Sentience is an implicit aspect of cellular cognition and memory, and essential for cell survival via contextual decision-making from the very early evolution of cells. This cellular sentience then becomes an important component in evolution, coterminous with life

Do cells have sentience?

There is also ample empirical evidence that establishes cell sentience from the perspective of cell functions. Cells can cognitively read their environment, analyze the received information and then execute the necessary action to continue their survival

What is the cell based theory of consciousness?

The Cellular Basis of Consciousness (CBC) model of biological consciousness is based on the assumption that life and conscious sentience are coterminus. All living organisms, are conscious, self-aware, and have valenced sensory and perceptual experiences

What is the cellular consciousness theory?

According to the CBC model, consciousness and cognition are fundamental properties that evolved with the first prokaryotic cells around 3.8 billion years ago. This controversial theory, for which no plausible mechanism has been provided, raises many unaddressed issues

cells listen to your thoughts?

Our cells are eavesdropping on every thought that we think and they resonate with the feelings we experience. I would argue that how a student athlete thinks about food and feels about their body has as much of an impact on their health and performance as the foods they are eating and the training they complete

consciousness stored in DNA?

DNA consciousness has evolved over time from atoms. It then progressed to the level of the cell and then to the magnitude of the vertebrate brain. DNA consciousness has given rise to neurological consciousness, but both forms of consciousness are dependent on quantum phenomenon

Is there a scientific theory of consciousness?

Presently we are still at a relatively early stage in the scientific study of consciousness. At this point, there are a great many theories of consciousness proliferating and competing with each other. Those theories sometimes seem to talk past each other as they explore vastly different approaches to the problem

Microbiologist Lynn Margulis (1938-2011) famously wrote that not only animals but ‘every autopoietic cell’ is conscious. That was in 1995. 

The concept that remained a fringe in biology has been making significant strides and has today emerged as an important position. 

The latest book that not only strongly espouses this position but takes it forward as even a framework for looking into crucial questions in biology is The Sentient Cell (OUP, 2024). 

Cognitive psychologist Arthur Reber, plant biologist Frantisek Baluska and evolutionary biologist William Miller have come together to author this book. 

Each of them has been a pioneer in exploring uncharted paths, challenging conventional notions in their domains.

Sentience is an implicit aspect of cellular cognition and memory, and essential for cell survival via contextual decision-making from the very early evolution of cells. This cellular sentience then becomes an important component in evolution, coterminous with life. 

Another principle the book introduces is the concept of ‘homeorhesis,’ ‘a dynamic system that returns to a prior trajectory’ as against the more familiar term, ‘homeostasis,’ which is a system that returns to a particular state.’ Then there is cooperation at the level of cells

In this view of life, consciousness ‘galvanises’ evolution through sentient problem-solving against changing environmental constraints as ‘life is cognition, embodied in the perpetual cellular form.’ 

The authors visualise ‘a minimal version of proto-consciousness that was sufficient to respond sensitively and effectively to diverse environmental insults and challenges that were extremely violent on ancient earth.’ They also associate cellular circadian clocks evolving with this early sentience. And when it comes to endosymbiosis and the emergence of eukaryotic cells, consciousness becomes a very important catalysing force for biological evolution.

Life and consciousness – The Vedāntic view

In the past, philosophers, scientists, and even the general opinion, had no problem in accepting the existence of consciousness in the same way as the existence of the physical world. After the advent of Newtonian mechanics, science embraced a complete materialistic conception about reality. Scientists started proposing hypotheses like abiogenesis (origin of first life from accumulation of atoms and molecules) and the Big Bang theory (the explosion theory for explaining the origin of universe). How the universe came to be what it is now is a key philosophical question. The hypothesis that it came from Nothing (as proposed by Stephen Hawking, among others), proves to be dissembling, since the quantum vacuum can hardly be considered a void. In modern science, it is generally assumed that matter existed before the universe came to be. Modern science hypothesizes that the manifestation of life on Earth is nothing but a mere increment in the complexity of matter — and hence is an outcome of evolution of matter (chemical evolution) following the Big Bang. After the manifestation of life, modern science believed that chemical evolution transformed itself into biological evolution, which then had caused the entire biodiversity on our planet. The ontological view of the organism as a complex machine presumes life as just a chance occurrence, without any inner purpose. This approach in science leaves no room for the subjective aspect of consciousness in its attempt to know the world as the relationships among forces, atoms, and molecules. On the other hand, the Vedāntic view states that the origin of everything material and nonmaterial is sentient and absolute (unconditioned). Thus, sentient life is primitive and reproductive of itself – omne vivum ex vivo – life comes from life. This is the scientifically verified law of experience. Life is essentially cognitive and conscious. And, consciousness, which is fundamental, manifests itself in the gradational forms of all sentient and insentient nature. In contrast to the idea of objective evolution of bodies, as envisioned by Darwin and followers, Vedānta advocates the idea of subjective evolution of consciousness as the developing principle of the world. In this paper, an attempt has been made to highlight a few relevant developments supporting a sentient view of life in scientific research, which has caused a paradigm shift in our understanding of life and its origin.

Consciousness is a mental property, specifically the ability to experience feelings that yield a subjective point of view (see “Definitions” in Box 1). The mechanisms of consciousness remain elusive, but converging evidence from studies in humans and animals shows crucial contributions of several brain regions and functional states (Koch et al, 2016). Injuries that affect critical brain regions can induce profound alterations in consciousness, or, in the case of being in a coma, extended periods or permanent loss of consciousness (Alnagger et al, 2023). Conversely, direct electrical stimulation of these brain regions can elicit various sensations, perceptions and mental experiences (Penfield, 1958). In a recent groundbreaking experiment, a song by Pink Floyd was successfully reconstructed from the recordings of brain activity of the individuals listening to it (Bellier et al, 2023). This established the specific site of music perception in the brain.

What cells are responsible for consciousness?

Recent breakthroughs in the study of cellular and circuit level aspects of consciousness have led to the conclusion that cortical pyramidal neurons have a central role in the mechanisms of consciousness. Major theories of cortical processing rely on the separation of forward and backward information flow in the cortex

Do white blood cells have consciousness?

That makes sense because a nervous system can’t live and function separately from its body. Given that interdependence, and the evidence of conscious action and purpose in other parts of the body (like those white blood cells) it’s hard to justify a limitation of consciousness to less than 1 percent of our body

Do cells have feelings?

Our cells feel everything; cells respond to hormones, drugs, temperature, and a bunch of other stimuli. When it comes to cancer, cells are very sensitive to how soft or stiff the environment is around them

Do neurons carry thoughts?

All perceptions, thoughts, and behaviors result from combinations of signals among neurons

Can consciousness exist without a brain?

In this view, consciousness does not require a complex brain that can construct a self with the power to make the contents of the mind conscious. Consciousness is instead seen as the attempt to know the world that all living things must engage in, in order to exist over time

Is there a gene for consciousness?

Genes that pattern the proposed elements of consciousness (isomorphism, neural crest, placodes) have been identified in all vertebrates. Thus, consciousness is in the genes, some of which are already known

Why can’t scientists explain consciousness?

The core difficulty is that consciousness defies observation. You can’t look inside someone’s brain and see their feelings and experiences. Science does deal with things that can’t be observed, such as fundamental particles, quantum wave functions, maybe even other universes

Does consciousness have memory?

Consciousness binds elements of an experience together, allowing for the creation of a memory trace that can include multisensory details. Over time, consciousness provides a medium in which these memory traces can be replayed—a mechanism that is key to their successful storage

Are our cells intelligent?

It could be a polecat, or even a mantis – but in fact it’s a microbe. The microscopic world of the single, living cell mirrors our own in so many ways: cells are essentially autonomous, sentient and ingenious. In the lives of single cells we can perceive the roots of our own intelligence

Do cells have personalities?

Cells don’t have psychological personalities, because the conventional definition of personality entails that personalities are: based on people. based on differences in behavioural, emotional and cognitive (mental) patterns

Can a single cell think?

What do single-celled organisms think about? The answer, apparently, is quite a bit more than we give them credit for. Scientists usually frame cellular behavior as “programming”—innate and encoded responses to simple stimuli—rather than as a form of thinking or decision making

What makes a cell happy?

The happiness of our cells and indeed our survival is predicated on homeostasis, the process of maintaining a stable internal environment. This includes our blood temperature, glucose levels and fluid balance, amongst others

Are cells self-aware?

Memory and learning are integral components of consciousness. While traditionally associated with the human brain, emerging evidence suggests that individual cells can store memories and acquire new information. This phenomenon, known as cellular memory, implies that cells possess awareness and learning capacity

Do cells work after death?

They make up what you think of as, well, you. But when you die, all those cells don’t instantly die with you. Though you may be gone, many of your cells are still kicking in the hours and days after death, and some even show increased activity, finds a study in Nature Communications published last week

Why do cells keep you alive?

Cells in your body reproduce — a process called cell division or mitosis. Experts believe that healthy human cells can replicate or divide up to 60 times before cell death occurs. Your body is constantly making new cells to replace damaged and dying ones. Natural cell death keeps your body healthy and functioning

What is the gift shape of the cell?

Cell wall is present outside the cell membrane. It has the function of giving shape and rigidity to the cell

Why is a cell special to life?

Cells are considered the basic units of life in part because they come in discrete and easily recognizable packages. That’s because all cells are surrounded by a structure called the cell membrane — which, much like the walls of a house, serves as a clear boundary between the cell’s internal and external environments

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