Comment Living sans nutrients? (Score 1) 827
The study also established that some genes were only essential in certain circumstances, when, for example, particular nutrients were denied to the microbe.
What exactly does this mean?
The fact that the absence of the gene only caused an effect when a certain nutrient was denied the microbe implies that the presence of this gene obviates the necessity of the nutrient in question! Assuming this is the case, how long before we start manufacturing genes which fill our nutritional needs more efficiently than a proper diet ever could?
