Ewa Sikora and Monika Kowaleczko-Szumowska
Development of organisms and literary texts – similar or different?
'Living texts: interdisciplinary approaches and methodological
commonalities in biology and textual analysis'
16-17 October 2008 E-Science Institute, Edinburgh
Development of organisms and literary texts – similar or different?
„One of the critical differences between you and machine is that
a machine is never required to function until after it is built.
Every animal has to function as it builds itself”
SF.Gilbert „Developmental Biology”
Are literary texts more like machines or organisms?
I. Organism development
II. Development of literary texts
III. Conclusions
I. Development of the organism
Living organisms exibit tremendous diversity, evident in the large repertoire of
forms and considerable size range, however, the conserved mechanisms
control the development of all organisms.
I. Development of the organism‐life cycle
The life cycle‐ The entire life history of a living organism. The course of developmental changes in an organism from fertilized zygote to maturity when another zygote can be produced.
Germ plasm
ectoderm
mesoderm
endoderm
Rana esculenta
Germ cells‐reproduction (immortal)
Somatic cells‐disposable body
C.elegans
I. Organism development - prenatal and postnatal
Organism development can be divided into two general phases:
Prenatal development (embryogenesis)
Postnatal development (maturation)
Note
Allometry in humans. The embryo’s head is
exceedingly large.In proportion to the rest of the
body.After the embryonic period, the head grows
more slowly than the torso, hand, and legs.
I. Organism development
Ageing is not a part of development;
although very complex and complicated it seems
to be reregulated by different rules
I. Organism development
A multicellular organism begins with a single cell-the fertilized egg which divides
to produce all (billions) the cells of the body
Organisms must function as they form theirs organs
I. Organism development - morphogenesis
The beauty of the developing embryo and the mystery
of structure emerging from a single fertilized egg
Inner mass
During the proces of embryogenesis the identical cells present in the inner mass of
Blastula (embryonic stem cells) undergo the proces of
morhogenesis
I. Organism development
Morphogenesis (from the Greek morphê shape and genesis creation) is
concerned with the shapes of tissues, organs and entire organisms and the
positions of the various specialized cell types.
During
morphogenesis
the organism
grows and organs
and pattern formation
takes place.
I. Organism development - patterning
Patterning (or pattern formation) refers to
generation of complex organizations of
cell fates in space and time.
The tissues of finger-bone, cartilige,
blood vessels, nerves, dermis, and
epidermis-are the same in the toe and
thumb; it’s their arrangement that differs.
I. Organism development
During morphogenesis, organogenesis, pattering each cell must
process and respond to directional information to participate effectively
in tissue remodelling and organism shaping. The repertoire
of cell behaviours is limited to processes such as:
1.
2.
3.
4.
cell division, cell growth and shape changes
cell differentiation, specification
cell death
cell migration
All these processes are very well orchestrated in time and space
I. Organism development - cell division
Cell division
Mitosis- the process by which a cell divides
and produces two daughter cells from a
single mother cell.
The proper shaping of a growing organ
requires that, as new cells are formed, their
relative positions be controlled.
This is achieved by regulation of the cell
division orientation (spatial) and cell
rearrangement (changes of position by
remodelling contacts with other cells).
I. Organism development - cell differentiation
Cell diversity
Differentiation (specification)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The process by which cells undergo a
change toward a more specialized form
or/and function.
Examples of cells in our organism:
Neurons
Mioblasts, miotubes
Osteoclasts, osteoblasts
Epithelial, endothelial cells
Fibroblasts
Hepatocytes
Blood cells
I. Organism development - cell differentiation
An asymmetric cell division produces two
daughter cells with different properties.
Notably, stem cells divide asymmetrically to
give rise to two distinct daughter cells: one– a
copy of themselves and one – a cell
programmed to differentiate into another cell
type.
Cell differentiation is thus a transition of
a cell from one cell type to another and it
involves a switch from one pattern of
gene expression to another –no cell
division.
differentiation
I. Organism development - cell death
Programmed cell death
Accurate morphogenesis and organogenesis during development
depend on the tightly regulated process of removal of unwanted
cells. Any alteration in timing or location can lead to developmental
abnormalities even though embryonic development can be quite
plastic
Modes of cell death
Autophagy
Apoptosis
Necrosis
I. Organism development - cell death
During embryogenesis 20-80% of cells die
During embryogenesis cells building
interdigital areas of human hand should die
In the brain of the mouse cells did not die
and the organ has unproper structure and
function
The morphogenesis of tadpol into the frog
I. Organism development - cell migration
The three germ layers present in an early
phase of embryogenesis give rise to
specyfic organ systems.
Many organs contain cells from more than
one germ layer, and it is not unusual for
the outside of an organ to be derived from
one layer and the inside from another.
Thus many cells must migrate.
Precursors of the gamets (sperm and
egg) called germ cells rise very early
during embriogenesis and then migrate to
the gonad and differentiate into gamets
Three layers as cell precursors
Ectoderm: epidermis, nervous system, pigment cell
Mesoderm:kidneys, gonad, muscle, bones, heart and blood cells, dermis
Endoderm: digestive tube and the respiratory system
I. Organism development – the end of prenatal development
I. Organism development - postnatal development
Cell proliferation, differentiation and cell death (but not morphogenesis) take place
also during postnatal development
Example
Immune cells (T cells) development undergo in thymus gland
II. Development of literary text
Text begins with a single idea which develops into
billions of words necessary to form the body of a work
fertilized egg organism
to reproduce when it reaches sexual maturity single idea book
to convey information (nonfiction) or evoke emotion (fiction) when it reaches the reader
II. Development of literary text
cells
words
organs/tissue morphogenesis
paragraphs and
chapters
patterns
plot /
characterization
organism
manuscript
II. Development of literary text
II. Development of literary text
II. Development of literary text
Morphogenesis (from the Greek morphê shape and genesis creation) is
concerned with the shapes of tissues, organs and entire organisms and the
positions of the various specialized cell types.
Paragraphs and chapters are created to serve different functions within a text,
such as opening and closing, description, narrative summary, immediate
scene, such as dialogues and are subject to linguistis rules (grammar, lexical,
semantic, apelling, punctuation, collocation)
Patterning (or pattern formation) refers to the generation of complex
organizations of cell fates in space and time.
Paragraph and chapter are subject to rules of plotting and characterization
(antagonist # protagonist conflict, suspense, tension, believable people),
which hold paragraphs and chapters together in a book.
II. Development of literary text
• liposuctioning flab (after Jefferey Zaleski a reviewer for Publishers Weekly) = cell death
• experienced editors often say that less is more
• remove all adjectives and adverbs (then readmit the necessary few after careful testing)
• Mark Twain: „If you catch an adjective, kill it!”
• other flab words: very, quite, an, one, sometimes verbs, redundant words: one plus one equals a half (after Sol Stein, renowned editor and author)
II. Development of literary texts
II. Development of literary text
II. Development of literary text
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/09404500
70/ref=sib_dp_pt#
II. Development of literary text
Organism development can be divided into two general phases:
Prenatal development (writing)
Postnatal development (editing, proof reading)
III Conclusions
„One of the critical differences between you and machine is that
a machine is never required to function until after it is built.
Every animal has to function as it builds itself”
SF.Gilbert „Developmental Biology”
Are literary text more like machines or animals?
A well written literary work has to function already while
being written edited and proofread.