It gets better, read the section on cellular memory
The organ transplantation thing seems far fetched and probably BS, but the idea that someone's mood could change after an organ transplant is not that far fetched. My mom studies transplantation and I know a bit of immunology as well. Organ transplantation stimulates an immune response and in turn release of various cytokines into the blood, which could travel to the brain and affect mood. Inflammation in the brain is linked to many mood disorders.
The worst thing about the article is it's way too long, I think the author must like to hear himself talk. I'm also not sure of why he dismisses quorum sensing. Surely the "whole" does not stop at the single cell level. There's the whole community, etc..
He didn't seem talking about genomics or epigenomics, though.
> Cells are intelligent.
Define intelligent. I don't see a mechanistic response unit, no matter how sophisticated, as intelligent.
> Inflammation in the brain is linked to many mood disorders.
That is, however, extremely different from starting to like classical music because your donor was a violinist. He wasn't talking about mood disorders, but specific preferences.
> I don't see a mechanistic response unit, no matter how sophisticated, as intelligent.
Can you provide an example of an "intelligent" system that is definitely not a "mechanistic response unit"?
> He didn't seem talking about genomics or epigenomics, though
Proteins can hold memory too. Not as stable as DNA except maybe for amyloid fibers like those in prions. But it's not out of the question.
Sure, intelligent systems do by definition have a mechanistically responsive element at its base; they're made of matter, after all. However, that doesn't mean that every system which is able to respond to changes in its environment is ipso facto intelligent.
The neurons in the brain are not what makes a brain intelligent. It's the emergent meta-structures formed by neurons which allow us to think the way we think.