"Organization of the Stentor body plan by localized mRNAs (PNAS, 10 August 2026). Timothy A. Mitchison comments on a new paper about the complexity in the body plan of a microbe.
Even getting the long axis right in the trumpet-shaped ciliated protist Stentor requires multiple coordinated steps (genetic and epigenetic), to say nothing of building the circumferential axis where a ring of cilia sweep nutrients into its cornucopia.
“All cells are spatially organized,” Mitchison begins, “but the organizational complexity and precision of most metazoan cells pale in comparison to ciliated protists which display elaborate body plans.” And the little organism can regenerate itself if injured. The author says nothing about evolution." CEH
