Re: Panspermia

From: Christian Weisgerber (naddy@mips.inka.de)
Date: Fri Dec 20 2002 - 12:36:31 MST


John K Clark <jonkc@att.net> wrote:

> I don't know if Panspermia is true or not but the fact that a bacteria like
> Deinococcus radiodurans exists is very puzzling. A radiation level of just
> 500 rads can kill a human but D. radiodurans not only lives but thrives
> after being hit with 1.5 million rads, and if you freeze the bacteria first
> it lives even after 3 million rads. Why would Evolution go to all the
> trouble to provide that much protection against a threat it is unlikely to
> ever see? Perhaps the radiation protection is just a byproduct of something
> else or maybe their is a more radical answer.

I seem to recall that D. radiodurans is robust against desiccation
and that the radiation resistence is indeed just a byproduct of
that.

-- 
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber                          naddy@mips.inka.de


This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Jan 15 2003 - 17:58:49 MST