THE BAFFLING INTELLIGENCE OF A SINGLE CELL/

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

E. coli cells forage for nutrients using a process called chemotaxis. While the bacteria don't have brains, they possess something similar to a sense of smell, drive, and even memory. Chemotaxis involves 'smelling' chemicals and then deciding where to swim. The system is able to adapt to different environments with varying levels of attractant concentration. This article introduces the clever system that powers chemotaxis and explains how the complex signaling network works.