http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/34784/title/The-Upside-of-Suicide/
It is not uncommon for some organisms to commit suicide-- for the benefit of their close relatives. They do so, so that their genes may be passed on to future generations... However, in this article in The Scientist, they take this evolutionary adaptation and test to see if this could benefit other individuals that are not so closely related. Worth taking a look at!
“The important thing here is that programmed death outcompetes non programmed death at a level other than the single cell, and that’s remarkable,”
-Aliana
Dr. Altman in molecular genetics mentioned this when I took that class. It is a very weird and amazing adaptation that the E. coli(I'm not sure how to italicize on here) have obtained. I thought it was neat that the E.coli strains lived better in a viscous medium, but I guess that makes sense. It seems so simple, but it is so cool!! I am amazed that the E. coli Is were able to "turn on" their suicide gene even before the virus was able to complete its cycle in 15 minutes!! Amazing!
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting article. It in a way reminds me of the release of interferon in cells when they are infected with a virus in humans. While there is not a direct programmed death associated within our cells necessarily, it does act as an alert to benefit every other cell present to up-regulate the proper materials.
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