Slashdot Mirror
Meet the Scientist Who Injected Himself With 3.5 Million-Year-Old Bacteria (vice.com)
Press2ToContinue writes with this profile of Anatoli Brouchkov, a scientist who isn't afraid to take an extremely hands-on approach to science. Vice reports: "Anatoli Brouchkov is a soft-spoken guy with silver hair, and when he lets out a reserved chuckle, his eyes light up like he was belly laughing. If you met him on the street, you'd never guess that he once injected himself with a 3.5 million-year-old strain of bacteria, just to see what would happen. According to Brouchkov, Bacillus F has a mechanism that has enabled it to survive for so long beneath the ice, and that the same mechanism could be used to extend human life, too—perhaps, one day, forever. In tests, Brouchkov says the bacteria allowed female mice to reproduce at ages far older than typical mice. Fruit flies, he told the Siberian Times, also experienced a 'positive impact' from exposure to the bacteria."
No generalized health insurance - Good. Why should I, someone who takes good care of his body, fund the risky behaviours of others who don't? Although I agree that congenital disorders should be
Why you should ? For two reasons: 1) You, too, may become the victim of a gruesome disease or a bad accident 2)Because it is a moral thing, for the stronger, to help the weaker.
the NRA - Like it or not, there are too many guns in the USA to get rid of them. Of you try, the police and criminals will be the only ones with guns, and that's certainly not a good thing. Also, the NRA's existence means we have great freedom of speech laws, unlike Europe, which is going the PC censorship route
This is a classic argument against change: "Proposed change is not perfect, so let's rather do nothing". Moreover, here in Europe, with strict gun regulation, indeed only "police and criminals" have guns, and we have no school shootings. As for the NRA's existence guaranteeing "great freedom of speech", I won't even bend over the edge of such bottomless stupidity in order to try and see a rational argument there.
Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
The bacteria in question is a strain of Bacillus Cerus. Some strains of Bacillus Cerus cause food poisoning, but others are used as a probiotic to reduce the incidence of salmonella in farm animals intestines. We already know that the intestinal biome of animals can have a serious affect on the animals' health, so the idea that this strain could be beneficial is completely plausible.
As far as this bacteria being an extremophile? Not so much. Baccilus Cerus undergoes sporulation when conditions are unfavorable. Spores are difficult to kill. Leaving behind spores when you die so that a new generation can arise when conditions are more favorable isn't the same as thriving in an extreme environment. If it was, humans would have to be classed as extremophiles too because we can freeze an embryo and implant it later.