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PROTEIN EVOLUTION WITHOUT DNA. "In viruses, mutation is linked to changes in nucleic acid sequence that leads to resistance. Now, this adaptability has moved one level down – to prions and protein folding – and it’s clear that you do not need nucleic acid for the process of evolution.” https://lnkd.in/eR_TbTu View in LinkedIn

ANOTHER MONOCULTURE. "Another method to cultivate only its native strain of Pseudonocardia is that the ant's feces contain incompatibility chemicals which select only for its resident fungus. There are also behavior cues which suggest that the ants physically pick out other types of fungus." https://lnkd.in/eneZexX View in LinkedIn

PRION EVOLUTION. "Prions can develop large numbers of mutations at the protein level and, through natural selection, these mutations can eventually bring about such evolutionary adaptations as drug resistance, a phenomenon previously known to occur only in bacteria and viruses." https://lnkd.in/eR_TbTu View in LinkedIn

NO ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE. "Unlike the ant, fungi, and bacteria symbiosis, present day antibiotics often produce resistant types of pathogens. It is thought that the ant colonies do not produce antibiotic resistant molds because of the high diversity of the bacteria and as the two evolve together the parasitic mold will not evolve a resistance." https://lnkd.in/eneZexX View in LinkedIn

PRION AUTONOMY. "The usual criterion for classifying many of the entities of our continuum as non-living is autonomy. This emphasis on autonomy is problematic, however, because even paradigmatic biological individuals, such as large animals, are dependent on symbiotic associations with many other organisms. These composite individuals constitute the metabolic wholes on which selection acts." https://lnkd.in/e7VVjkg View in LinkedIn

PORTABLE PHARMACY. "The ants maintain their fungal gardens by providing plant material to the fungal crop, whereas the bacterial symbionts, which often localize with specialized anatomical structures on the ant, provide small-molecule chemical defenses that suppress microfungal pathogens in the genus Escovopsis and other potential competitors." Actinobacteria make the majority of our antibiotics today. https://lnkd.in/eFjHbSD View in LinkedIn

PROTECTIVE. "The non-pathogenic isoform of human prion proteins (the functions of which are still largely mysterious) is linked to the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease." https://lnkd.in/e7VVjkg View in LinkedIn

PRIONS AS BENEFICIAL. "Prions can introduce useful genetic diversity. A new survey...found prions in 1/3 of yeast strains, and 40% of the traits they conferred were beneficial." https://lnkd.in/eT4cFFg View in LinkedIn

PROTEIN-BASED GENES. "The central oddity of prions is that they propagate autocatalytically in a protein-only form, without DNA involvement. For this reason, they are frequently referred to as protein-based genes." https://lnkd.in/e7VVjkg View in LinkedIn

SPECTRUM. "Our perspective assumes no sharp distinction between life and non-life, and does not equate life exclusively with cellular or organismal status. We reach this conclusion through an analysis of the capabilities of a spectrum of biological entities, in which we include the pivotal case of viruses as well as prions, plasmids, organelles, intracellular and extracellular symbionts, unicellular and multicellular life-forms." https://lnkd.in/e7VVjkg View in LinkedIn