Key step of evolution reproduced in the lab

[CabVet]

Sigh, one less criticism that evilutionists have to worry about. Scientists in the University of Minnesota's College of Biological Sciences have replicated the origin of multicellular organisms in the laboratory using natural selection and common brewer's yeast, which are single-celled organisms. The yeast "evolved" into multicellular clusters that work together cooperatively, reproduce and adapt to their environment -- in essence, precursors to life on Earth as it is today.

Here is the link to the original paper if you have access to PNAS.

Pretty darn cool if you ask me.

 

[Golden Yak]

Hmm, this does sound interesting. Is this any different from an earlier experiment, where single cells formed into clusters in response to a stimulus, then reverted back to individual cells when the stimulus was removed?

 

[CabVet]

Hmm, this does sound interesting. Is this any different from an earlier experiment, where single cells formed into clusters in response to a stimulus, then reverted back to individual cells when the stimulus was removed?

Very different, from the press release:

Analysis showed that the clusters were not just groups of random cells that adhered to each other, but related cells that remained attached following cell division. That was significant because it meant they were genetically similar, which promotes cooperation. When the clusters reached a critical size, some cells essentially committed suicide (apoptosis) to allow offspring to separate. The offspring reproduced only after they attained the size of their parents.

 

[Blayz]

It's a very kewl experiment, but it is not that surprising, given that yeast used to be multicellular, but evolved "back" to unicellularity. They would thus have a host of multicellular control genes lying around.

Now do it with an organism that has never been multicellular, that would be interesting.