Abstract
A central problem in biology concerns the mechanisms by which linear nucleic acid codes are translated into the 3-dimensional dynamic architecture of cells. The contents of cells are restricted in their movement by skeletons in their nuclei and cytoplasm. Every cell has an individual arrangement of skeletal components, which vary in time and space, while maintaining shape, internal order, and mechanical continuity with neighbouring cells. The precise pattern is realized by gene products that self-assemble at organizing centers oriented by delicate local stresses. However, the epidermis of caterpillars shows that other factors may contribute to skeletal patterns. The epidermis of caterpillars is composed of syncytial cell doublets formed by the retention of midbodies from mitosis to mitosis. It is an epithelium of Siamese twin cells. The interesting feature of these twins is that they have similar or even mirror image nuclear and cytoplasmic patterns. In most cells, sibling similarities are too short-lived to be noticed. In twin cells, the structural similarities are conserved, giving evidence for somatic inheritance, that is the survival and replication from one cell generation to the next of 3-dimensional arrangements that may not be completely specified by the nature and activity of the genetic material.
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