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Re: Intresting question about protists
> Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 17:17:18 -0800
> From: RiceGuy <ucmagguy at inetworld_net>
>
> I was unable to find a more relevant place to ask this question, I will post it
> here. Many of us raise infusoria many of which are single-cell organisms called
> protists. Many protists reproduce by mitosis, the replication of two identical
> daughter cells from one mother cell. Given, that there are no lack of food,
> contamination, or any other limiting factors. How long does a protist live? Lets
> say that they all came from 1 mother cell, and they are timed for death in a
> certain amount of days, then do they die at once? If you know of a better place to
> ask to question, please let me know. :-D
The answer is that they are immortal - they don't have an internally limited
lifespan. Neither do bacteria. That's what it's like when you propagate
asexually. With sex comes death. Neat, eh?
(Actually, this isn't perfectly true - even bacteria exchange DNA, but it's
not *real* sex, more like editing.)