After an being is dead its DNA can stick around for hundreds , even chiliad of years . But this DNA does n’t always just just radioactive decay - bacteria are equal to of recycling it into their own genomes . This does have implications in the evolution of bacteria and the development of antibiotics . Recent inquiry has unveil that bacteria can even use the DNA of organisms that are long dead , and even these ancient snipping pass by the bacteria ’s normal DNA proofreading chemical mechanism . Lead author Søren Overballe - Petersen from the Centre for GeoGenetics at the Natural History Museum of Denmark published these results this week in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .
The bacteria are n’t just taking up the fragments of DNA - they ’re putting it to use . Because they are able to alter genome based on found genetic stuff researchers may have to account for that when developing antibiotic . The studyshowed that the bacterium can pick up deoxyribonucleic acid from dead being , as even mod bacterium picked up genetical shard from a muzzy mammoth that has been dead for over 40,000 years , which is much older than was antecedently believe to be possible . This study also help us understand the earliest stages of evolution on Earth . While scientists have speculated that this was a driving factor in other life , the research worker have now back up computer modeling to show how DNA recombination could have materialise without recA , a protein call for in deoxyribonucleic acid replication .
As far as the bacteria is concerned , the process is not perfect . While there is the chance that they will find some DNA that will help code for some evolutionary advantage , they could just as well snag something that could toss off them . There is also the possibility for the bacteria to pick up a infective succession which could pose considerable peril if it get into a body of water supply or spreads around a infirmary . Because the consequences of the Modern DNA are unknown until it gets translate into protein , the bacterium have the potential to take considerable leap in its evolution .
The bacteria take up the DNA in a process known as translation inhorizontal gene transfer . As the bacterium double their DNA , any loose fragments in the environment are integrated into the raw genome . This is the most common way for bacterium to stick in unexampled genetic stuff , as they do not procreate sexually and do not have the option to mix with another . This process is being described as a " lower-ranking organic evolution " for the DNA .
