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They solved that in a nifty way: the new bacteria can only reproduce in the lab. The "Alien" DNA contains two new base pairs. If it wants to reproduce, it must
by cjensen 12y ago
They solved that in a nifty way: the new bacteria can only reproduce in the lab.
The "Alien" DNA contains two new base pairs. If it wants to reproduce, it must construct a new cell which also contains the new base pairs. So it must get these new base pairs from somewhere.
Natural base pairs can either be synthesized by the cell or eaten. These Alien pairs cannot be synthesized by the bacteria, and do not exist in the Earth's environment.
The only way for these bacteria to reproduce is in a lab where they are "fed" the unnatural base pairs.
- jonahx 12y agodr_ian_malcolm.jpg
- cjensen 12y ago(The parent comment references the "Life finds a way" quote from Jurassic Park, possibly in jest) Can't happen: Evolution is limited to small steps caused by mutation. First, there is nothing in a cell which creates anything remotely like the missing base-pairs so there is nothing available to mutate into a base-pair synthesizer. Second, as the cells are grown in a vat of artificial base-pairs, there is no evolutionary advantage to developing the ability to create base-pairs. It's like scurvy: humans have no evolutionary pressure (outside of 19th Century sailors) to suddenly start producing Vitamin C themselves because they eat fresh food.