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Microbes 100M Years Old Found In Termite Guts
viyh writes with coverage on MSNBC of the discovery of ancient microbes fossilized in the gut of a termite. "One hundred million years ago a termite was wounded and its abdomen split open. The resin of a pine tree slowly enveloped its body and the contents of its gut. In what is now the Hukawng Valley in Myanmar, the resin fossilized and was buried until it was chipped out of an amber mine. The resin had seeped into the termite's wound and preserved even the microscopic organisms in its gut. These microbes are the forebears of the microbes that live in the guts of today's termites and help them digest wood. ... The amber preserved the microbes with exquisite detail, including internal features like the nuclei. ... Termites are related to cockroaches and split from them in evolutionary time at about the same time the termite in the amber was trapped."
I mean, we *could* clone the microbes preserved in amber.. But that's just not as exciting, is it?
One hundred million years ago a termite was wounded and its abdomen split open
That would make a better film than most of the crap out there at the moment.
I for one welcome our new termite dwelling microbe overlords.
Seems even better than mummification for preserving the dead. We should figure out how to make it, and stick some creatures from our own time in it, including larger specimens for future paleontologists to ponder over. Like, famous politicians, as a reward for their service.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1026340/Jurassic-Park-comes-true-How-scientists-bringing-dinosaurs-life-help-humble-chicken.html According to Jack Horner, professor of palaeontology at Montana State University, the answer is an unequivocal yes. He says: "Of course we can bring them back to life. Their ancestral DNA is still present. "The science is there. I don't think there are any barriers, other than the philosophical."
I want to be encased in resin when I die. Like Walt Disney!
Is it just me, or does the summary read like the start of a legend that serves as prelude to an epic adventure?
I want to go on a quest to this "Myanmar" place and find the termite amber and throw it into the nearest volcano before the Evil One's minions get their hands on it.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
don't let spielburg know...
"Sorry, that was my mother-in-law," says the termite.
You know what, I've been 100% against torture from the beginning
Well good for you!
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Hukawng Valley is in Burma. Or is it Myanmar this time? Guess I'll have to reach into the memory hole.
*Cough* ...these microbes killed all the dinosaurs and now they have got m
Sounds like the work of Microsoft.
Hey man, just 'cause you weren't is no reason to be bitter. You can change now and be on the right side. ;)
Qxe4
Don't you mean 6,000?
This is my signature. There are many signatures like it, but this one is mine.
that termite should have invested in ColonCleanse(tm) to dissolve the 20-30 pounds of waste that is believed to bind to our intestine walls like spackle or paste.
Just clone the meat! Delicious dinosaur meat.
Quack, quack.
If you, as I, accept Lynn Margulis's hypothesis, parasitic and symbiotic interactions with microbes play a much stronger role in driving evolutionary diversification than "random" mutations of the genome.
The only reasonable ref I could find quickly is from 1991: Symbiosis as a Source of Evolutionary Innovation: Speciation and Morphogenesis.
-- Our systemic servants do not good masters make.
again.. wtf?
Weaponization begins in 3, 2, 1, ...
Say hello to my little sig.
Some primal termite knocked on wood.
And tasted it, and found it good.
And that is why your Cousin May
Fell through the parlor floor today.
-- Ogden Nash
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Put this in your intelligent designed pipe and smoke it.
I'd say that the bigger win here is the additional proof of evolution.
Without the protozoa, the termite would starve. Meanwhile, the protozoa would quickly die outside of the termite, resulting in a relationship of dependence between the animals that scientists call "mutualism."
From the Symbiosis article:
The definition of symbiosis is in flux, and the term has been applied to a wide range of biological interactions. The symbiotic relationship may be categorized as being mutualistic, parasitic, or commensal in nature. Others define it more narrowly, as only those relationships from which both organisms benefit, in which case it would be synonymous with mutualism.
Hmm, live and learn.
now I can understand why they say the cockroach will be the last living creature.... as it seems to be the first too..
This sounds like a good plot to an X-Files episode. Ancient microbes get unearthed. Mulder, Scully and a few randoms get infected. Mulder declares a quarantine, and in the end they only just escape with their lives.
Jurassic Amoeba... coming to theaters everywhere Summer 2009. ...it's not the veloci-raptor this time, it's the fearsome mitosis!
The amber preserved the microbes with exquisite detail, including internal features like the nuclei.
I was raised to believe that "nuclei" were by definition a feature of eukaryotic cells, and not prokaryotes. I would like to know more about these obviously parasitic eukaryotic termite bowel infesting organisms...
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
tl; dr
Restore? Is there such as word as "reembowelment"? Cyberland is gonna fuck with the dictionary big-time.
Table-ized A.I.
Upon making the discover, one Professor Hans Singleton was noted to have made the following remark:
"And I thought they smelled bad on the outside!"
Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
Termites are related to cockroaches
Quote:
"Termites have long baffled scientists as to their place in the natural world and their relationship with other insects. Although they are part of a large 'superorder' that includes cockroaches, they were classified separately in a group called Isoptera .
This new research puts termites into the same group as cockroaches, (Blattodea). Termites are now classed as a new family of cockroaches called Termitidae . Isoptera is no longer valid."
Well, I always preferred ants, though, admittedly, termites are superb architects when it comes to thermoregulation.
CC.
TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
The Jarasic Park movie was a real story.
Myanmar is the name that was given to Burma by the current military regime. Burma's pro-democracy movement still use its traditional name, and encourage us all to do the same.
We learned in Texas Science Class (R) that the earth was created 6000 years ago, complete with Adam, Eve, and a talking snake.
Are you certain there were no RIAA/MPAA copyrights in those microbe genomes? I'm just saying...
I don't like Cheney, but I like dune coons even less.
I was 60% against torture. Most of me was going "Torture is bad, mmkay" but the rest was thinking "...but if the torturer was a hot chick..."
Ezekiel 23:20
Modern RIAA music lyrics use *at least* *five* letters.
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running and screaming. A termite walks into a bar and asks "Where's the bartender?"
It gripped her hand gently. 'Regret is for humans,' it said.