8 ms·

How does that relate to the article?

dwaltrip 3y ago
The more we study life on Earth and its incredible diversity of form and function, the more we learn. Over the past 4 billion years, our biosphere has developed the most fascinating and amazing array of “biotechnologies”. The vast majority of which we haven’t yet discovered. Thus, the more we damage the biosphere, the more untapped knowledge we destroy. The article presents a nice example of such “biotechnologies” which we have just discovered. People might wonder, how much can scientists learn from snails and algae anyways? And is it even useful? The answer is, quite a lot, it turns out. And that knowledge often becomes invaluable, usually in ways we can’t predict.
rrrrrrrrrrrryan 3y ago
The next revolutionary drug or medical treatment could be laying inside a plant or microbe that's about to go extinct.
- nativeit 3y ago
  Also, current revolutionary biomedical technologies, as was recently reported in relation to horseshoe crabs, whose blood is a necessary and irreplaceable medical ingredient, and who have survived several mass extinction events over the course of the species’ 500,000,000 years of existence—and yet humans over harvesting and failing to protect fisheries have caused unprecedented declines in their numbers causing real concern for their species survival.
- quesera 3y ago
  > The next revolutionary drug or medical treatment could be laying inside a plant or microbe that's about to go extinct I read this a lot. It feels a bit pat to me, but I am uneducated. Is this any more true/likely than, e.g.: - There could be a lost diamond ring at the bottom of any septic tank - Any terminated pregnancy could have become the scientist who saved the world/cured cancer/etc
  - adammarples 3y ago
    No matter how alien life on earth is, it is incredibly closely related to us compared to pretty much anything else. This is more like don't kill off half your family, they have kidneys, amongst millions of other things you don't even know about yet, that you night need.
    - quesera 3y ago
      That helps! Thank you.

The more we study life on Earth and its incredible diversity of form and function, the more we learn. Over the past 4 billion years, our biosphere has developed the most fascinating and amazing array of “biotechnologies”. The vast majority of which we haven’t yet discovered. Thus, the more we damage the biosphere, the more untapped knowledge we destroy. The article presents a nice example of such “biotechnologies” which we have just discovered. People might wonder, how much can scientists learn from snails and algae anyways? And is it even useful? The answer is, quite a lot, it turns out. And that knowledge often becomes invaluable, usually in ways we can’t predict.

rrrrrrrrrrrryan 3y ago

The next revolutionary drug or medical treatment could be laying inside a plant or microbe that's about to go extinct.

nativeit 3y ago
Also, current revolutionary biomedical technologies, as was recently reported in relation to horseshoe crabs, whose blood is a necessary and irreplaceable medical ingredient, and who have survived several mass extinction events over the course of the species’ 500,000,000 years of existence—and yet humans over harvesting and failing to protect fisheries have caused unprecedented declines in their numbers causing real concern for their species survival.
quesera 3y ago
> The next revolutionary drug or medical treatment could be laying inside a plant or microbe that's about to go extinct I read this a lot. It feels a bit pat to me, but I am uneducated. Is this any more true/likely than, e.g.: - There could be a lost diamond ring at the bottom of any septic tank - Any terminated pregnancy could have become the scientist who saved the world/cured cancer/etc
- adammarples 3y ago
  No matter how alien life on earth is, it is incredibly closely related to us compared to pretty much anything else. This is more like don't kill off half your family, they have kidneys, amongst millions of other things you don't even know about yet, that you night need.
  - quesera 3y ago
    That helps! Thank you.