4 ms·
Blech. This is one of those cases where the genetic material is repeated multiple times inside the same "organism". It would be considered to be a filament ma
by Jiro 4y ago
Blech.
This is one of those cases where the genetic material is repeated multiple times inside the same "organism". It would be considered to be a filament made up of multiple cells, except that there isn't anything separating the individual cells, so it's technically "one cell".
It's like roping together 200 boats and claiming that you've created a mile long boat. You sort of did, but it's not really the first thing people think of when they see that phrase.
- Rerarom 4y ago> boat comparison This made my day, thanks.
- bendbro 4y agoYeah, that Candidatus Thiomargarita magnifica is a real piece of shit.
- undersuit 4y agoIt's a multiprocessor. The multiple available genes allow more expressiveness. Three genomes reacting to environmental changes exposes its resources 3 times as fast. Or maybe the chromosomes are spatially optimal in a centimeter long rod. Or maybe it's evolved to suppress the genes/proteins that would be excessive if it had 3 working copies being transcripted repeatedly.
- grapeskin 4y agoBut rope together 200 cars on a track and people will readily accept that it’s a mile long train.
- polycaster 4y agoTrue, but I guess for most people "a mile long train" sounds way less interesting than "a mile long car".
- antifa 4y agoThe equivalent claim would be a "mile long locomotive".
- mcv 4y agoAre you saying that this is a multicellular bacterium? That might be even more spectacular. Although it also sounds a bit like this might be some new type of eukaryote. Either way, it's not exactly blech.