The Latest Biology News And Medical NewsBiology News 2Health News 2Biology News 3Health News 3
HOME >> BIOLOGY >> NEWS
Battle between bubbles might have started evolution

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers are proposing that the first battle for survival-of-the-fittest might have played out as a simple physical duel between fatty bubbles stuffed with genetic material. The scientists suggest that genetic material that replicated quickly may have been all the bubbles needed to edge out their competitors and begin evolving into more sophisticated cells.

This possibility, revealed by laboratory experiments with artificial fatty acid sacs, is in sharp contrast to a current theory of the earliest evolution of cells, which suggests that cellular evolution was driven by primordial genetic machinery that actively synthesized cell membranes or otherwise influenced cell stability or division.

The researchers, led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Jack W. Szostak, published their findings in the September 3, 2004, issue of the journal Science. Szostak and first author Irene Chen, both from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, collaborated on the studies with Richard Roberts of the California Institute of Technology.

Cells are basically sacs encapsulated by bilayered membranes of fatty acids and other lipids, plus proteins. A central question in evolution is how simple versions of these cells, or vesicles, first arose and began the process of competition that drove the evolution of life.

"Most of the previous thinking about how cells grew and evolved was based on the idea of the initial evolution of structural RNAs or ribozymes -- enzymes that could synthesize membrane molecules," said Szostak. The ribozymes might have made more membrane material while the structural RNAs might have formed a cytoskeleton that influenced stability, shape, growth or division, he said.

However, Szostak and his colleagues theorized that a far simpler physical process might explain why cells would compete with one another for the materials necessary to expand their size.

"We propos
'"/>

Contact: Jennifer Michalowski
michalow@hhmi.org
301-215-8576
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
2-Sep-2004


Page: 1 2 3

Related biology news :

1. AAAS hosts Battle of the Brains to choose area student for international competition
2. Battle of the DNA bulge may help thwart cancer
3. Battle lasers
4. System failure to blame for Walkerton, North Battleford outbreaks, says U of T study
5. Researchers working to devise plan for Palo Alto Battlefield Restoration
6. Battle of the sexes leads to a biological arms race
7. Battle of the sexes leads to evolutionary arms race
8. Battle to save last stronghold of the red squirrel
9. Baby Dolphin "Little Orphan Annie" Loses Battle For Her Life
10. Late Blight Battle Goes Online, Marking 150 Year Struggle Since Irish Potato Famine
11. Landmark agreement between Samoa and UC Berkeley could help search for AIDS cure

Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
TAG: Battle between bubbles might have started evolution

(Date:11/23/2009)...009 -- A USDOE and USDA study concluded that 50 mi...ropland pasture could be converted from current us... switchgrass, from which biomass could be harveste...ble production of a perennial grass monoculture fr...oved annually is expected to require nitrogen fert...
(Date:11/23/2009)...of New Hampshire microbiologist Louis Tisa has rec...rstanding of the actinorhizal plants, widespread w... and contaminated soils. , The United States De...fessor of molecular, cellular and biomedical scien...p between the bacteria Frankia and Casuarina, an a...
(Date:11/23/2009)...lifornia biomedical engineer and cardiologist Tzun... clinicians distinguish cardiac emergencies requir...able with drugs and lifestyle change. , Angiogra...eries feeding the heart, offer an inside view of t...ls, often revealing deposits of a dangerous fatty ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Switchgrass produces biomass efficiently 2UNH prof. receives nearly $500,000 to research environmentally significant plants 2Stable plaque or heart attack plaque? USC researcher builds new sensor to tell which is which 2Nature parks can save species as climate changes 12401 1Nature parks can save species as climate changes 12401 2Nature parks can save species as climate changes 12401 3AIAA names top ten emerging aerospace technologies of 2009 12399 1AIAA names top ten emerging aerospace technologies of 2009 12399 2Arena Pharmaceuticals Announces the Presentation of Lorcaserin Phase 3 BLOOM Data at the American Diabetes Associations 69th Scientific Sessions 4509 1Arena Pharmaceuticals Announces the Presentation of Lorcaserin Phase 3 BLOOM Data at the American Diabetes Associations 69th Scientific Sessions 4509 2Arena Pharmaceuticals Announces the Presentation of Lorcaserin Phase 3 BLOOM Data at the American Diabetes Associations 69th Scientific Sessions 4509 3
(Date:11/24/2009)... The FBI recently approved the Prom... participating in or generating DNA records for th... Madison, WI USA (PRWEB) -- The FBI recently ... for use by laboratories participating in, or gene...tem (NDIS). NDIS currently contains more than seve...
(Date:11/24/2009)...DWOODCITY,Calif.,Nov.24/PRNewswire-FirstCall/--Gen...ndyScott,GenomicHealth,sExecutiveChairman,willpres...inNewYorkCityonTuesday,December1,2009at10:00a.m.ET...astofthepresentation,visittheInvestorRelationssect...michealth.com .Pleaseconnecttothewebsiteatleast15m...
(Date:11/23/2009)...KE CITY, Nov. 23, 2009 In a provocative new study...g carbon dioxide emissions the major cause of glo...,s economy collapses or society builds the equival..."It looks unlikely that there will be any substant...eleration in carbon dioxide emission rates," says ...
(Date:11/23/2009)...SSISSAUGA,ON,Nov.23/PRNewswire-FirstCall/-YMBioSci...uctdevelopmentcompanythatidentifiesandadvancesadiv...riousstagesofdevelopment,todayreportedthatCytopia(...luatingCYT387,apotent,orally-administeredJAK1/JAK2...chester,Minnesota.AproposaltomergeCytopiaintoYMhas...
Breaking Biology Technology:NDIS Approval of Promega PowerPlex Kit Clears Path for More DNA Profiles to be Added to U.S. Database 2Genomic Health to Present at Piper Jaffray Health Care Conference 2Is global warming unstoppable? 2Is global warming unstoppable? 3Is global warming unstoppable? 4YM BIOSCIENCES REPORTS FIRST PATIENT IN PHASE I/II TRIAL OF JAK1/JAK2 INHIBITOR, CYT387 ENROLLED BY CYTOPIA 2YM BIOSCIENCES REPORTS FIRST PATIENT IN PHASE I/II TRIAL OF JAK1/JAK2 INHIBITOR, CYT387 ENROLLED BY CYTOPIA 3YM BIOSCIENCES REPORTS FIRST PATIENT IN PHASE I/II TRIAL OF JAK1/JAK2 INHIBITOR, CYT387 ENROLLED BY CYTOPIA 4
Other News:
...ity of Pennsylvania Medical Center have solved the... the synchronization of its.internal clock to cycl...mans --.rely on similar mechanisms to regulate the...is research has far-reaching implications for unde...
...ic researchers say they have found the cause of.mo...sponse to fungus. They say.this discovery opens th...roblem,.the most common chronic disease in the Uni... United States suffer from chronic.sinusitis, an i...
...999) -- The National Research Council of Canada.(N...biochip technologies and.their potential impact on...ent.to creation of new crops and other application...d clinical diagnostic testing and genomics researc...
.Recent deaths of endangered boreal toads in one of the largest remaining .populations in the southern Rocky Mountains have been linked to a chytrid .fungus identified last year as being responsible f
Molecular inner workings of fruit fly clock explained 2Mayo Clinic study implicates fungus as cause of chronic sinusitis 2NRC takes lead in the development of a national program for multi-million dollar biochip technologies 2USGS issues wildlife health alert: Chytrid fungus infection 2USGS issues wildlife health alert: Chytrid fungus infection 3
KENILWORTH, N.J. AVELOX (moxifloxacin HCl) monotherapy at 400 ...mg once daily is as effective as the high-dose combination of levofloxacin (500 ...mg twice daily) plus ceftriaxone (2 g once daily) i
...le die of African sleeping sickness (trypanosomias... Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) connected to th...n the battle against this disease. They have coupl...er to very specifically eliminate the infection ca...
...r bird droppings a nuisance, scientists at the Dau...hosphorus, a natural fertilizer for grassbeds whic...e next couple of months, Sea Lab scientists Dr. Ke... stakes in an effort to revive scarred grassbeds a...
...s and french fries aside, new research suggests ob...ween leptin, the hormone that signals the brain wh...ociated with heart disease. Reporting in Nature Me...de evidence that C-reactive protein (CRP) not only...
Avelox as effective as Levofloxacin combination therapy for severe community-acquired pneumonia 2A large step forward in the fight against African sleeping sickness 2Research provides clues to obesity's cause and hints of new approach for curbing appetite 2Research provides clues to obesity's cause and hints of new approach for curbing appetite 3