Yellowstone virus tied to earliest life | Billings Gazette

[Ediacara]

Yellowstone virus tied to earliest life; Unique organism from geyser basin enthralls scientists


Computer image of virus
found in Yellowstone.

Associated Press

A virus discovered in Yellowstone National Park may provide a link to ancient life on Earth before the primordial soup of life began dividing into more distinct forms over 3 billion years ago, Montana State University scientists say.

The virus may help scientists understand a common ancestor that scientists believe was present before life split into forms such as bacteria, heat-loving organisms and the building blocks that led to plants and animals.

"It's a clue that helps you say, 'Yeah, there probably was a common ancestor at some point or sets of ancestors,' " said George Rice, one of the MSU scientists who participated in the study. "It's food for thought."

More at the Billings Gazette

[BayCityProgressive]

1. interesting...

perhaps the GOP's evolution stopped shortly after this.

[treepig]

2. the actual PNAS article is a bit more lucid

after all, it's a bit difficult to imagine the esteemed George Rice actually saying

"It's a clue that helps you say, 'Yeah, there probably was a common ancestor at some point or sets of ancestors,'

in the context of the origin of life in general (since such a notion has been widely accepted for a long time) as the Billings Gazette article implies.

instead, the new finding is that there was a common viral ancestor. (with viruses being non-living entities of course).

more information is at this link (if it works):

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0401773101v1?ijkey=30cfa8185ce7cabe094b7237276ace94d042012e&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha

or the actual abstract of the paper:

Of the three domains of life (Eukarya, Bacteria, and Archaea), the least understood is Archaea and its associated viruses. Many Archaea are extremophiles, with species that are capable of growth at some of the highest temperatures and extremes of pH of all known organisms. Phylogenetic rRNA-encoding DNA analysis places many of the hyperthermophilic Archaea (species with an optimum growth 80°C) at the base of the universal tree of life, suggesting that thermophiles were among the first forms of life on earth. Very few viruses have been identified from Archaea as compared to Bacteria and Eukarya. We report here the structure of a hyperthermophilic virus isolated from an archaeal host found in hot springs in Yellowstone National Park. The sequence of the circular double-stranded DNA viral genome shows that it shares little similarity to other known genes in viruses or other organisms. By comparing the tertiary and quaternary structures of the coat protein of this virus with those of a bacterial and an animal virus, we find conformational relationships among all three, suggesting that some viruses may have a common ancestor that precedes the division into three domains of life >3 billion years ago.

[havocmom]

3. Fundies who go ballistic at the suggestion they 'evolved from monkeys'

are gonna go nuclear with this one.

OK, we are gonna need a whole lot of sane and sensible school board candidates to square off with them when they go into gear again.

[treepig]

5. evolved from monkeys you say? here's how it (may have) happened . . .

Summary: How did intelligence evolve? A scientist studying differences between humans and great apes may have found a biochemical step in that direction.


it all started back when . . .

Humans were an endangered species for 2 million years, with a population calculated to be around 10,000," says Varki. "Such a small population can get a gene knocked out by accident, rather than be a change that's selected because it confers an evolutionary advantage.

http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=257

[Ediacara]

8. Something I have heard

Was that increased brain size was a response to the need to 1) lie and cheat and 2) remember who else is lying and cheating!

[havocmom]

10. You've got it DinoBoy!

Hasn't Jane Goodall shown that the higher functioning chimps also engage in warfare? Seems the 'smarter' the species, the more prone towards deception and hate.

[markbark]

6. **Sigh** Sometimes I just wanna b*tchslap those fundies.

You'd think that with a label like "fundamentalist" that they would have a 'fundamental' grasp of the concepts of evolution.

If they say that "man did not evolve from monkeys" pat them on their pointy little heads, give them a cookie and tell them "You're right!"

The theory of evolution does not state that man evolved from apes, only that they share a common ancestor


..... then tell them to stop taking a poorly translated bronze-age text quite so literally :evilgrin:

--MAB

[Ediacara]

7. Actually it does in a way

Saying that, "man didn't evolve from apes, but we both evolved from a common ancestor" implies that all apes are more closely related to eachother than to humans, which isn't true.

Humans are closest to chimps, and the human-chimp group is closest to gorillas, and the human-chimp-gorilla group is closest to orang-utans and etc....

It's more correct to say that humans not only evolved from apes, but ARE in fact apes.

The same thing happens with Monkeys, where Old World Monkeys are closer to apes, than either are to New World Monkeys. In other words, apes did evolve from Monkeys, and it could be said that apes are a kind of tailless monkey.

[havocmom]

11. And to throw the theory of an extraterrestrial seed into the mix....

ever notice how close the resemblance between Richard M. Nixon and the species Jabba the Hut used as house guards? :evilgrin: X2 :evilgrin:

[TahitiNut]

16. They have to. They have no choice.

The whole concept of evolution implies that it's still going on and will continue. This contradicts the whole theo-narcissistic notion that Gawd created the WHOLE universe as a gift to man (the one that IS, not the one that's gonna be).

Anthropocentrism is a mental disease that's infected us homo semi-sapiens ever since the inception of totalitarian agriculturalism.

[starroute]

4. The virus itself is not the common ancestor

If I'm reading the synopsis correctly, this is much like trying to figure out when humans split from chimpanzees by studying the DNA of our respective body lice.

It's saying that the extremophiles aren't often infected by viruses, but they've found one that was -- and that virus is very different from, but still recognizably akin to, the viruses that infect bacteria and multi-celled organisms.

Since a split among these three groups must have occurred at an extremely early date, this also helps confirm the antiquity of life on Earth. Put together with possible signs of life in certain very ancient rocks, it suggests that the moment Earth stopped being a ball of molten matter, life was already present.

And that, in turn, implies that life will arise spontaneously anywhere in the universe that can support it, which is a philosophically challenging conclusion.

[Lars39]

9. Looks like a doily on Aunt Hettie's dresser.

I love science discoveries like this! I hope we can fend off the flat-earthers bush* is appointing so that we can once again be tops in the sciences.

[havocmom]

12. In the mean time, the junta will likely speed up the rush to destroy

Yellowstone. They don't want extrordinary natural labs like that laying around where anybody with a brain could make some gospel-shattering discovery...

They might go so far as to use that huge Jesus hot air balloon to float over the Yellowstone pools and do some nasty bit of bombing.

WWJD?

[Lars39]

17. I could see them drastically cutting funds to the groups who would love

to explore this discovery. Physically closing off the area would be a
possibility, too. :sigh: I shouldn't give them ideas.

[Ediacara]

19. Nah...

They would have to close off every geyser basin and hotspring area in Yellowstone. They COULD say it's because of seismic stuff, but the USGS would just reply back, "no it isn't."

[Lars39]

20. Good.

I hope bushco* meets resistance every step of the way. :)

[treepig]

21. i assume your post was facetious?

otherwise, the paranoia is just a bit much - after all there's $$$'s to be made from the critters living in yellowstone hot springs . . .

An Important Hot Spring



.25

The large spring above (actually it's the one in the link, not the one shown), near Great Fountain Geyser, was the source of the culture of Thermus aquaticus that is used to make Taq polymerase, a key constituent of the polymerase chain reaction. At the time of the discovery, this spring was hotter than it is today, and its outflow was 70 degrees C (158 degrees F), the optimum temperature of Thermus aquaticus. A sample of the microbial mat at the point of outflow was used to prepare the initial culture. Once the culture was available in the laboratory, a large amount of research could be readily done. The culture obtained was later deposited in the American Type Culture Collection, making it available to any researcher. Scientists from the Cetus Company obtained the culture from this source and purified the enzyme Taq polymerase using conventional biochemical techniques.

Thermus aquaticus and Biotechnology

In order to copy DNA and amplify it using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), an enzyme (DNA polymerase) is needed which is active at high temperature. The DNA polymerase of Thermus aquaticus, called Taq polymerase, fills the bill. During the successive heating cycles of PCR, Taq polymerase is not destroyed, but continues to work. During each successive round of heating, the amount of DNA doubles. Progressive doubling leads to an exponential increase in DNA. From one original molecule, we can get millions! Taq polymerase finds wide use in medical diagnosis (AIDS, for instance) and forensics (DNA fingerprinting) and has become the basis of a $300,000,000 industry. - note that this is a very old link - the $figure is now undoubtably much higher

http://www.bact.wisc.edu/Bact303/b27

[reprobate]

13. Modern man= Homo Prevaricus

The only creature on earth capable of lieing.

[Ediacara]

14. that's not true

There are plenty of creatures that can lie :-) Ever talked to a parrot?

[hunter]

15. My parrot...

Oh my.

If she was human she'd be the worst sort of politician.

[ConcernedCanuk]

18. hmmm - sorta look like distorted michelin-man versions of the AIM guy

.
.
.

Especially that one right in the middle near the bottom


^
^
^

no?

:shrug:

[stickdog]

22. A thread that might help explain this finding ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x1129875

[treepig]

23. perhaps that thread would have been better placed

in the science forum rather than in the lounge?

(just so it'd stick around longer?)