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The Environment / Induced mutation to make climate change resistant variations of keystone species
« on: 17/02/2021 04:02:29 »
Krill for example act as a keystone species by converting phytoplankton into energy that larger organisms can make use of. They are threatened by ocean acidification as many other marine animals are.
Hypothetically, we have a hundred and one ways to induce genetic mutation, with the addition of selection pressure those mutations could be focused towards a goal, like "survival in increasingly acidified water" for example.
I'm sure geneticists have more specific approaches to getting results they want, but a shotgun approach like how nature does it would eventually get the job done too
Say for example I build a krill tank and get some krill eggs and use UV to induce mutation in them, and then grow them in slightly acidified water. The chances would be low especially given that any beneficial mutation would need to happen in reproductive cells to be heritable, but ignoring minor technical details and focusing on the big picture, is anyone working on projects like this? Are they possible?
If our current problem is that the environment is changing faster than evolution can keep up, why can't we just artificially speed up evolution to match it?
Hypothetically, we have a hundred and one ways to induce genetic mutation, with the addition of selection pressure those mutations could be focused towards a goal, like "survival in increasingly acidified water" for example.
I'm sure geneticists have more specific approaches to getting results they want, but a shotgun approach like how nature does it would eventually get the job done too
Say for example I build a krill tank and get some krill eggs and use UV to induce mutation in them, and then grow them in slightly acidified water. The chances would be low especially given that any beneficial mutation would need to happen in reproductive cells to be heritable, but ignoring minor technical details and focusing on the big picture, is anyone working on projects like this? Are they possible?
If our current problem is that the environment is changing faster than evolution can keep up, why can't we just artificially speed up evolution to match it?
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