Tuesday, December 2, 2014

DNA Can Survive Entry Into Earth's Atmosphere

     Recent studies have tried launching a rocket into space to test whether entry into the Earth's atmosphere would degrade plasmid DNA that was coated onto the rocket before launch. This DNA was coated onto the rocket for the TEXUS-49 mission's research rocket mission. They were trying to prove that because DNA could survive such intense conditions, it may be possible that DNA could be transferred via meteorite or asteroid.
     This study's results indicated that when the rocket had returned to space, the plasmids that were extracted from the rocket were tested to transfer genetic material to bacterial DNA and connective tissue cell DNA. The plasmids did in fact work as expected indicating that the DNA did survive and that DNA can survive the most extreme conditions.
     I think this study was interesting because with the expansion of the universe now being measured, who knows where we could have all originated. There are plenty of hypotheses related to the creation of man, and there are plenty of supported ones to say that asteroids had transferred organic material to our planet to start ours out. Interesting to think about, but I get excited when more research like this comes out.

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2 comments:

  1. I think that was in a movie. The meteorite came and crashed on Earth and the guy got powers from it. Never thought that could really happen though.

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  2. That's really cool! It makes you wonder if you could collect alien DNA from meteorites. I think that would be really helpful, especially once we get a handle on cloning. Though that might backfire if the life-form is superior to us.

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