Magicians, Mutants, Midichlorians

This semester I’m trying to sit in on a colleague’s special topics course on Interdisciplinarity in the sciences. I say “trying” because at some points during the semester I will probably get so busy that I might have to forego this luxury. Anyway, this past week the course was about getting students to think about Energy from the perspective of biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics. Thermodynamics is one of the main topics of my General Chemistry and Physical Chemistry classes, so it will be fun to see the synergies!

One of the exercises had students working in small groups to come up with consensus terms that described energy from these different perspectives. My colleague then showed results from similar exercises he has done with faculty groups. I was particularly intrigued that the largest diversity of terms came from the chemists, although it’s possible that biochemists in the mix significantly enlarged the terminology. As a chemist, I feel that my field has no grand narrative. Physics has the standard model and Biology has evolution. You might think that the periodic table was a unifying narrative, but having delved into it from my perspective, I see the elements in their grainy particularity – individualistic elements that try to defy attempts at herding them into groups. (I really should elaborate on that in a future post!)

Today’s post is my attempt to weave together an interdisciplinary narrative that spans science, science-fiction and story-telling – just for the fun of it! I have blogged about a number of these themes, but in an attempt to keep the prose flowing I will not reference them in the paragraphs below. If you’re interested in seeing some of these earlier ideas, three examples are here, here and here. And now I present my unedited speculative story on Energy!

M-Theory from the theoretical physicist’s perspective is an attempt to unify the different strands of string theory. The quest is no less than understanding the deep unifying principles behind matter, energy, and existence. If indeed the foundations of the natural universe are based on vibrating membranes and strings, it would be indeed music to the ears. Even after many years, my favorite creation story remains the Ainulindale from J. R. R. Tolkien. It would be poetic justice indeed if creation was sung into existence by supernatural beings in melodies that weave harmony and discord into a fantastic tapestry, the end of which is yet hidden from the mind of men.

I propose a new M-Theory that unites three worlds: Magicians from fantasy literature, Mutants from the comic universe of superheroes, and Midichlorians from the movie juggernaut that is Star Wars. Where do these supernatural powers come from? How can they exist in humanoid beings? What is the link between the miraculous and the mundane? I propose humble beings, found in great numbers in our very cells: Mitochondria.

If there is a thread to biological evolution stretching eons back into chemical evolution, it may lie in the laws of thermodynamics. An expanding universe requires the dispersion of energy from a Big Bang, and the parallel way such dispersion is achieved is through an expanding diversity as chemical space is explored. “Be fruitful and multiply!” It is an injunction that touches on the most efficient way to satisfy the second law of thermodynamics in a cooling universe – the evolution of chemical structures in hypercyclic systems through energy transduction. Who can better capture the energy as it streams through, animating organisms that stretch out the dissipation of energy across time and space.

Chemical energy in deep vents across redox potentials might have been the birthplace of primitive assemblies, but the streaming of electromagnetic radiation – a boon from the heavens – led to species that would harvest the power of the sun. A poison becomes life-giving as organisms adapt to an oxygenated environment. As one organism swallowed another, a new symbiosis emerged. Mitochondria! A better, more efficient way to transduce energy – converting it into forms that allow specialization, complexity, and the rise of a new multicellular organism.

For many an era, these energy powerhouses lived within the organism, but then emerged Man – a creature that would extend his reach of energy by building a cyborgian future. Smoke would rise as stone-coal dead feed the needs of the living. Water, Light, the harnessing of Electricity, and splitting the atom, would further extend the energy-producing capabilities of this new creature. Man’s energy sources reached far outside his body. Nature had never before been manipulated as quickly, and the Second Law was pleased by evermore consuming and dissipating its currency, Energy! Corporations and countries, organizations of men, jostled for control of the new currency – therein lies the power.

But there arose a new Man. One who would not be as dependent on the external structures carefully built and organized to serve the complex corporate organism. One who had the energy to manipulate the natural world from within. The new man had different names in different worlds. Magicians, they were called, in some forgotten realms. Mutants, others were called, in dystopian realms. Midichlorians, would infuse a rare few, in a galaxy far, far away. These tiny symbionts would be the clue to find the one capable of wielding a force of power, to throw energy across space and time.

The lowly Mitochondria would be key to supplying the enhanced energy needs of one whose acts would seem supernatural. Who is the Magician, but one who is able to channel energy through the electromagnetic spectrum and move collections of atoms into new configurations? Who is the Mutant, but one whose enhanced biochemistry allows for rapid healing, super-speed, and prodigious strength? Midichlorians are the new evolved Mitochondria. Harnessing energy requires energy, and the price of thermodynamics must still be paid.

It is said that life on earth uses barely 1% of the energy available today. Could we evolve mitochondria that could enhance our metabolism? If so, might we be capable of seemingly supernatural acts? Is this perhaps the link between the miraculous and the mundane? Could a broader M-Theory link the brotherhood of magicians, mutants and midichlorians, to the mitochondria of mere man?