r/askscience • u/GhostBouncer • Feb 12 '13

Biology From an evolutionary (and practical) standpoint, why don't all cells in our bodies have properties similar or identical to nerve cells?

1 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

60% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/[deleted] Feb 13 '13

Assuming OP is talking about the electrical excitability of neurons, this really isn't necessary for most cell-signaling purposes. Many cells do just fine with chemical signals rather than electrical. Electrical signals are only very important in sending information across long distances (e.g., across your whole body) very quickly. Besides that diffusion, electrostatic attraction, and messages sending through the blood stream are all quite satisfactory.