In search of the perfect unit

Jessica Maccaro

To measure we often tear apart 
looking for the units
that must be inside;
We are what we are composed of.
Right?

In search for a natural seam
to draw a line between 
self/ and /other:
We are cartographers “tracing” borders 
where there are none
drawn for a reason but one that comes
after the separation has been made.

Breaking ourselves open
arbitrarily
to watch where the pieces fall; 
Seeking meaningful patterns 
discovering,
or creating (?), 
fragments
we can put back together 
in different ways
until the picture looks whole again.

Destroying and reconstituting
until we decide what measurement contours
and cleaves
animal, plant, bacteria,

Human

Intuitively distinct
but with nothing to prove it.

Once inside
under a microscope —
in the obstruction of light to eye:
A society of cells
dividing themselves —
Assembling as perfectly efficient machines
Skin cells protect
Blood cells breathe Nerve cells feel.
Although delegated they are all us: 
birthed from the same nuclear seed 
expressing themselves in the ways we need.
These units
though useful and discrete
only reveal ourselves to be
just another animal.

A technician raises her bleary eyes 
strained from counting containers, 
but still turns a knob —
wondering if anything is inside. 
She’ll need more than light to see 
tinier boundaries:
A beam of electrons
scatter in the absence of matter,
filling in the negative space
that defines these new shapes —
Organelles:
another package to play with.

The mitochondria:
a powerhouse
but not us at all.
Just a hungry archaea

that munched a lonely proteobacteria
Who now need each other
and are each other
who now need us,
and us them.
Looking deeper you see
that some measurements separate us
but not so clean:
We are what we are composed of
but also who we need.

We can only see the world in units 
but which:
We get to decide.
New technologies let us
peer deeper inside —
A code,
the perfect unit!
Nucleotides:
strung together (scrunched inside)
an organelle
inside our cell

Units nested within each other

How perfect and orderly

But to extract meaning
we need a Rosetta stone 
to unfold and decode
precious hieroglyphics.
We sequence
and assign names
and make the lines even less clean.

But what we measure is what we see:
All of the methodology
brings into focus
— sharp and concrete —
stacks of snapshots
a self that is continuous 
(made discrete)
for us
to count,
to quantify,
to prove,
to know
that we are different —
that things are distinct

But really those
cells we thought were ours
only were 1 in 10 times
The others were microbes
Who led their own lives
as their own units;
And the DNA we thought was surely ours
is only half.
The rest:
Viruses
both present and past
We lurch out of their echoes
to begrudgingly carry them on

Which units then
are us or them?
We are an accumulation of mergers,
and the deeper we cut
the less distinct we become
recursively breaking multitudes
into more multitudes
Until we are just atoms
But where is the life in those?

Splitting tiny infinities
until we lose ourselves
in the chimeric bends
that trace our parts
unoriginal
but melded in a new way:
Beings and becomings
we are multitudes
in one.

The Science

This piece explores how the units of measurements we decide to use in science inform what we can see. I focus on our exploration of ourselves as humans and the different units we have developed over time to understand ourselves. I specifically focus on how these units of measurement actually change the picture we have of ourselves and make the lines between us and other living things less clear. 

The Poet

Jessica Maccaro is a PhD candidate in the entomology department at UC Riverside. She has a strong interest in language usage in science and how it shapes our perspectives in surprising and hidden ways. For an example, you can find her article ‘Be Mindful of Your Metaphors about Microbes’ published in mSphere. Another passion of hers is macro-photography and with it she has created an interactive website to teach people about native bees and has founded Insects4inclusion where she sells art and photography to raise money for research scholarships for underrepresented folks. Ultimately, she is passionate about combining art and science to convey the meaning and beauty behind the biological systems that inspired her to get into science in the first place.

Next poem: John Harrison by Clint Wastling