MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS 



also to reduce the probability of structural changes in 

 the offspring, that would result from mutations of the 

 genes in the germ cells. 



MULTICELLULAR LIFE, A SYSTEM ON A HIGHER LEVEL 



Let US now consider the nature of the association of 

 the cells that form multicellular organisms (metazoa) . 

 The system of organization of these cells is now far 

 more integrated than it was in the cell colony. Exist- 

 ence of an individual cell away from the organism for 

 any length of time has now become impossible. Special- 

 ization of cell structure has gone very much further 

 now. There is no longer any question as to what con- 

 stitutes the individual — the cells, or the integrated 

 organization. The entire organism is now clearly rec- 

 ognizable as the entity and certainly functions as such. 

 If one can at all speak of such a concept as the purpose 

 of the organization, then it certainly appears that the 

 multicellular organism does not function for the pur- 

 pose of maintenance of the individual cell, but solely 

 for the preservation of the organism as a whole. 

 (Neither consciousness nor Teleology is implied 

 here.) The cell colony developed initially because such 

 an association in certain environments increased the 

 survival probability of the individual cells. But in the 

 far more integrated multicellular organism, the orig- 

 inal ''purpose" of the colony, to further the survival of 

 cells as individual species, became ever more subordi- 



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