SCIENCE OF YIN YOGA 53At the center of the cell is the nucleus. At the beginning of their life cycle,
all cells have one nucleus, and this is where deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is
found. DNA contains important genetic information. Conventional science
adopts the belief that the nucleus is the cell’s brain. However, a growing
movement in science called new biology believes this might not be the case.
Scientists have been able to extract the nucleus from a cell and prove it can
survive for up to two months or more without genes (Lipton 2005). These
enucleated cells are able to carry out complex behaviors, which demonstrates
that the cell’s brain must still be intact despite the removal of its nucleus. What
the enucleated cells have lost are their reproductive abilities. As cell biologist
Dr. Bruce Lipton states in his book The Biology of Belief, “...the nucleus is not
the brain of the cell—the nucleus is the cell’s gonad!” (2005, 42).
If the nucleus isn’t the brain of the cell, then what is? According to Dr. Lipton,
it is the cell membrane, or what he likes to call the “mem-Brain.” This sheath
that surrounds the cell and contains the cytoplasm is only seven-millionths
of a millimeter thick. Some primitive microbes, called prokaryotes, consist
of only a cell membrane and cytoplasm, yet are able to carry out the same
functions as more complicated cells. Without a nucleus, they are able to eat,
digest, breathe, eliminate, and survive. The cell membrane is the only organ-
elle found in every living cell. Dr. Lipton describes the cell membrane as “a
liquid crystal semiconductor with gates and channels” (2005, 72). So, what are
the gates and channels? See figure 4.1 for an example of a cell and its parts.
The gates and channels embedded in the cell membrane are called integral
membrane proteins (IMPs). These IMPs are the key connection between the
E7122/Eliot/F04.01/590014/mh-R1Cell membraneMitochondrionNucleusLysosomeCytosolCentriolesEndoplasmic
reticulumRibosomesGolgi
apparatusFIGURE 4.1 Parts of a cell.