🚀 go-pugleaf

On Mon, 18 Jun 2001 22:06:51 +1000, Che Guava <che_guava@my-deja.com> wrote:

>I have for some time thought that social Darwinism was based
>on a crude simplification derived from an even cruder simplification:
>
>'survival of the fittest'

The other aspect is cataclysmic change being a trigger for mutation and
evolutionary change.  I think that fits Thorfinn's reference.

>It seems, as we develop a more sophisticated understanding of
>complex ecologies, that co-operation may in fact be the far more
>important
>organising principle.

Chaos theory?  Mandelbrot and fractal geometry always fascinate me with regards
to that "organising principle" and the recurring generated patterns.

>I was reminded of this watching Attenborough when he made a passing
>comment
>that we are only 20% us.
>
>By which he meant that the micro-organisms, bugs and bacteria with
>whom we live in symbiosis (or are hosts to their parasitism, a form of
>unconscious biological charity  ;-)  are the majority partner.  8^o
>
>Now some of these critters we can't live without..   gut bacteria
>for example, are essential to digestion... but I thought this was a good
>forum to seek some clarification on two related issues:
>
>Mitochondria..  I remember a sci-fi story that suggested these were
>alien DNA sitting in the drivers seat of our cells piloting us all
>toward
>a civilization which would ultimately develop technology advanced
>enough to return them home.   ;-)

You've been watching too many cult movies on SBS....  ;-)

>If ever there was an opposite to anthropomorphism, that must be it.  B^)
>
>My question is..  are these mitochondria truly 'alien' i.e., not of our
>DNA,
>but like the other 80% Attenborough alluded to,  'the other'
>
>And what basically, is their function?

Good question.  Is the 80% a guesstimate?  A rough average?  How is the
behaviour of humans with altered mitochondria affected?  What percentage is
water?

>The other query is really a long shot.. I'm just hoping to encounter
>someone with equally eclectic interests on this one..
>
>At at friends farm while housesitting I sampled much of their bookshelf
>of an evening, by the old pot bellied stove.
>
>One story, (author and title noted but subsequently lost), described a
>micro organism
>which I found absolutely astonishing. (It was, I understood, a work of
>non-fiction
>of the genre.. 'strange but true').
>
>It described a bovine parasite.  during it's lifecycle it is excreted
>into the soil,
>from there it passes into ants.
>Now at some point in its lifecycle it migrates to the ants central
>nervous
>system, and causes it to climb to the very top of grass stalks!  8^o
>
>>From there it has the best chance of being munched by grazing cows!!!
>
>Now I understand the principles of natural selection.
>I subscribe to the theory of evoluution..
>
>but bugger me dead..  modifies ant nervous system in such a way as to
>override ant control,  causing behavioral change which amounts to
>turning it into a vehicle for takeoff???
>
>Q1  anyone else aware of this life cycle

Yes, similar.

>Q2 Anyone know the name /  author of the book?

No.

>Q3 Anyone got similar stories.  (non-fiction preferred ;-)

Yes.  A story from a mate at Reuters was passed on to me some months ago.  A
researcher in France found that a parasite, Toxoplasmosis gondii, causes altered
behaviour in rats, which makes them more likely to be eaten by cats, which are
the vector for spread of T. gondii.

In other animals, the parasite is contained by the immune system in minute
cysts, like thousands of tiny hydatid cysts.... and if ever the host's immune
system is compromised, by other illness, sustained corticosteroid treatment or
whatever, the parasite is no longer contained and the disease known as
Toxoplasmosis results.  All of a sudden, your kid who has happened to pat the
neighbour's cat, has asthma and goes on puffers for a couple of weeks, is in IC.

Other critters which can fill the life cycle are birds, mice.... anything which
might be exposed to the parasite, which can remain in the soil for some months
in temperate areas, and be eaten by a cat.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/toxoplasmosis/factsht_toxoplasmosis.htm

I don't think cats are clean.  ;-) I hate the vermin.

>Thanks

CDCs might have other info which could lead you to your Bovine/ant cycle,
although a brief search didn't turn up anything for me.  Veterinary dictionaries
perhaps?

Ana