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One Variety of Sea Slugs Cuts Out the Energy Middleman
dragonturtle69 writes with this story, short on details but interesting: "These sea slugs, Elysia chlorotica, have evolved the ability to gain energy via photosynthesis. Forget about genetic modifications for sports enhancements. I want to be able to never need to eat again — or do I?"
I want to be able to never need to eat again -- or do I?
I'l like the ability to never HAVE to eat again, but I wouldn't want to lose the ability to eat at all. Eating is enjoyable. One would hope that you could control the photosynthesis to keep from getting too fat, though.
Free Martian Whores!
Any other questions that could be easily answered by playing Starcraft?
Stop it, stop it, it's fine. I will *destroy* you.
As everybody knows....
It's not easy being green.
I want to be able to consume as many extra calories as I like, and then radiate the excess as visible light, with radiant area, spectrum and direction under my conscious control.
Or, at least, I'd like to be able to metabolize my food and store excess energy as electric charge, easily transferred to whatever devices are handy.
Once you've "eaten enough algae to steal the necessary chloroplasts", you'll be good to go!
I would happily endure eating algae for X days/weeks/months in order to get photosynthesis going in my body. I realize that I'd have to start going outside, but it sounds like a fair trade off to me.
I dunno, sub could still work... I mean it worked for Jared eatin all those sammiches!
No, the statement is essentially correct. The slugs harvest (i.e. gain) energy via trapping photons with chlorophyll. They store that energy as chemical bonds in sugar molecules. They then release the energy as needed by metabolizing the sugar. Photosynthesis is the coupled capturing and storing of energy so saying that it "gains" energy via photosynthesis is a reasonable simplification.
Some species of Sea Slugs have another similar interesting ability -- to adsorb and host nematocysts (stinging cells) from jellyfish and hydrozoans they've eaten, and use them for their own defense. The mechanism is substantially different (foreign cells are sequestered in specialized sacs, compared to the intracellular hosting of an organelle) though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaucus_atlanticus
What should I say then when I piss on your leg?
William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
I’d say, “hi, did you realise that you’re standing in the toilet?”
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
Chloroplasts, just as with mitochondria, have a small DNA genome of their own. Due to the endosymbiotic relationship that has formed between chloroplasts and their photosynthetic hosts, chloroplasts have found it convenient to offload the majority of their genes to the nucleus. It is estimated that about 90% of the genes necessary for photosynthesis are nuclear, with the rest in chloroplasts, so these sea slugs appear to have acquired the nuclear genes, but not the chloroplast genes.
Chlorophyll itself is made in the cytoplasm, and actually requires relatively few new genes for an animal to be able to produce it, since the complicated steps of its biosynthesis are identical to the heme structures it is already able to make. The real difficulty, and one that this sea slug seems to have been able to surmount according to the Wikipedia page, is the production of the "oxygen-evolving complex," a metalloenzyme with a manganese-calcium core which transfers absorbed energy to a bound water molecule to break it into electrons, protons, and molecular oxygen. Heterotrophic organisms don't produce anything like it.
"FDA staff reviewers expressed concern about the number of patients who were left out of the study because they died."
FTA: "The sneaky slugs seem to have stolen the genes that enable this skill from algae that they've eaten."
I'm gonna go find and chow down on some ninjas right now, so I gain Real Ultimate Power!!
Slugs have been around for millions of years!
Wouldn't that be a fluke that only needed to happen once?
Calling it a "fluke" is not an explanation. The thing about scientists is, they like to find out how these "flukes" happen.
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."