Santa Fe Institute researchers look for life's lower limits

Santa Fe Institute researchers look for life's lower limits Santa Fe NM (SPX) Feb 07, 2017 - When energy and nutrients abound, a bacterium will repair itself while synthesizing new parts to create a twin and then split, all as quickly as conditions allow. But if resources shrink, so does growth rate. The cell responds by shunting its dwindling supplies from replication to repair, shutting down processes until it's running a skeleton crew to survive. Below a crucial level, it's all over. ... more

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