By definition, cancer is “Something evil or malignant that spreads destructively”, or “A malignant tumor of potentially unlimited growth.” Merely hearing the word ‘cancer’ triggers an ominous feeling in nearly every person I’ve met. When I hear the word cancer, I think of tendrils of darkness creeping across a verdant landscape. Everything that each tendril touches contorts, hardens, and withers, becoming a wisp of its former …
Altruism and Cancer from a Slime Mold’s Perspective
Main photo: Alex Wild Multicellularity is an astonishing feat of communal sacrifice. With the exception of sperm and egg (the “germ line” cells), the 40 trillion cells currently in your body will dutifully perform their particular charge to maintain the whole, intricately arranging themselves to form your arteries, lungs, liver and brain, without ever having a chance to meaningfully reproduce. Many will die …