The genetic material is then included in the organism's own genome

Nov 20, 2013 00:01 GMT  ·  By
Bacteria can apparently harvest both long and short DNA snippets from the world, and then incorporate them into their genomes
   Bacteria can apparently harvest both long and short DNA snippets from the world, and then incorporate them into their genomes

Scientists with the Faculty of Science at the University of Copenhagen and the Center for Geogenetics at the Natural History Museum of Denmark were recently able to discover that bacteria are able to harvest pieces of DNA from their surroundings, and then insert them into their own genome.

The team says that microorganisms tend to see the world as a very large blob of genetic material. Until now, scientists did not know that bacteria were able to browse through this wide selection of DNA snippets. This research may have significant implications on our understanding of life on Earth.

“It is well-known that bacteria can take up long intact pieces of DNA but so far the assumption has been that short DNA fragments were biologically inactive. Now we have shown that this assumption was wrong,” says NHMD postdoctoral researcher Søren Overballe-Petersen.

One of the weirdest implications of the new study is that DNA from long-dead organisms appears to be influencing, if not even driving, the evolution of living cells. This idea stands in stark contrast to the tenets of currently-accepted theories on the way and reasons why life evolves, e! Science News reports.