Oil Droplets Can Navigate Complex Maze

RichardPrins · #1 by **RichardPrins** » Feb 28, 2010 2:54 am

ScienceDaily - Call them oil droplets with a brain or even "chemo-rats." Scientists in Illinois have developed a way to make simple oil droplets "smart" enough to navigate through a complex maze almost like a trained lab rat. The finding could have a wide range of practical implications, including helping cancer drugs to reach their target and controlling the movement of futuristic nano-machines, the scientists say.

Simple oil droplets (in red) can navigate a complex maze using a special chemical approach that could lead to improved delivery of anti-cancer drugs. (Credit: American Chemical Society)

Their study is in the weekly Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Bartosz Grzybowski and colleagues note that the ability to solve a maze is a common scientific test of intelligence. Animals ranging from rats to humans can master the task. Scientists would like to pass along that same ability to anti-cancer drugs, for instance, to help these medications navigate complex mazes of blood vessels and reach the tumor.

The scientists describe an advance in that direction. They developed postage-stamp-sized mazes, and infused them with an alkaline solution, and placed a gel containing a strong acid at the exit. That created a pH gradient, a difference between the acid-alkaline levels. Oil droplets containing a weak acid placed at the entrance of the mazes developed convective flows in response to pH differences and propelled themselves along the gradient toward the exit. Since cancer cells are more acidic than other body cells, the experiment may serve as a model for designing new anti-cancer drugs that move along similar acid-based gradients to target diseased cells, the scientists suggest.

Spearthrower · #2 by **Spearthrower** » Feb 28, 2010 3:54 am

Isn't this something like the way nerves in morphogenesis and neural pathways throughout life emerge?

It seems obfuscatory to label it intelligence when that is precisely what it is not. This shows that undirected chemistry can achieve seemingly intelligent, problem-solving results.

Guy McNally · #3 by **Guy McNally** » Feb 28, 2010 4:02 am

Spearthrower wrote:Isn't this something like the way nerves in morphogenesis and neural pathways throughout life emerge?

It seems obfuscatory to label it intelligence when that is precisely what it is not. This shows that undirected chemistry can achieve seemingly intelligent, problem-solving results.

When I first glanced at the illustration, I thought "gradient," which has nothing to do with intelligence.

Rawnaeris · #4 by **Rawnaeris** » Feb 28, 2010 5:40 am

Cool. I'm not surprised that a pH difference allowed that. :thumbup:

my_wan · #5 by **my_wan** » Feb 28, 2010 5:17 pm

Here a link to the story which includes a video of it in action:
http://www.physorg.com/news185721521.html

JAJansenJr · #6 by **JAJansenJr** » Apr 17, 2010 3:42 am

Really interesting. I wonder about the nature of the "weak acid" in the oil droplet. A weak acid has a low Ka of dissociation, so a fair amount of it could be in the oil, but I don't understand how the undissociated (and presumably unionised) "weak acid" will be pulled along the gradient. I suppose I should read the original article.

I really don't want to rain on any parade which suggests improved ways of delivering anticancer medications to where it is needed. This has been sorely needed for a very long time.

natselrox · #7 by **natselrox** » Apr 17, 2010 4:52 am

Spearthrower wrote:Isn't this something like the way nerves in morphogenesis and neural pathways throughout life emerge?

It seems obfuscatory to label it intelligence when that is precisely what it is not. This shows that undirected chemistry can achieve seemingly intelligent, problem-solving results.

How do we define intelligence then?

Darwinsbulldog · #8 by **Darwinsbulldog** » Apr 17, 2010 5:11 am

Hmmm...., the implications are clear. If something as simple as a pH gradient can mimic "intelligent behavior" then it follows that there is nothing "irreducibly complex" about human or rodent intelligence.

A simple chemical gradient in the body could dictate the migration of a nerve to its proper place. Yet another example from non-living nature how natural selection finds these solutions. Therefore there is nothing magical about life, and life came originally from non-life. [Chemical evolution]. The non-living world abounds with all these [totally moronic] natural selectors, filters and sorters.

All life did was steal it, and code these tricks into DNA replicators via the selection of mutations by natural selection. "Information" comes from non-living nature. Life has a "confirmation bias" in that it only selects tricks to make itself work.

Thus, from nonsense, sense. Lovely, tautological, and true.! :thumbup:

I will take our "nonsense" over creationist nonsense any day! :dance:

Spearthrower · #9 by **Spearthrower** » Apr 17, 2010 8:15 am

natselrox wrote:
Spearthrower wrote:Isn't this something like the way nerves in morphogenesis and neural pathways throughout life emerge?

It seems obfuscatory to label it intelligence when that is precisely what it is not. This shows that undirected chemistry can achieve seemingly intelligent, problem-solving results.

How do we define intelligence then?

I would suggest that there are requirements for some level of reasoning based on the sensory data, modelling outcomes through reference to experience or some inductive process, long-range planning, recognising and solving problems, communicative learning.

Different degrees, or omission of some of the above still constitute some level of intelligence.

Spearthrower · **#10** by **Spearthrower** » Apr 19, 2010 12:56 pm

I just watched a video showing moss 'navigating' a maze too. There was a source of nutrients at entrance and exit. The moss tended to colonise the entire maze, then when it happened upon the exit nutrients, killed off its excess body mass in the dead end parts of the maze.