Bacterial find in Antarctica

[kittyfox_kumiko]

My dad found this article in the local newspaper this morning. Here is the first part of it:

Scientists have recovered microorganisms from ancient Antarctic ice and coaxed it back to life in the lab, according to a study published today. The glacial ice acted as a "gene Popsicle," preserving DNA that hasn't circulated in the gene pool for up to 8 million years. If warming melts the glaciers, the DNA could fuel a new wave of bacterial evolution, the researchers reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - "Scientists revive life frozen in Antarctic," by Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times staff writer

The article went on to say that the organisms could come back to life in nature, as well, if the ice melted, thus starting that afore-mentioned "wave of bacterial evolution". I asked my dad if that was good or bad. "Bad," he told me. "Nobody would have an immunity. 'Bad' as in 'plague'."

So, a dangerous bacterial strain, 8 million years old, in Antarctic ice. Where do you think my mind went? cool  

[MinakoTenjou]

dang, thats intense! i hadnt heard about that! that could definitely be a bad thing. though i'm sure good things could come too. and now that we have some idea of whats out there, maybe we can produce vaccines just in case. you never know. and OF COURSE, my mind went exactly the same place while reading that. ^_^  

[goddess velya]

it might not be a bad thing, i mean there's a massive number of bacteria that are harmless to human and thats without immunity, maybe thses are the same way  

[Sayuri-Ryuu]

We have no evidence at all that this might be a bad thing. Can we get some before we get all hysterical? Also note the presence of a few "ifs" and "could"s in there.  

[kittyfox_kumiko]

Who said anything about hysteria? I'm making a reference.  

[Lt. Colonel Sam Carter]

ooohhhhh!!!.....interesting...hmm...*mind wanders off*....  

[Sayuri-Ryuu]

Not you, kittyfox. Not anyone, really. I've seen people get hysterical about things like this in other forums, and I really don't want it to happen here. I LIKE this place! I don't want it to get crap! *goes and cries in corner*  

[kittyfox_kumiko]

Still, if anything of that nature does happen as a result of this, it'll be my fault. cry  

[Sayuri-Ryuu]

True. It is now your responsibility to jump on anyone who gets hysterical.

I'll help. Though, since no-one has posted any hysteria at this point, I doubt its going to happen. Yay!  

[Tarica]

Alot of articles like that, they're trying to shock the public. It's just like when they found those meteorites in Antarctica that look like they may have fossilized bacteria.  

[kittyfox_kumiko]

But they really have proof this time. It really is alive.  

[Sayuri-Ryuu]

Its in the papers here too.

Although I agree with Tarica. Like the time they found a man's face on Mars and that automatically meant aliens.  

[kittyfox_kumiko]

But NASA went on for ages about how it was a natural occurrence. They even took a picture from a different angle of the same rock. It was only a shadow.  

[Angry Kitsune]

Wow! eek As a Biology major, I understand how bad that would be for the world if that ancient bacteria's genome entered our present-day gene pool! eek We would all die....except for maybe 1 or 2 individuals, who by some stroke of evolutionary luck might be immune to those "new" strains of bacteria. Think about it: with the HIV virus already wreaking havoc on all our diseases (creating new strains of viruses and altering bacterial DNA, as HIV is a retrovirus)---if the HIV virus gets ahold of these ancient bacterial strains, the entire human (and possibly ALL life, depending how they are altered) will be wiped out! eek  

[Sayuri-Ryuu]

kittyfox_kumiko

But NASA went on for ages about how it was a natural occurrence. They even took a picture from a different angle of the same rock. It was only a shadow.

Yeah, I know. But people still say theres aliens on Mars and point to that picture to prove it. NASA was only covering it up, after all. Its a government conspiracy.