Motor Proteins Got Feet!

[nancylebov]

http://studiodaily.com/main/searchlist/6850.html is a gorgeous animation about what goes on in cells.

Link thanks to bruceb.

NonOBSF: _A Wind in the Door_ by Madeline L'Engle, which is as far as I know the only sf where much of the story takes place on the cellular level.

Comments

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the one where the health of the universe is threatened because the mitochondria are refusing to dance their traditional dance and they're being all rebellious and stuff.

It's the book that made me hate Madeleine L'Engle. The first one just slightly alienated me.

I've been told that her mundane fiction is actually better.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Nitpick alert: you're right that _A Wind in the Door_ is basically in favor of order and obedience. IIRC, the whole universe wasn't at risk--Charles Wallace would have died if his mitochrondria didn't do the right thing, and he was their universe. Also, it wasn't a matter of mitochondria not doing the traditional dance, it was that mitochrondia are the adult, sessile form of farandole (sp?), and some of the farandolae were refusing to grow up and stop dancing.

I've tried to read her mundane fiction, and was never able to get into it. I liked _A Wrinkle in Time_ and somewhat liked _A Wind in the Door_--it's got some cool stuff if you ignore the "you have an appropriate destiny and must not do anything else" message. I was bored by "Many Waters".

Longer version with narrative

[(Anonymous)]

Here's a version from Harvard (http://multimedia.mcb.harvard.edu/anim_innerlife_hi.html) that includes explanations of everything and a few details absent from the Studio Daily version.

Inquisitive Raven