A cholera bacterium morphing into something else
Evolution requires genetic divergence – progeny that are not
the exact duplicate of a parent. Mammals
acquire this diversity through sex – building the genome of the progeny out of
bits and pieces of two different genomes, mom and pop. Mutations also play an important role. However, bacteria also evolve (witness all
the antibiotics on the market), but don’t enjoy anything you might call
sex. In part they evolve – change – by capturing
bits of DNA floating around in the blood stream. Here is neat video of a cholera bacterium
literally reaching out and capturing DNA blobs, then “eating” them. It reminds me, and Dr. Francis Collins, of Spiderman
snatching a weapon out of the grasp of a bad guy. Pretty cool!
ReplyDeleteNCI provides this “infographic” for those of us mildly curious about how DNA does its job, but are frightened of textbooks.
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/genetics/genes-proteins-infographic?cid=eb_govdel
Do you get lots of colds? This partially explains why. The advice remains: wash your hands, stay away from sick peoplr, and don’t smoke. Big surprise, huh?
ReplyDeletehttps://directorsblog.nih.gov/2018/09/18/possible-explanation-for-why-some-get-more-colds-than-others/
If you ever doubted that our Rube Goldberg genetic physiology is the product of blindly stumbling evolution, contemplate on this:
ReplyDeletehttps://directorsblog.nih.gov/2018/10/16/a-new-piece-of-the-alzheimers-puzzle/