Editing Cell (biology) (section)

==== Navigation, control and communication ====

{{See also|Cybernetics#In biology}}

In August 2020, scientists described one way cells—in particular cells of a slime mold and mouse pancreatic cancer-derived cells—are able to [[Chemotaxis|navigate]] efficiently through a body and identify the best routes through complex mazes: generating gradients after breaking down diffused [[chemoattractant]]s which enable them to sense upcoming maze junctions before reaching them, including around corners.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Willingham |first1=Emily |title=Cells Solve an English Hedge Maze with the Same Skills They Use to Traverse the Body |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cells-solve-an-english-hedge-maze-with-the-same-skills-they-use-to-traverse-the-body/ |access-date=7 September 2020 |work=Scientific American |language=en |archive-date=4 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904102655/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cells-solve-an-english-hedge-maze-with-the-same-skills-they-use-to-traverse-the-body/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=How cells can find their way through the human body |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-08-cells-human-body.html |access-date=7 September 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en |archive-date=3 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903220400/https://phys.org/news/2020-08-cells-human-body.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tweedy |first1=Luke |last2=Thomason |first2=Peter A. |last3=Paschke |first3=Peggy I. |last4=Martin |first4=Kirsty |last5=Machesky |first5=Laura M. |last6=Zagnoni |first6=Michele |last7=Insall |first7=Robert H.|title=Seeing around corners: Cells solve mazes and respond at a distance using attractant breakdown |journal=Science |volume=369 |issue=6507 |date=August 2020 |page=eaay9792 |pmid=32855311 |doi=10.1126/science.aay9792 |s2cid=221342551 |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aay9792 |access-date=2020-09-13 |archive-date=2020-09-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200912234645/https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6507/eaay9792 |url-status=live }}</ref>