http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14046316
Seriously, it is an interesting article.
Thank You, Parasites!
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Xamonas Chegwé
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Thank You, Parasites!
Without you, we might never need to have sex! Next time I meet a tapeworm, or a scabies mite, I intend to buy it a pint!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14046316
Seriously, it is an interesting article.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14046316
Seriously, it is an interesting article.
A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return.
Salman Rushdie
You talk to God, you're religious. God talks to you, you're psychotic.
House MD
Who needs a meaning anyway, I'd settle anyday for a very fine view.
Sandy Denny
This is the wrong forum for bluffing
Paco
Yes, yes. But first I need to show you this venomous fish!
Calilasseia
I think we should do whatever Pawiz wants.
Twoflower
Bella squats momentarily then waddles on still peeing, like a horse
Millefleur
Salman Rushdie
You talk to God, you're religious. God talks to you, you're psychotic.
House MD
Who needs a meaning anyway, I'd settle anyday for a very fine view.
Sandy Denny
This is the wrong forum for bluffing
Paco
Yes, yes. But first I need to show you this venomous fish!
Calilasseia
I think we should do whatever Pawiz wants.
Twoflower
Bella squats momentarily then waddles on still peeing, like a horse
Millefleur
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JimC
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Re: Thank You, Parasites!
Amen, brother...Sex has long troubled evolutionary biologists.
And, given that the species of worm was Caenorhabditis elegans, the following quote is Ratz worthy...
But seriously folks, a very solid chunk of evidence for the evolutionary background to being randy...Dr Agrawal described the experiment as "elegant" because it allowed the researchers to demonstrate that it was not simply the presence of the parasite that spelled the end for the cloners, but the presence of a parasite that had co-evolved alongside the worms.
Well spotted, XC...
Nurse, where the fuck's my cardigan?
And my gin!
And my gin!
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FBM
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Re: Thank You, Parasites!
Or sister.JimC wrote:Amen, brother...Sex has long troubled evolutionary biologists.
"A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it." ~ H. L. Mencken
"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."
"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."
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mistermack
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Re: Thank You, Parasites!
I'm not sure how valid the results are.
When you alter how a worm reproduces artificially, the resulting offspring might not be as viable as those that reproduce naturally.
These worms have evolved to reproduce sexually, you don't know what other effects cloning has.
I would have done the test not by cloning, but by freezing some eggs, and allowing others to reproduce for a few generations sexually.
Then compare the results of the worms that had skipped a number of generations, to those that had supposedly evolved.
If there was a clear difference, then you COULD claim that sex had helped evolve resistance, and not that the cloning process itself had caused the problem.
Basically, I think that organisms that reproduce sexually NEED to reproduce sexually to stay healthy, because of hundreds of millions of years of getting used to it.
Things that have always cloned, will have mechanisms that keep their populations healthy.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be around.
.
When you alter how a worm reproduces artificially, the resulting offspring might not be as viable as those that reproduce naturally.
These worms have evolved to reproduce sexually, you don't know what other effects cloning has.
I would have done the test not by cloning, but by freezing some eggs, and allowing others to reproduce for a few generations sexually.
Then compare the results of the worms that had skipped a number of generations, to those that had supposedly evolved.
If there was a clear difference, then you COULD claim that sex had helped evolve resistance, and not that the cloning process itself had caused the problem.
Basically, I think that organisms that reproduce sexually NEED to reproduce sexually to stay healthy, because of hundreds of millions of years of getting used to it.
Things that have always cloned, will have mechanisms that keep their populations healthy.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be around.
.
While there is a market for shit, there will be assholes to supply it.
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mistermack
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Re: Thank You, Parasites!
This ability to evolve quickly in response to a problem is probably a great advantage to animals like worms.
Higher animals can walk, swim or fly out of a difficult environment. Worms have to make the best of the environment that they find themselves in. So if they find themselves in a place where the bacteria are particularly virulent, they can quickly produce a population that can handle it.
I remember an evolution video, I think it was Dawkins, where they looked at an old mine area, heavily contaminated with arsenic, where the worms had evolved to handle it within less than a hundred years. Cloning just wouldn't stand a chance of populating that soil with worms in probably a thousand years.
Higher animals can walk, swim or fly out of a difficult environment. Worms have to make the best of the environment that they find themselves in. So if they find themselves in a place where the bacteria are particularly virulent, they can quickly produce a population that can handle it.
I remember an evolution video, I think it was Dawkins, where they looked at an old mine area, heavily contaminated with arsenic, where the worms had evolved to handle it within less than a hundred years. Cloning just wouldn't stand a chance of populating that soil with worms in probably a thousand years.
While there is a market for shit, there will be assholes to supply it.
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stripes4
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Re: Thank You, Parasites!
Stop objectifying and sexualising bacteria!!! 
Generally opening mouth simply to change the foot that I'll be putting in there
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mistermack
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Re: Thank You, Parasites!
I'll leave bacteria alone, if they leave my willy alone.stripes4 wrote:Stop objectifying and sexualising bacteria!!!
It's a pain having to wash it every Christmas, even though it probably doesn't need it.
.
While there is a market for shit, there will be assholes to supply it.
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stripes4
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Re: Thank You, Parasites!
Now there talks a REAL man!! 
Generally opening mouth simply to change the foot that I'll be putting in there
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mistermack
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Re: Thank You, Parasites!
No, the test of a real man is if he leaves the toilet seat up. Everybody knows that.stripes4 wrote:Now there talks a REAL man!!
While there is a market for shit, there will be assholes to supply it.
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Svartalf
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Re: Thank You, Parasites!
I'll just objectify you and start calling my dutch wife 'Stripes'stripes4 wrote:Stop objectifying and sexualising bacteria!!!
Embrace the Darkness, it needs a hug
PC stands for "Patronizing Cocksucker" Randy Ping
PC stands for "Patronizing Cocksucker" Randy Ping
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