Bacteria death reduces human hopes of immortality (original) (raw)
THE quest for immortality looks more than ever like an impossible dream. Even bacteria, long regarded as the masters of regeneration, eventually reach the twilight of their lives and die, just as we do.
Many microbiologists had assumed that bacteria effectively never die, as individuals simply split in two to make the next generation. Identical parents and offspring should be equally fit to carry on multiplying forever.
Researchers followed the fortunes of every descendant in nine generations, each grown from a single Escherichia coli in 94 separate cultures (that is over 35,000 cells), and have shown that this is…
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