks2017
- Biological robots and xenobots2018
- Synthetic living machines2021
Minds of small things23
- Habit and plasticity1859
- Circumnutation1880
- Root tip as brain-like sensing organ1880
- Behaviour of single cells1888
- Basal cognition1890
- Criteria of mind1890
- Bacterial chemotaxis and the CheY signalling system1899
- Collective intelligence of cells1899
- Memory retention through metamorphosis1899
- Memory reinstatement after erasure1900
- Memory in planaria1901
- Forced movements and compensatory orientation1906
- Trial and error1906
- Conditioned reflex1908
- Tropism1908
- Associative learning in plants1915
- Umwelt and the observer-dependent environment1915
- Bacterial memory and history-dependent behavior2008
- Affordance and action selection2009
- Explore-exploit trade-off and foraging heuristics2012
- The plasma membrane as cellular nanobrain (senome)2012
- Decision-making and learning in slime mould2015
- Multi-stimulus integration and behavioral priority2015
Goals and control8
- Goal-directedness1890
- Vitalism and mechanism1899
- Hierarchical dynamic models and variational Bayesian inference2008
- Precision, synaptic gain and neuromodulation2009
- Free energy principle and active inference2013
- Predictive processing and interoceptive inference2015
- Probabilistic inference by biochemical circuits2015
- Scale of the self2019
Self-organisation8
- Physical models of life: diffusion, osmotic growths and artificial cells1890
- Turing patterns, reaction-diffusion and autocatalysis1915
- Transient versus asymptotic memory in bistable systems2008
- Autopoiesis and the Markov blanket2012
- Downward causation and coarse-graining2012
- Exploratory adaptation and random-network search2012
- Quantum reference frames and the membrane as boundary2013
- Causal emergence and effective information2018
Evolution and evolvability11
- Natural selection and the struggle for existence1859
- Discontinuous variation1890
- Evolvability1890
- Inherency of form, mesoscopic materials and the physical origin of body plans1890
- Germ-plasm theory and chromosome individuality1896
- Teleology and purposiveness in biology1899
- Fitness of the environment1906
- Phylostratigraphy and the evolutionary origin of cancer genes2010
- Computational design automation and in-silico search of morphology2012
- Niche construction2015
- Life-as-it-could-be and the option space of possible organisms2019
Physiology and the whole organism17
- Active gas secretion and acclimatisation to altitude1859
- Heliotropism, geotropism and related tropic responses in plants1880
- Chemical regulation of breathing1890
- Determinism in physiology1890
- Graded response, fatigue and summation in reflex and nerve1890
- Local and reflex regulation of circulation and excretion1890
- Mitotic spindle, asters and the centrosome1896
- Memory as adaptation1903
- Antagonism between salts (ion antagonism)1912
- Acid-base balance and buffer substances1913
- Oxygen and carbon dioxide transport by haemoglobin1913
- Differential susceptibility as a measure of metabolic rate1915
- Excitation wave, conduction and the nerve impulse as a gradient1915
- Systems biology and multilevel causation1915
- Homeostasis and the internal environment1925
- Lumen acidification, qE quenching and photosynthetic control2013
- Mitochondrial disease and mtDNA mutation2013
The library
45 books and 246 papers held in full. 98 more described.
Each mark is one work, set in its decade. Books from 1930 or earlier are in the public domain and can be read here. Later books are still in copyright, so they are described: that is the hollow middle of the picture.
book held in fullbook described, still in copyrightopen paper held
On Animal Electricity: Being an Abstract of the Discoveries of Emil du Bois-ReymondDu Bois-Reymond, E. (ed. H. Bence…
1852
1852
On Animal Electricity: Being an Abstract of the Discoveries…
Du Bois-Reymond, E. (ed.…
1852
1852
On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured…Darwin
1859
1859
On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or…
Darwin
1859
1859
The Power of Movement in PlantsDarwin, C.
1880
1880
The Power of Movement in Plants
Darwin, C.
1880
1880
The Psychic Life of Micro-organisms: A Study in Experimental PsychologyBinet, A.
1888
1888
The Psychic Life of Micro-organisms: A Study in…
Binet, A.
1888
1888
The Principles of Psychology, Vols. 1-2James, W.
1890
1890
The Principles of Psychology, Vols. 1-2
James, W.
1890
1890
Materials for the Study of Variation Treated with Especial Regard to Discontinuity in the…Bateson, W.
1894
1894
Materials for the Study of Variation Treated with Especial…
Bateson, W.
1894
1894
The Cell in Development and InheritanceWilson, E. B.
1896
1896
The Cell in Development and Inheritance
Wilson, E. B.
1896
1896
General Physiology: An Outline of the Science of LifeVerworn, M.
1899
1899
General Physiology: An Outline of the Science of Life
Verworn, M.
1899
1899
Comparative Physiology of the Brain and Comparative PsychologyLoeb, J.
1900
1900
Comparative Physiology of the Brain and Comparative…
Loeb, J.
1900
1900
RegenerationMorgan, T. H.
1901
1901
Regeneration
Morgan, T. H.
1901
1901
Response in the Living and Non-LivingBose, J. C.
1902
1902
Response in the Living and Non-Living
Bose, J. C.
1902
1902
Mutual Aid: A Factor of EvolutionKropotkin, P.
1902
1902
Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution
Kropotkin, P.
1902
1902
The Nature of Man: Studies in Optimistic PhilosophyMetchnikoff, E.
1903
1903
The Nature of Man: Studies in Optimistic Philosophy
Metchnikoff, E.
1903
1903
Behavior of the Lower OrganismsJennings, H. S.
1906
1906
Behavior of the Lower Organisms
Jennings, H. S.
1906
1906
Plant Response as a Means of Physiological InvestigationBose, J. C.
1906
1906
Plant Response as a Means of Physiological Investigation
Bose, J. C.
1906
1906
The Integrative Action of the Nervous SystemSherrington, C. S.
1906
1906
The Integrative Action of the Nervous System
Sherrington, C. S.
1906
1906
Comparative Electro-Physiology: A Physico-Physiological StudyBose, J. C.
1907
1907
Comparative Electro-Physiology: A Physico-Physiological…
Bose, J. C.
1907
1907
The Animal Mind: A Textbook of Comparative PsychologyWashburn, M. F.
1908
1908
The Animal Mind: A Textbook of Comparative Psychology
Washburn, M. F.
1908
1908
The Science and Philosophy of the OrganismDriesch, H.
1908
1908
The Science and Philosophy of the Organism
Driesch, H.
1908
1908
The Mechanism of LifeLeduc, S.
1911
1911
The Mechanism of Life
Leduc, S.
1911
1911
The Mechanistic Conception of LifeLoeb, J.
1912
1912
The Mechanistic Conception of Life
Loeb, J.
1912
1912
The Life of the PlantTimiriazeff, C. A.
1912
1912
The Life of the Plant
Timiriazeff, C. A.
1912
1912
Researches on Irritability of PlantsBose, J. C.
1913
1913
Researches on Irritability of Plants
Bose, J. C.
1913
1913
The Fitness of the EnvironmentHenderson, L. J.
1913
1913
The Fitness of the Environment
Henderson, L. J.
1913
1913
Individuality in OrganismsChild, C. M.
1915
1915
Individuality in Organisms
Child, C. M.
1915
1915
Principles of General PhysiologyBayliss, W. M.
1915
1915
Principles of General Physiology
Bayliss, W. M.
1915
1915
The Organism as a Whole, from a Physicochemical ViewpointLoeb, J.
1916
1916
The Organism as a Whole, from a Physicochemical Viewpoint
Loeb, J.
1916
1916
Organism and Environment as Illustrated by the Physiology of BreathingHaldane, J. S.
1917
1917
Organism and Environment as Illustrated by the Physiology…
Haldane, J. S.
1917
1917
Life Movements in PlantsBose, J. C.
1918
1918
Life Movements in Plants
Bose, J. C.
1918
1918
Forced Movements, Tropisms, and Animal ConductLoeb, J.
1918
1918
Forced Movements, Tropisms, and Animal Conduct
Loeb, J.
1918
1918
The Origin and Development of the Nervous SystemChild, C. M.
1921
1921
The Origin and Development of the Nervous System
Child, C. M.
1921
1921
Injury, Recovery and Death in Relation to Conductivity and PermeabilityOsterhout, W. J. V.
1922
1922
Injury, Recovery and Death in Relation to Conductivity and…
Osterhout, W. J. V.
1922
1922
Protoplasmic Action and Nervous ActionLillie, R. S.
1923
1923
Protoplasmic Action and Nervous Action
Lillie, R. S.
1923
1923
The Physiology of the Ascent of SapBose, J. C.
1923
1923
The Physiology of the Ascent of Sap
Bose, J. C.
1923
1923
Physiological Foundations of BehaviorChild, C. M.
1924
1924
Physiological Foundations of Behavior
Child, C. M.
1924
1924
Elements of Physical BiologyLotka, A. J.
1925
1925
Elements of Physical Biology
Lotka, A. J.
1925
1925
The Nervous Mechanism of PlantsBose, J. C.
1926
1926
The Nervous Mechanism of Plants
Bose, J. C.
1926
1926
A Bipolar Theory of Living ProcessesCrile, G. W.
1926
1926
A Bipolar Theory of Living Processes
Crile, G. W.
1926
1926
Muscular ActivityHill, A. V.
1926
1926
Muscular Activity
Hill, A. V.
1926
1926
Plant Autographs and Their RevelationsBose, J. C.
1927
1927
Plant Autographs and Their Revelations
Bose, J. C.
1927
1927
Conditioned Reflexes: An Investigation of the Physiological Activity of the Cerebral…Pavlov, I. P.
1927
1927
Conditioned Reflexes: An Investigation of the Physiological…
Pavlov, I. P.
1927
1927
The Motor Mechanism of PlantsBose, J. C.
1928
1928
The Motor Mechanism of Plants
Bose, J. C.
1928
1928
The History of Biological TheoriesRádl, E.
1930
1930
The History of Biological Theories
Rádl, E.
1930
1930
An Introduction to the Study of Experimental MedicineBernard, C.
1957
1957
An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine
Bernard, C.
1957
1957
On Growth and FormThompson, D. A. W.
1992
1992
On Growth and Form
Thompson, D. A. W.
1992
1992