FARK.com: (7111897) Did you know there were bacteria where the cells only subdivide once every 100,000+ years, and that there were viruses that appear to have survived for 50 million years in crystal inclusions without ever dividing? Hold me (after the Purelle)

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(Some Guy)		Did you know there were bacteria where the cells only subdivide once every 100,000+ years, and that there were viruses that appear to have survived for 50 million years in crystal inclusions without ever dividing? Hold me (after the Purelle) (moreintelligentlife.com)		8
		More: Scary

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4192 clicks; posted to Geek » on 17 May 2012 at 5:40 PM | Favorite | share:

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docmattic		2012-05-18 11:35:54 AM

1 votes:

dragonchild: The only living creature known that keeps increasing in weight from nothing is your mom.

Hey - leave my mother out of this, and I'll leave this out of your mother

/got nuthin' else. Admittedly I didn't consider weight of individual bacteria relative to nanograms, just went with "nanograms = really small"
//still wouldn't volunteer to be exposed to these bacteria, juuuuuust in case.

docmattic		2012-05-18 10:23:22 AM

1 votes:

dragonchild: docmattic: Sure, if it was only cell division or quantity that makes you sick... and not other factors, like your body's inflammatory response to the organism or toxic substances produced by the organism...

Dude, for the amount of microbes in a microscopic crystal inclusion they could convert their entire biomass to hydrogen cyanide and your body would be fine.

Lethal doses of some neurotoxins for primates are in the range of several nanograms.

docmattic		2012-05-18 10:10:10 AM

1 votes:

Saiga410: you have pee hands: Bacteria that divide once every thousand years do not scare me. I will die of old age long before the infection gets very bad.

This.

Sure, if it was only cell division or quantity that makes you sick... and not other factors, like your body's inflammatory response to the organism or toxic substances produced by the organism...

/pleasant dreams

the_wanderer		2012-05-17 11:54:12 PM

1 votes:

2xhelix: Meh, bacteria and viruses are child's play. Prions put them both to shame.

Prions scare the shiat out of me. And among Prion diseases, Chronic Wasting Disease scares the shiat out of me.

Mentat		2012-05-17 11:09:30 PM

1 votes:

The next motherfarker that uses the scary tag for non-pathogenic bacteria is getting a beat down.

Snarcoleptic_Hoosier		2012-05-17 04:22:12 PM

1 votes:

When no reason to divide exists and conditions are set to prevent cell division, cells don't divide.

"Life finds a way" ~ Jurassic Park

/It would be cool to analyze the genetics of something 100,000+ years old

MrBallou		2012-05-17 03:20:44 PM

1 votes:

To pick nits: cell divide, not subdivide; the bugs are in FLUID (not "crystal") inclusions; they are bacteria, not viruses. He only mentioned viruses as a reason you wouldn't want to divide.

TFA talks about immortality, but these things are only very, very old. 50 million years doesn't seem like much, especially first thing in the morning. The pain in my joints! Oy vey, you don't know from old.