Scientists summed up the first results of the longest in the history of a scientific experiment
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A Group of scientists from the UK (Scotland), Germany, and summed up the first results of the long-term scientific experiment in history. The purpose of the experiment is to study the viability of microbes in isolation for 500 years. The final results will be announced already in the year 2514, and now microbiologists presented the results of the first five years of research – about 1 percent of the total length of the experiment, according to an article in the journal PLOS ONE.
The Object of study is Bacillus subtilis (Bacillus subtilis), opened in 1835 and is one of the most studied members of the genus bacilli. According to scientists, the bacterial spores are incredibly resistant forms of life. In response to the extreme conditions they are able to rebuild their DNA to adapt to them.
The longest experiment in the history of science needs to answer several questions that will ultimately allow you to better understand how life evolved on our planet over 3.5 billion years ago and whether the existence of life on other planets with other environmental conditions.
In particular, scientists are interested in how long the viability is maintained in the absence of moisture and air, how quickly the bacteria will revive, returning to a familiar environment, what is the speed of the death spores, and when this occurs?
In the preparation of the experiment, the dried bacteria, hay Bacillus has placed hundreds of hermetically sealed flasks. The flask was placed in two boxes – one is at the University of Edinburgh, the other in the London natural history Museum. A few samples are exposed to very low temperatures and radiation. For the first 24 years of the experiment, every 2 years, scientists will discover a few bulbs and check the status of bacteria. After that, the test samples will be conducted 1 times in 25 years.
In the first summed up the results of the scientists say that complete isolation does not affect the state of the hay Bacillus. The samples turned out to be as viable as at the beginning of the experiment. Some samples of Bacillus subtilis exposed to low temperature (-80 ° C) and radiation died, but the survivors, scientists have found changes in the DNA – it does not differ from the samples of bacteria in sealed flasks.
The Researchers understand that the final results of the experiment will be able to sum only the descendants after many generations, so all the results of the first years carefully made observations conspicious as on digital media or on paper with all established rules, which also will be copied every 25 years and subsequently be transmitted to future generations.
To Discuss the experiment in our .
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