Scientists have conducted experiments in which plants that do not have a nervous system were paralyzed by anenstetics.
Do plants feel like animals? Or maybe even, as people, have consciousness? The answer to this question is no longer as obvious as it seemed quite recently. A number of reputable scientists, for example, professor at the University of Florence Stefano Mancuso and professor at the Institute of Cellular and Molecular Botany at the University of Bonn, František Baluska, are actively promoting the idea of "plant intelligence" in scientific circles. We have already written about their research in the article "Scientists have recognized plants as our brothers in mind." Recently, the scientific journal Annals of Botany published an article describing an extremely interesting experiment carried out by Balushka, Mankuza and their colleagues. Biologists decided to test how anesthesia affects the activity of plants. Yes, yes, the most common anesthesia used to relieve pain during surgery. In humans, it causes inhibition of the central nervous system, loss of consciousness and sensitivity to pain. But plants do not have a nervous system! So, in theory, they should not react to anesthesia in any way.
For the experiment, watercress seeds, peas, Venus flytrap (a species of carnivorous plants) and bashful mimosa were purchased in an ordinary garden store. The last purchase is worth mentioning separately. Scientists have discovered that bashful mimosa has a whole bunch of superpowers. First, its leaves are sensitive to touch and curl up when touched (hence the name - bashful). However, mimosa is able to remember and distinguish between the "impudent" who harass her. If the touch of a subject does not harm the plant, then the next time the mimosa will not be ashamed and will not waste energy on folding leaves. Moreover, mimosa is able to defend itself against attacks, throwing into the air an explosive cocktail of toxic substances - methanesulfonic, lactic, pyruvic acids and various sulfur compounds. But mimosa starts a chemical attack only if the enemy is a living being, for example, grazing cattle. And if damage is done by metal or glass, the plant does not react, as if it understands that in this case the poisonous substances are useless.
Under the influence of the anesthetic Venus, the flytrap falls into suspended animation.
So, all these plants were exposed to different anesthetics. Among them were lidocaine, diethyl ether, xenon anesthesia, which uses the inert gas xenon.
“We were amazed that anesthetics with different mechanisms of action caused a very similar effect on people, animals and plants,” admitted one of the authors of the study, Professor František Baluszka. - It was enough to treat the roots of mimosa seedlings with lidocaine, so that the shoots lost their ability to "collapse" when touched. After exposure to the ether, the antennae of the pea stopped their autonomous search movements and twisted lifelessly. And the Venus flytrap fell into suspended animation and insects could walk with impunity on its trap leaves. When the effects of anesthesia were exhausted, the plants restored their functions.
The conclusion suggests itself that plants and animals must have a common biological basis, which is disturbed by anesthetics. Scientists suggest that plants lose their ability to move because anesthetics block what are called action potentials - excitation waves that travel across the membrane of a living cell. These bioelectric potentials are the physiological basis of the nerve impulse.
After exposure to the ether, the antennae of the peas twisted lifelessly.
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In the study, there are no statements that these experiments confirm the presence of sensory organs and, moreover, consciousness (as a property of the human higher nervous system) in plants. But, probably, plants and animals still have much more in common than it seemed to us before.
However, many scientists urge fans of the idea of "plant intelligence" not to get carried away with anthropomorphism - the mechanical endowment of inanimate objects with human features.
It was enough to treat the mimosa with lidocaine for the shoots to lose their ability to “collapse” when touched (right).
- It is known that some types of bacteria also lose their mobility when exposed to vapors of diethyl ether, - tweeted the famous biologist Sophien Kamun, a leading researcher at the Sainsbury laboratory in the UK). “But it would never occur to anyone to say that bacteria are conscious!
YAROSLAV KOROBATOV