Loyalty Under a Microscope: Why Amoebae Stick Together

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In Character, September 1, 2005

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Can amoebae be loyal?

The very question may make you twist up your face in skepticism. Surely this is a case of anthropomorphism at its most absurd. After all, loyalty is the sort of quality we like to think distinguishes us from animals – not to mention microbes. Loyalty demands steadfast dedication in the face of temptation. It requires us to make noble sacrifices, to give up selfish interests for something beyond ourselves – whether it be a nation, a church, a principle, a friend. “I will follow thee/To the last gasp with truth and loyalty,” says the faithful servant Adam to Orlando, the hero of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. How could an amoeba display such nobility of spirit?

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Clint Is Dead, Long Live Clint

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Clint, the chimpanzee in this picture, diedseveral months ago at a relatively young age of 24. But part of him lives on. Scientists chose him–or rather, his DNA–as the subject of their first attempt to sequence a complete chimpanzee genome. In the new issue of Nature, they’ve unveiled their first complete draft, and already Clint’s legacy has offered some awesome insights into our own evolution.

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The History of Chromosomes May Shape the Future of Diseases

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, August 30, 2005

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The common ancestor of humans and the rhesus macaque monkey lived about 25 million years ago. But despite that vast gulf of time, our chromosomes still retain plenty of evidence of our shared heritage.

A team of scientists at the National Cancer Institute recently documented this evidence by constructing a map of the rhesus macaque’s DNA, noting the location of 802 genetic markers in its genome. Then they compared the macaque map to a corresponding map of the human genome. The order of thousands of genes was the same.

“About half of the chromosomes are pretty much intact,” said William Murphy, a member of the team, now at Texas A&M University.

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