Monday, March 18, 2013

Life and Death at the cell level and the Jason Bourne organelle

We have discussed the lipids and proteins which make up the membranes in cells in lecture. Internal cell organelles are also composed of phospholipids and specialized membranes. One of the most bizarre membrane proteins is called the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP). This is a cluster of proteins which connect the inner mitochondrial membrane with the outer mitochondrial membrane and forms a pore. The pore only forms briefly under extreme cell stress conditions and essentially really messes up the mitochondria so that it reverses its function, and begins consuming ATP which usually kills the cell. In many cases this activity leads to apoptosis also called programmed cell death. This drastic measure often occurs after local cellular stress or stress of internal organs like during a heart attack. Just like Jason Bourne in the Bourne Identity, the identity of the mitochondria is difficult to determine, it is a unique mystery organelle in many ways, and like Bourne, it commits violence when stressed out....or is it that it commits violence to protect itself? Just what could the mitochondria be protecting?

This also raises a question about eukaryotic cell evolution. Mitochondria look like they come from bacteria. And thus it looks like eukaryotes evolved from prokaryotes. It is based on the idea that an ancient prokaryote engulfed another ancient prokaryote and this was the beginning of the evolution on internal organelles.

Perhaps though we are looking at this all wrong, perhaps mitochondria are the intracellular counterparts to extracellular bacteria. We know that many extracellular bacteria perform life supporting functions for higher level organisms. So why not consider mitochondria to be specialized intracellular bacteria which also supply life supporting functions for cells. It would be a design feature consistent with the idea of a master designer of all of life. Could the mitochondria have originally risen from an extracellular source? Or is it too vital to the function of plant and animal cells such that it is more likely that it was inserted upon the first creation of these organisms? Are both theories viable or does the data at hand support one theory over the other?

DUE APRIL 1
 
Questions:

1 What are the different ways that a cell can die?

2 What is apoptosis? What are its benefits?

3 What would be the advantage to having the vital energy producing organelle also double as a death organelle?

4 Considering the idea that the mitochondria is a specialized internal bacterium, are there parallels in function between mitochondria and extracellular free living bacteria with respect to energy production and promotion of cell death?

5 Is the endosymbiosis theory logical with respect to the evolution of mitochondria?

6 Could God have created cells in this manner, by using an endosymbiotic process?

7 What are the supports in favor of endosymbiosis theory and the arguments against it. What do you believe based on the evidence?

8 Could God have created internal bacteria to do things inside our cells, similar to the idea that bacteria do important things for creatures when they are outside of cells?

34 comments:

  1. There are mainly two ways a cell can die, necrosis and apoptosis. Necrosis is when a cell is damaged by an external force such as poison or compression. This process is rather messing and causes inflammation in that specific area. Now, apoptosis is different than necrosis. Apoptosis is basically a cell committing suicide.This may seem strange but programmed cell death is perfectly normal in the micro world. Apoptosis is especially helpful in the developing embryo. Cells must die and create new differentiated ones.
    I think the idea of the mitochondria being a bacterium or evolving from a simpler organism is possible, but not likely. The Mitochondria organelle is the most common example of endosymbiosis. This is when an organism engulfs another to live symbiotically. Mitochondria may have been a powerhouse bacteria before being an organelle for eukaryotes. By this I mean it was very doing at obtaining and using energy properly. So to a degree, I believe that this theory is logical but many questions still need to be answered. How is mitochondria in the cell when it is reproduced from other cells? How is it passed done from one cell to another? Also, I would be curious to know what happened to the original organism. If is was still out there somewhere then we would be able to study it more efficiently and understand this process better. Some arguments for mitochondria evolving from bacteria include: their circular genome, surrounded in a double membrane, and the way they replicate independent of the host cell. Arguments against this understand that even though those facts are true, they are necessary. A circular genome is easier to replicate, their double layer is more consist with the bilayer of a eukaryote, and the divide similarly to eukaryotes not bacteria.
    I do not see a reason why God could not have created some organisms by endosymbiosis. I think it is possible that God put the ingredients in more different creatures to be made still completely under His rule. God did not make a liger, but he did make a tiger and a lion. There is room for mutations. We have mitochondria in our cells so if they were created by endosymbiosis then it must have been done before Adam was made, or else it not make sense to create us THEN mitochondria for our cells.
    I think God could have purposely placed bacteria in our cells to do work. I do not know enough about cellular life or the complete function of every organelle to answer every question. I am not sure why we would need bacteria, but there are so many different things happening at the same time it is hard to say whether or not bacteria are assisting the cell or not. If they are helping the cells maybe they do it for protection?

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1. A cell can die from necrosis, which is caused by external forces (like poisoning, infection, or overheating, etc.), or it can die from apoptosis, which is like cellular suicide.
    2. Apoptosis is when a cell destroys itself, ordered and controlled death. This can be beneficial because when the cell is killed by other forces, its death is neither ordered or controlled and can actually be quite messy. The cell can leak and that can cause problems. Thus, apoptosis is an orderly way to wrap up affairs and it can help to protect the organism as a whole. Also, apoptosis plays an important role in embryonic development, because it is responsible for the forming of fingers and toes. It strategically destroys cells to form gaps between where the fingers will soon be.
    3. Having the energy producing organelle double as the cause of death would be an advantage because (as all college students know) multitasking is almost always a good idea. It lets you get more done with less and still be efficient. Also, it might be a good idea because if it produces energy, then it would have sufficient energy to sufficiently end the cell.
    4. There may be parallels here, but I am not completely sure here. I would be very curious to see what everyone else thinks about this.
    5. The endosymbiotic theory states that one organism lives within a host organism in a mutually beneficial relationship. If the mitochondria is indeed the remnants of a bacterium, then this would hold true. From an evolutionary standpoint, it might make sense that one cell could ingest a bacterium containing mitochondria and digest all that isn’t the mitochondria, and then use that mitochondria for itself.
    6. God is quite capable of doing anything He wants, but He isn’t bound by our method of reasoning. Even if evolution says that endosymbiosis is the only logical way that mitochondria could possibly be living and working inside a cell, it still holds no sway over God. He isn’t bound by space or time. He can create whole galaxies just by His Words. Thus, I’m pretty sure He could have created mitochondria out of anything or by any means that He wanted to ☺
    7. When we researched Hatena and Nephroselmis, we found that when the Hatena engulfed the Nephroselmis, both organisms changed. However, when the Hatena divided, the daughter cell without the Nephroselmis was just like the parent Hatena cell before it engulfed a Nephroselmis. Thus, there might have been a brief positive change in both cells, but it didn’t form a permanent new cell and it didn’t have permanent change. It wasn’t evolution. Nothing new was formed; it was still just Hatena and Nephroselmis. I’m fairly sure the same would hold true here. It’s not true evolution.
    8. Yes. Again, God can do whatever He wants. And it makes sense that if He designed bacteria to be helpful on the outside, it would make sense that He might design bacteria to be helpful on the inside as well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1. A cell may die due to many different reasons. Cells will die due to physical injury or apoptosis. The physical injury to a cell will naturally prevent it from functioning correctly and die.
    2. Apoptosis occurs when a cell uses specialized cellular machinery to kill itself, otherwise known as cell suicide. A cell will undergo apoptosis to complete a proper mitosis, protect the body from infected cells, or if it has completed its life cycle. These things are all beneficial to the body.
    3. The advantage to having the vital energy producing organelle also double as a death organelle is that the body would then be much more efficient with its energy. This is because all cells need ATP, which is produced by the vital energy producing organelle, mitochondria, and if mitochondria also act as the death organelle then it only needs to keep from delivering ATP to the cells that are programmed for death. That ATP could be used for other cells that may need it.
    4. Mitochondria parallel some of the functions of certain bacteria. However the theory that mitochondria originated as free bacteria is unlikely since mitochondria has a self-destruction process, which no bacteria today possesses.
    5. The endosymbiosis theory states that chloroplasts and mitochondria were originally bacteria that were ingested by other bacteria and through thousands of years of evolution became a natural part of the organisms today. There is no real way to disprove this theory however it is definitely a long shot since the original mitochondria bacteria would have had to evolved an incredulous amount to be the organelle it is today.
    6. God could have created cells in this manner because He can do all things, so with Him nothing is impossible.
    7. Supports in favor of the endosymbiosis theory are that mitochondria consume oxygen in order to obtain glucose and have waste products of carbon dioxide and water, similar to bacteria. Another supporting fact is that chloroplasts consume water and carbon dioxide and with the help of sunlight produces glucose and oxygen as a waste product. One argument against the endosymbiosis theory is that mitochondria have a self-destruct mechanism that no bacteria today possess. The evidence we have is very open ended and because God was in control of these events, it is hard to depict which one really occurred but my guess is against the endosymbiosis theory.
    8. God could easily have created internal bacteria to do things inside our cells similar to the idea that bacteria do important things for creatures when they are outside of cells.

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1. A cell can die in two different ways: apoptosis and necrosis. Apoptosis is also known as programmed cell death. Necrosis is a premature death caused by external factors such as infection or toxins.
    2. As mentioned above, apoptosis is programmed cell death. It is controlled by cell signals, which respond to a stress. Apoptosis helps with the development of the body, specifically embryonic development, and further maintenance of the organism. This process of killing itself is much more beneficial to the cell than being destroyed by some other forces because it has control over how it happens.
    3. Perhaps an advantage to having the energy producing organelle double as a death organelle is efficiency within the cell. Since this organelle can be doing multiple things at once, the cell’s processes will be much more productive.
    4. Mitochondria help with the production of energy, namely ATP. Bacteria cells help to recycle nutrients, which can maybe be considered somewhat of a parallel. Other than that, I am not fully sure of any other parallels.
    5. The endosymbiosis theory states that mitochondria and chloroplasts evolved from primitive bacterial cells, as they become part of another cell. If this is true, then the theory would be logical. If mitochondria are highly evolved bacteria cells, then this follows along with the endosymbiosis theory.
    6. God could definitely have created cells in this manner. He has power to do whatever He wants.
    7. One argument against the endosymbiosis theory is that there is a lack of a mechanism to transfer genes from the mitochondrion to the nucleus. Scientists support the theory with examples of multiple organisms that participate in this endosymbiotic relationship. One example is the plastids within the Euglena. Based on this, I think that since there seems to be more substantial evidence in favor of the theory, I would side with those in support of the endosymbiosis theory.
    8. Yes. God could have absolutely created internal bacteria to do things inside our cells. He spoke the world into existence with mere words. Thus, something so small as internal bacterial functions is an extremely easy task. There is nothing that the most powerful being in the universe can’t do, especially since we already see examples of this outside of the cell.

    ReplyDelete
  5. 1 There are two main ways a cell dies; either by an injurious agent or an induced suicide. In either method, the cell can no longer resist chemical equilibrium. In cell death by injury, the cell could have been exposed to toxic chemicals, mechanical damage, including channels; the cells could also swell due to the disruption of ion passage across the membrane. There are several ways that cell suicide is induced, including a mitochondrial breakdown caused by the release of cytochrome C.
    2 Apoptosis is the process of programmed cell death, which takes place by one of three methods: internal cell signals, external signals, or an apoptosis –inducing factor (AIF), a protein usually located in the intermembrane space of the mitochondria. When this protein is released, it eventually binds to the DNA and triggers its destruction. Apoptosis is beneficial in that it enables bad cells with threats of DNA damage, viral infection, and loss of differentiation to be terminated, ending the possibility of transmitting their defects to more cells.
    3 One clear advantage of having the mitochondria double as energy producing organelle as well as a death organelle is that it is more efficient. If you have one organelle doing the job of two, this is twice as efficient. Also, the process that the mitochondria employ to produce energy is easily reversible with the induction of a chemical or protein. It would be much more difficult for the cell to produce a whole different organelle when simply reversing the process with a trigger would do the trick.
    4 In eukaryotic cells, the mitochondria produce energy but can also consume that energy when the process is reversed. The mitochondria can trigger suicide of the cell. No living bacteria today possesses that trait without aid from an external source. Therefore, there aren’t necessarily any parallels between the functions of the mitochondria and the extracellular free living bacteria.
    5 This theory could be logical, except for the fact that no free living bacteria today possess a suicidal quality, therefore there is no correlation between this bacteria and mitochondria. The mitochondria could have evolved according to evolutionist, I suppose, into the energy producing organelle that it is today, but it is highly unlikely, and as a matter of fact downright wrong, that it evolved the ability to self-destruct.
    6 It is very possible that God could have created cells in using an endosymbiotic process, yet in Genesis Scripture says that God saw everything that he had created and it was good. If we take literally a six-day approach to creation, which is the correct interpretation, then this endosymbiotic process would have had to be completed by the end of this process of creating, otherwise God’s creation would not have been good because it would not be complete. I think it much more reasonable that God created everything perfect the way we see non-mutated cells and genes today.
    7 Support for the endosymbiotic theory when it comes to mitochondrial evolution is that mitochondria developed within proteobacteria, or a close relative, while chloroplasts developed inside cyanobacteria. This theory on chloroplast development seems reasonable, especially because cyanobacteria perform oxygenated photosynthesis within themselves. However, proteobacteria are known for being nitrogen-fixating bacteria, whereas for the production of ATP, oxidative phosphorylation is needed. I believe it is too big of a leap to assume that, based on the evidence we have, these proteobacteria, through an endosymbiotic relationship, produced the mitochondria we have today.
    8 Yes, I don’t see any reason why God could not have created bacteria to do work inside our cells the way they do it on the outside. However, He did not, so there must be a good reason why. When we start to think that God could have created things different than the way they are, we begin to assume that we know better than God, an incredible mistake to make. Let us never assume that we understand our human complexities better than our Creator Himself!

    ReplyDelete
  6. A cell can die two different ways. The first is apoptosis, which is the self-destruction inside cells that is triggered by specific stimuli or by the removal of a repressor agent. The other death of a cell is caused by necrosis, which is when not enough external blood flow reaches the cell tissue and it suffers.
    The benefits of apoptosis are that it keeps the division of cells, or the process of mitosis, occurring naturally in the cell. Cells need to break down and die once their life span has come to an end so they are able to form new cells that grow and are useful inside the body. Apoptosis is a huge part of cell differentiation and without it cells would not work in the way they do now. It creates an easy way for the cells to die off.
    It would make sense that the energy producing organelle is the cause of death because the cell can't live without energy. It is an efficient way for the cell to kill itself. It is also a good way for the cell to kill itself because it preserves the integrity of the cell membrane. This prevents harmful substances from escaping during the process of programmed cell death.
    According to the evolution of the origin of the cell, mitochondria were supposedly a bacterium ingested by a cell that eventually became responsible for the energy production. Bacteria and mitochondria do have some similarities, which is why I think this theory came about. Since proteins are determined by DNA, and apoptosis is initiated by a protein, I would think that the bacteria and mitochondria do share similarities in the promotion of cell death.
    The endosymbiosis theory suggests that one organism lives inside of another and they mutually benefit from each other. One could say that this does go in respect with the evolution of mitochondria because mitochondrion supposedly evolved from a small, autotrophic bacterium that was engulfed by a larger primitive, eukaryotic cell.
    I agree with statements made above that our God is all-powerful and can create anything he wants in any way he wants. I understand that not all people are believers, so they come up with these theories about how cells developed and how mitochondria are formed; but this does not mean that God used these ways to create the cell.
    I think yes, God definitely could have created internal bacteria that are beneficial to cells if he wanted to just like the bacteria he created outside of cells. I am not sure why he didn’t, but that is something I would love to learn more about and ask Him when I get to heaven one day!

    ReplyDelete
  7. 1. As my fellow classmates have already pointed out, while there are many different causes for death for cells, these causes can be grouped into two categories. Apoptosis is basically self-inflicted death. The cell, for some reason or another, chooses to simply let biochemical changes take place that ultimately lead to death.
    Necrosis is the more understandable form of death for cells. With necrosis, a cell ends up dying due to sustained damage from stress or toxins.

    2. As stated previously, apoptosis is the act of cell-suicide as it programs its own death. The specific act that ultimately causes death is the degradation of cellular organelles.
    Apoptosis helps control the number of active cells in a body. If there is not enough apoptosis occurring, problems like cancer can arise due to too many cells. If the programed death occurs too frequently, the body experiences atrophy. It is also a nice, clean way to end the life cycle of cells by preventing them from causing problems.

    3. The most important organelle (debatably) in a cell is the mitochondria. This is because the mitochondria provide the energy to keep the cell active and working. Thus, the most efficient way to kill a cell would be to knock out the powerhouse. This is exactly how some versions of apoptosis work.

    4. There are a surprising number of parallels between mitochondria and free living bacteria. Mitochondria and bacteria both contain unique sets of DNA. Both also excel at providing energy. As discussed above, the mitochondrion does possess a method of self-death, but recent discoveries have shown that bacterium also contain systems that allow for self-destruction. I personally can see the striking similarities between the mitochondrion and the bacteria.

    5. Yes. Mitochondria originally were bacteria that became engulfed by a host cell. This endosymbiosis eventually cause the mitochondria to loose some of their autonomy in exchange for increased protection. This system of symbiosis provides an easy way for evolutionists to explain the similarities.

    6. Of course the All-Powerful God could have. Of course, God could just have as easily created cells already with mitochondria imbedded inside them.

    7. Endosymbiosis theory believes that all key organelles of cells today were garnered through the process of engulfment that ultimately led to the creation of a symbiotic relationship. Scientists support this idea by providing a myriad of similarities between some organelles (such as mitochondria and chloroplasts) and other extracellular free living bacteria. There are some problems, however, for this theory. Some arguments show that the simplistic “eat the bacteria then make it an organelle” process is actually very complicated. To some scientists, simply engulfing useful bacteria doesn’t cause endosymbiosis. By having such a vague mechanism, the theory of endosymbiosis is somewhat incomplete.
    Personally, I believe that while endosymbiosis is a very real element in nature (see Hatena and Nephroselmis), the idea that our early cells had to eat and merge with a mitochondria is very flimsy to say the least.

    8. Yes. He is God…

    ReplyDelete
  8. 1. The death of cells is either caused by necrosis or apoptosis. In apoptosis, the cell kills itself from within utilizing biochemical circumstances that cause certain characteristics of the cell to change. Ultimately the cell changes to the point that it cannot function properly and thus it dies. In necrosis, the cell experiences a more typical type of death caused by external factors such as stress, toxins, etc. and the cell simply dies.

    2. The cell is able to commit a type of suicide called apoptosis as mentioned before. This type of death is much more efficient than necrosis because the cell is able to have control over its own death. The cell can sense when something is wrong in the body such as a virus or when it is not needed anymore. Thus the process known as cell programmed cell death begins. You can see apoptosis when an embryo is developing because certain cells must die in order for the proper structure of the body to be formed. This also saves the energy that it would take for something else to kill the cell and keeps the process of cell termination to a much more humane and cleaner process than necrosis.

    3. As stated in the question, the mitochondria is a VITAL organelle and arguably the most important. Without it the cell cannot function and since it does produce energy, it would make sense that this organelle would have enough power or energy to be kill the cell. The advantage to having it double as a death organelle is that by first taking out the mitochondria or rather reversing its function, it would destroy the cells most important mechanism for energy all on its own.

    4. There are a few similarities between bacteria and mitochondria such as that they both have their own DNA, they are around the same size, and they both produce ATP. I did not however find information about bacteria being able to kill themselves. This is a difference between the two but other that they are rather similar.

    5.Yes it is a logical theory. Mitochondria and bacteria have many similar characteristics so it would make sense that they would look to an endosymbiotic relationship as the formation of mitochondria moving the eukaryotic cells. They would say that the mitochondria gave up some of its bacterial characteristic for added protection and this would allow them to keep their theory in tact.

    6. God could certainly have used an endosymbiotic process to create cells. He is all powerful and can do what he wants with his creation. But that being said, it seems unlikely that God would create cells in this manner, but we cannot be sure as there are other organisms that we know that experience endosymbiosis.

    7. Endosymbiosis is a theory that has some standing but at the same time has many plot holes that need work before I would take it to be truth. It is true that there are endosymbiotic relationships on earth. The theory itself though, states that cells were able to gain new characteristics or organelles through the engulfment of cells and by sharing different parts of the two cells. The supports seen are similar to nephroselmis and Hatena. They both live together to benefit each other but in the end there is never a permanent change in the two. There was never a new organism made. This is the same as the endosymbiotic theory and it would hold true to any other endosymbiotic relationship studied. I do not believe that there is nearly enough evidence to hold to the view that these relationships actually caused the evolution of cells. Rather God created the cells to work together and from that they can do certain things that apart they would not be able to do. This is much more believable and makes more sense.

    8. Of course He could have. He is God and if He saw that putting bacteria inside cells was the way to give HImself the most glory then He has every right to do so as our creator and sustainer.

    ReplyDelete
  9. As a result of sin, death plays an integral role in all areas of life. In the case of carnivores, decomposition and overpopulation, nature depends on this important function. Death also plays a significant role on the micro scale. Cell death is necessary for a variety of key life processes.

    Cell death can be orchestrated either foreignly or cellularly. Necrosis, the “murder” of a cell by external forces, is often caused by trauma, poison or infection. On the other hand, apoptosis is the purposeful “suicide” of a cell within a multicellular organism through lethal, purposeful changes in the function of the cell. Apoptosis effectively prevents an unhealthy amount of cell growth, promotes differentiation of cells in eukaryotes and eliminates those cells that are no longer useful. Though it may appear harmful, apoptosis improves energy efficiency and balances out the prolific cell division found in large organisms.

    This process is mediated by the mitochondrion. As the crucial “power source” of the cell, this organelle is the perfect cell killer. Since many of a cell’s vital processes require a large amount of energy, disabling the mitochondria shuts down these essential functions and kills the cell. Essentially, the cell cannot utilize any energy and starves to death. As mitochondria-mediated death is quick and does not affect any surrounding cells, this demise is preferable to other methods like poisoning or imploding.

    Due to its parallels with certain forms of bacteria, the mitochondrion is also involved in evolutionary discussion. Like bacteria, this organelle has its own small genome. Some of the sequences in this genome share close similarities to bacterial genes. Additionally, some scientists have pointed at the comparable round structure of the mitochondrial and bacterial chromosome as further evidence for endosymbiotic theory. These genes code for proteins that play a crucial role in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic respiration. Thus, the endosymbiotic theory seems logical due to the many similarities between bacteria and the mitochondria.

    Could God have created more complex eukaryotic cells in this manner? As He is God, I have no doubt that He could have intended for bacteria to work from within another cell. The numerous similarities in genome, structure and function between mitochondria and bacteria seem to support endosymbiotic theory. Scientists have also discovered eukaryotic cells that do not contain mitochondria. Could these simple cells have been the precursors to the eukaryotes we have today? However, one must ask why He would choose to develop Creation through endosymbiosis. Would it not be simpler and more efficient to create eukaryotes with mitochondria already within their cells? Since most creatures need mitochondria in their cells in order to survive, could Creation complete endosymbiosis in one literal day? No, when God called His Creation “very good,” I believe that He created animals with all the necessary parts for successful function.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 1. There are many ways that a cell can die. Some of the following are paths that can lead to this end:
    1) Phagocytosis by another cell
    2) Existing in a hypotonic solution
    3) Existing in a hypertonic solution
    4) Malnutrition/lack of food in surroundings
    5) Infection by a virus
    6) Lack of Oxygen for some cells (if they are dependent on it)
    7) Overheating/freezing in surroundings
    8) Mutation

    2. Apoptosis is the process of programmed cell death, often in a multi-cellular organism. One of the functions of this part of creation is to ensure that “ rogue” cells like cancer cells do not form. This eliminates the mutant cells from propagating and spreading throughout the body.

    3. If the function of the energy organelle shut off and restarted as a death organelle, there would not be an intracellular “civil war” so to speak. Not only would the cell organelle not be fighting for cellular survival, it would be killing the cell at once. This would speed up the process overall. Another reason for this beneficial design would be the assurance that it would be the last cell to die, and would be able to provide energy for itself until the job was done.

    4. There are certainly parallels that exist. The first is that mitochondria reproduce like bacteria, by replicating their own DNA and then initiating their own cell division. Second, they also have their own cell membranes, just like the bacteria do. These two factors are the most likely causes for similarities between the bacteria and the mitochondria.

    5. The Endosymbiosis theory sounds logical on the surface, especially if the wording is twisted in a certain way. One of the contradictions with some thought though is the theory of survival of the fittest. How would two competing organisms with no former way of communicating combine into a viable organism and then continue to replicate into a distinct species? How would these two organisms exist previous to this even? These pertinent questions must be reasonably explained, or else the theory holds no water in a proven scientific method.

    6. God could have chosen to use the endosymbiotic process to accomplish His mission. But as I think back to the creation account, the famous words “and God said that it was good” ring through my head. The theory proposed in this question sounds like God had some sort of afterthought and decided to combine these two organisms after the fall, if this was the case. That would mean that there was some preexisting deficiency in the system, which clearly contradicts the Genesis account. God made everything perfect, leaving no room for error. The error generated from mankind’s decision to part with God after He had completed creation.

    7. The support behind this theory would be in the similarities between the mitochondria and the bacteria above. The amount of established scientists behind this theory also supports the theory, due to the seniority in their positions. While the resemblances between the two organisms and the theory itself hold much fascination, their complexity and implications take more faith for me to agree with it than to believe in a Creator who established a unique design from the start.

    8. I believe that when something is broken, it does not need to be fixed. In that way, both the mitochondria and the bacteria could have been patterned after each other. In that sense, yes bacteria could accomplish purposes outside the cell similar to the mitochondria inside the cell. One relevant example to this metaphor is the design of the human forearm compared to a wing of a bird compared to other animals. There are many similarities that lie between the vast majorities of organisms, because our Creator found a compatible design in the vast majority of systems that exist and implemented it in his vast multitude of designs. How marvelous of a Creator do I serve.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 1. Necrosis and apoptosis are the methods through which a cell dies. Apoptosis, also known as programed cell death, occurs when the commits suicide. Necrosis is death caused by external factors that injure the cell causing to die.
    2.Apoptosis is a programed cell death, through which the cell commits suicide. Apoptosis like many processes within the cell is induced by a signal. After the cell has been signaled, proteins called caspases are brought into action. Caspases are proteins that begin to break down the components of the cell that are necessary for survival. Just like caspases enzymes called DNases are produced and they break down the DNA of the nucleus. Once this process has been completed the cell shrinks and sends of signals that are received by macrophages that sweep in and clean away the shrunken cell. Apoptosis is a beneficial process because it is very clean and organized. Apoptosis is beneficial to us because it helps stop the spread of mutation or viruses.
    3.The advantage of having a vital energy producing organelle also double as a death organelle, would be the efficiency that would result. The cell needs energy for many of its process and if a cell doubles it would help save the cell some energy.
    4.Parallels between mitochondria and bacteria do exist. Mitochondria and bacilli bacteria have just about the same shape and they can be about the same size. Bacteria divide through fission, which is a similar process through which mitochondria replicates. Two other parallels involve the cell membrane and DNA. Mitochondria and bacteria possess there own membrane and there own DNA.
    5.The theory is logical. Mitochondria and bacteria have many similarities that may lead us to this conclusion, however there is still some grey area.
    6.God is powerful and He has the power to do anything. So, if He decided He wanted to create endosymbiotic processes then He could do it.
    7.The similarities that occur between Mitochondria and Bacteria could lead someone to conclude that the evolution of mitochondria came form bacteria. However, there are many endosymbiotic relationships through which a new organelle is not constructed. In many endosymbiotic relationships, when it comes to cell division the cells divide and one keeps the organism and the other needs to find one for itself. Showing us that there is no evolution that occurs.
    8.God is our creator and if he wanted us to contain bacteria within our cells then he could do it.

    ReplyDelete
  12. 1. Cells can die through two distinct processes. These processes are known as “Necrosis” and “Apoptosis.” To put it simply, Necrosis can be defined as death due to external conditions, while Apoptosis can be defined as cellular death programmed by the cell itself. Apoptosis occurs because it would actually be beneficial to the organism for the cell to die, so it kills itself. Some of the external conditions that result in Necrosis are toxicity, infection, and trauma.

    2. As mentioned in my previous answer, Apoptosis is the condition of cell death caused by the programming of the cell itself. One major benefit of Apoptosis is that it counteracts over-active Mitosis in a tissue. When cells divide too rapidly, a tumor can form which can constrict blood flow and other processes. However, Apoptosis causes some cells to die to make room for the new cells, thus saving the tissue as a whole.

    3. Like many other cellular organelles, any given Mitochondrian has the ability to carry out multiple tasks. The sheer efficiency of cellular organelles points to a divine creator. I would assume that the reason why God chose to create Mitochondria with the ability to both sustain and destroy the cell is because it’s simply the most efficient way for those tasks to be carried out--by a single organelle. Because the Mitochondria creates ATP, simply not delivering the necessary energy would deteriorate the cell.

    4. If the Mitochondria is being referred to as an internal bacterium, then it definitely parallels the abilities of external bacteria. Both have the potential to destroy the cell and cause death. However, they are not exact, as the Mitochondria is the primary energy provider of the cell and works for the benefit of the organism.

    5. The endosymbiotic evolutionary theory is both strengthened and weakened when examining the mitochondria. Because the mitochondria seems to function as an internal bacterium, the theory that the cell engulfs bacterium to carry out functions makes sense. However, if the endosymbiotic evolutionary theory were to be true, the pre-mitochondrial cell would have had to access some other energy generator--it cannot survive without energy.

    6. He absolutely could have. The Creator of all things could have used the endosymbiotic process to form the modern cell. However, I don’t think it’s the case. The cell simply would not have been able to survive without the Mitochondria...it would have needed a solid source of energy. Our glorious Father is so remarkable in power that he transcends every physical institution of this would. Therefore, He could have made it happen. However, by my estimation, that’s not how it happened.

    7. In favor of the endosymbiotic evolutionary theory is the evidence that intracellular organelles could have been free-living bacterium engulfed by a eukaryote. It’s reasonable. However, the evidence that the cell needs every part that it currently contains in order to function would show that an organelle, such as Mitochondria, would have been necessary for the cell to survive in the first place.

    8. To be honest, it’s unclear to me exactly what this question is asking. However, I think it’s asking whether or not interior and exterior bacterium could have been created by God to carry out the same tasks. The answer is yes. God has created a fascinating world full of mystery and discovery.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  14. 1. The two ways by which a cell can die are by necrosis and apoptosis. Necrosis in cells is caused by external factors, such as physical damage, diseases, or lack of nutrition. In apoptosis, cells kill themselves deliberately.

    2. Apoptosis is a type of cell death in which a cell commits suicide, as a response to signals. Apoptosis is useful for
    killing off dysfunctional or mutated cells. By killing these unneeded cells, resources are saved, and damage to
    neighboring cells is prevented.

    3. Having the mitochondria also act as a means of suicide would be advantageous because having multiple functions will allow more efficiency, than having an organelle specifically for self-destruction.

    4. There are some notable similarities with mitochondria and bacterium, they both have DNA and both provide energy, however, only mitochondria are able to undergo apoptosis as bacteria are not considered as complex enough to suicide.

    5. With the endosymbiosis theory, it seems possible that mitochondria could have originally been a bacterium, integrated into a cell, however, cells with a mitochondria seem so heavily dependent on them I can't imagine how it could function or survive without them.

    6. God could have created cells using endosymbiosis, but I doubt He did, since animal cells need a lot of mitochondria to function. Obtaining mitochondria for so many cells through endosymbiosis seems unlikely.

    7. In support of the endosymbiotic theory, mitochondria share some characteristics with free bacteria, such as DNA of its own, and energy production. However, in other cases of endosymbiosis, such as Hatena and Nephroselmis, cells do not entirely become an organelle. They are able to become adopted, but do not reproduce with the host cell.

    8. Yes, it's possible that God has designed bacteria to function inside our cells as organelles. If this is the case, then we would need to define more clearly what an organelle is.

    ReplyDelete
  15. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  16. 1 What are the different ways that a cell can die?
    Cell can die in two different ways; either through Necrosis or Apoptosis. Necrosis is a physical disruption to the cell through bacterial toxins, injury, and nutritional deprivation. Bacteria disrupts cell to lose its functions, causing its organelles to swell, chromatin to clump, and eventually bursts out due to inflammation of the cell (messy death cell). On the other hand, in Apoptosis, cell shrinks instead of swell. In this process mitochondria play a major role, it displays a protein known as Bcl-2 to regulate the entire cell causing chromatin to condense, cell to shrink and to fragment into small membrane-bound apoptotic bodies (an orderly death cell). Later was ingested by other cells.

    2 What is apoptosis? What are its benefits?
    The benefits of the Apoptosis are that it won’t cause any inflammation or damages to the surrounding cells. Apoptosis is needed for proper development of the cell such as mitosis (embryo development); to destroy cell which might form in between the fingers or toes where it should not be formed (provide gaps between fingers), and to destroy cells that represent a threat to the integrity of the organism.

    3 What would be the advantage to having the vital energy producing organelle also double as a death organelle?
    The advantage to have the vital energy producing organelle also double as a death organelle is that all the energy and destructive of cell happen in one setting which won’t interfere other substances around the cell or inside the cell.

    4 Considering the idea that the mitochondria is a specialized internal bacterium, are there parallels in function between mitochondria and extracellular free living bacteria with respect to energy production and promotion of cell death?
    Mitochondria and extracellular free living bacteria producing energy base on absorbing nutrients and break down the molecules from foods. They both have similar chemical breakdown processes, function, and structures.

    5 Is the endosymbiosis theory logical with respect to the evolution of mitochondria?
    6 Could God have created cells in this manner, by using an endosymbiotic process?
    7 What are the supports in favor of endosymbiosis theory and the arguments against it. What do you believe based on the evidence?
    8 Could God have created internal bacteria to do things inside our cells, similar to the idea that bacteria do important things for creatures when they are outside of cells?
    5, 6, 7 & 8: Yes, if we look at how mitochondria is a membrane bound, death organelle, producing its own energy, and living in the cell, it gives the reason that the endosymbiosis theory is logical to the evolution of mitochondria. God might created us in this way, living depend on each other – endosymbiosis. The supports in favor of endosymbiosis theory are that cell was just a simple organism in the beginning, however, it became more complex as time goes by. It’s predicted that it engulfed other living things into itself and then both living depend on each other which became known as endosymbiosis. I’m not sure what the arguments are, but I do believe in endosymbiosis that all living things are all depend on each other to be able to live on this earth. God could create internal bacteria to do things inside our cells, but He didn’t. I think it’s because he already created something else to take care inside the cell, therefore, bacteria is not needed in there.

    ReplyDelete
  17. 1 What are the different ways that a cell can die?
    Cells can die by infection, poison, lack of oxygen or overheating. It gets messy when a cell dies uncontrollably. It gets swollen and its contents leak out, causing damage to surrounding cells.

    2 What is apoptosis? What are its benefits?
    Apoptosis is programmed self-destruction. Cells choose to kill themselves very often. Controlled cell death is very important for good health and human development.

    3 What would be the advantage to having the vital energy producing organelle also double as a death organelle?
    A cell should be able to produce a controlled release of energy that kills the cell if it is membrane bound and has properties that produce energy. While it does this, it shouldn’t completely destroy the cell’s ability to benefit other cells nutritionally.

    4 Considering the idea that the mitochondria is a specialized internal bacterium, are there parallels in function between mitochondria and extracellular free living bacteria with respect to energy production and promotion of cell death?
    There are similarities of bacteria and mitochondria in that they both have 2 or more membranes, are both formed through binary fission and have some same ribosomes. They also have DNA and they have the ability to reproduce.

    5 Is the endosymbiosis theory logical with respect to the evolution of mitochondria?
    The endosymbiosis theory can be logical because mitochondria have some characteristics of a cell and engulf bacteria.

    6 Could God have created cells in this manner, by using an endosymbiotic process?
    I agree with many other students in which God can create and perform anything that He desires to!

    7 What are the supports in favor of endosymbiosis theory and the arguments against it? What do you believe based on the evidence?
    The many similarities could provide evidence for someone to decide that the evolution of mitochondria came from bacteria but it does not happen to a lot of the endosymbiotic relationships that exist. It is not common to see a new organelle created by this kind of relationship. I’m not exactly sure what to believe based on this evidence; it will sure be interesting when we find out from the Creator Himself!

    8 Could God have created internal bacteria to do things inside our cells, similar to the idea that bacteria do important things for creatures when they are outside of cells?
    Again, God can literally do anything He wants! Even though we may not know what it is now, the Creator has a unique design and specific role for everything!

    ReplyDelete
  18. 1. Apoptosis and necrosis are the two different ways a cell can die. Apoptosis is a programmed or “self-inflicted” death. Necrosis however, is caused by external forces, causing a premature death.
    2. Apoptosis is a sort of cellular suicide. It helps with embryonic development and since the death is programmed and controlled, it does not damage other cells around it, by leaking and causing problems.
    3. It allows the cell to be more efficient through multitasking and since most of the essential functions of the cell are able to occur because of the energy the mitochondria gives the cell, if the mitochondria turns off the energy source, it would probably cause the processes necessary for cell life to shut down.
    4. Some of the parallels between the mitochondria and bacteria are that the both contain unique strands of DNA and they appear to be the same size and shape.
    5. The endosymbiotis theory is logical with respect to the evolution of mitochondria because the bacteria could have used the mitochondria in an endosymbiotic relationship, and both the mitochondria and bacteria have similarities.
    6. God is all-powerful, therefore he could have created cells in whatever manner he wanted, so he could have used an endosymbiotic process if he wanted to, but he also could have used any other way to create it as well.
    7. The endosymbiosis theory thinks that cells are able to gain new characteristics by engulfing other cells, as seen through the Hatena and Nephroselmis relationship, they effected eachother yes, but they did not cause evolution to occur in either one involved in the relationship.
    8. God could have created internal bacteria to do things inside our cells, because he is, as I said before, all-powerful, and therefore create anything he wants.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Cell death occurs in two main ways: necrosis and apoptosis. Necrosis is death of a cell that is caused by injury to the cell. Apoptosis is basically programmed cell death. Chemical changes in the cell lead to changes that ultimately result in death. A major benefit I found while researching apoptosis is that it helps to develop body parts during embryonic development. One example is development of our fingers and toes. Basically what happens is that our individual fingers form because the cells between the digits apoptose.
    Having the energy producing organelle of a cell also working as a death organelle could beneficial is various ways. One way would be that it would know which cells were already programmed to die so it wouldn’t waste energy on keeping those cells functioning. Also, there might be some way that the death organelle could harvest the energy in the cell programmed for death before it was terminate. It would make the cell more efficient in its usage and gain of energy. From a little bit of research I found that some scientist believe that mitochondria may have originally been a form of bacteria that was ingested by another cell, the endosymbiotic theory. Their reasoning is that the mitochondrion has separate DNA and that it produces energy similar to bacteria. Also mitochondria have two membranes, which could be a result of endosymbiosis. These are all ideas that scientist use to prove the endosymbiotic theory. When it comes to cell death mitochondria can trigger apoptosis. However, I couldn’t find anywhere that said bacteria could do the same. This goes against the endosymbiotic theory I believe that God could create cells in this matter. God created the entire heavens and the Earth, how much more capable is He of manipulating a small cell. Evolutionist can believe the endosymbiotic theory but it still doesn’t prove that God was not involved. He could’ve very likely worked divinely in the creation of these cells using endosymbiosis. Based on the evidence scientist have found in support of the endosymbiotic theory I feel that God could’ve either been divinely involved in creating cells through endosymbiosis or that He could’ve just created them from the start. I don’t think that I’ll truly have a grasp of the concept and all the varying ideas that circulate nor will I have an answer until I get to heaven and I’m perfectly fine with that. The same thing goes with the question about internal bacteria in our cells. God could’ve very well created internal bacteria to do things inside our cells because ultimately He’s God and knows how our cells function way better than we do.

    ReplyDelete
  20. 1. They can die by necrosis and apoptosis. Necrosis is when the cell is affected by external factors like overheating, poisoning, infection, etc. Apoptosis is programmed cell death which is like cell suicide.

    2. Apoptosis is when the cell tells itself to die. It is beneficial in keeping our body healthy by getting rid of old cells for new cells. It kills off ineffective white blood cells which help keep our immune system working correctly. It also helps to shape embryos. It is beneficial to keeping cells functioning correctly and not allowing mutated cells to keep not functioning properly.

    3. It would be an advantage because mitochondria are the vital source for keeping the cell alive. If the mitochondrion were to stop functioning, so would the cell. Using it as the mechanism for cell death then would allow for the whole cell to fully deconstruct until the mitochondria was dead. This would make sure that the other parts of the cell would not influence other cells and possibly cause problems with them.

    4. Mitochondria have their own DNA similar to extracellular free bacteria. They also both make energy on their membranes. There has been some insight into bacteria being able to self-destruct, but nowhere near the complexity in apoptosis. In light of this, there are a few parallels between the two.

    5. It is not completely logical with respect to the mitochondria. They have their own energy source and can live freely. Being in another cell requires its ATP to be taken by another organism, which it was in competition with before. Yet, they are offered more protection within another cell. They also may be able to survive better in the world being in a more complex relationship with more cellular processes than their own.

    6. Yes, I it is possible for God to have created cells in this manner. He could have created them any way he wanted to. I do not believe he did use the endosymbiotic process, though. I believe he created some cells to go into an endosymbiotic relationship with each other, like the Hatena. But I believe when he created the world and animals that he had designed them with the cells we see today, with mitochondria already in them.

    7. Some of the supports for the endosymbiotic theory are other cells today that are in an endosymbiotic relationship. One of these cells is the Hatena which takes up the Nephroselmis algae and integrates it within its system. Some other ideas are that some cells could have been mutated to not completely destroy what they engulf, which allowed for another living organism to be integrated. The issue with the last scenario is that if the process for breaking down food is broken, yet it was advantageous in integrating mitochondria, then natural selection would favor this problem. Yet, in the world we see today, cells can use phagocytosis fine to decompose their food. The Hatena even breaks down other algae till it finds the Nephroselmis. This leads into another problem with the endosymbiotic theory. How could the Hatena recognize the Nephroselmis and not destroy it? How could the ancient prokaryote not destroy the mitochondria bacteria without having some code to stop the cells from killing it? Even further, the prokaryote would need to have DNA to be able to integrate the other cell into its system.

    8.Yes, of course. In biology, there are so many relationship factors between cells and bacteria. Many bacteria are beneficial to our body function and vital to it. Based on this and that we have an all-powerful God, it is very possible that He could have used bacteria in our cells.

    ReplyDelete
  21. 1. There are two different ways that cells can die. One is through external forces. This is called necrosis. That is when a cell dies through being poisoned or overheating. A second way that cells die is through apoptosis which is when a cell kills itself.
    2. Apoptosis is when a cell kills itself. It programs itself internally to destroy itself. This helps to control the number of cells and to eliminate cells that can be harmful to the organelle.
    3. The advantage of having the energy producing organelle double as a death organelle helps the cell out a lot because it just destroys itself from the inside, and therefore, it does not affect the other cells surrounding it. If the cell is destroyed where it produces energy, then it will eventually just die off without risking the harming of other cells through some kind of poisoning.
    4. There are some parallels between mitochondria and bacteria. One similarity is that they both contain their own unique sets of DNA. They also both work to produce energy. I was not able to find out if bacteria can kill itself in some way. Most of what I found seems to say that no they cannot.
    5. The endosymbosis theory states that one organism can live within another organism where both of them will benefit from the relationship. In a way it could be seen as logical since they share some of the same features.
    6. Of course, God can do anything He wants to.
    7. When we did the research project on Hatena and Nephroselmis we found that even though one was swallowed by the other, they could not reproduce together. After reproduction, the Hatena returned to its original state. That is why I do not think this would work. The cell would never develop. It would just be a repeating cycle and it would never grow more complex.
    8. Yes, God can do anything!

    ReplyDelete
  22. 1. Different ways that a cell can die are from necrosis or from apoptosis. Necrosis is caused by external forces like poisoning, infection, or overheating. Apoptosis is like cellular suicide when the cell itself contributes to its own death. 

    2. Apoptosis is when a cell contributes to its own death, which is an ordered and controlled death. This can be beneficial because when other forces kill the cell, its death is either ordered or controlled.
    3. Having the energy producing organelle double as the cause of death would be an advantage because it allows for one to get more done in a shorter amount of time. It would also be good because the process of producing energy would also end the life of the cell.
    4. Mitochondria help with the production of energy and bacteria cells help to recycle nutrients and in doing so I do not think parallels are present.
    5. From the evolutionary standpoint, mitochondria evolved from bacteria and became part of another cell. Then this would follow the endosymbiotic theory and could be logical.
    6. God has the ability to do whatever He wants and if He thought this was reasonable then I do not see why He could not have made it this way.
    7. The endosymbiotic evolutionary theory is the evidence could be that of scientists standing behind the theory and what it stands for. Although God may have created this design because he thought it was the best way and was pleasing to Him.
    8. Yes, as stated in #6 He chooses to do whatever pleases Him.

    ReplyDelete
  23. 1.The different ways that a cell can die are apoptosis and necrosis. Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is an integral part of development and homeostasis, and is hardwired into the genetic material of cells that are destined to die. This process requires energy and often even de novo macromolecular synthesis, and the specific biochemical steps involved in triggering and executing apoptosis, as well as in removing the dead cell remnants generated by this process. Necrosis, the second type of cell death, is radically different from apoptosis in almost every respect. The term derives from the Greek kernel ‘necros’, meaning ‘dead’ (with a sense of dismay), and refers to the accidental death of cells exposed to extreme environmental or genetically encoded insults. Injured cells undergoing necrosis display gross morphological and ultra-structural features that contrast sharply with those exhibited by cells undergoing apoptosis. Necrosis is generally considered to be a passive process because it does not require new protein synthesis, has only minimal energy requirements, and is not regulated by any homeostatic mechanism.

    2.The process of programmed cell death, or apoptosis, is generally characterized by distinct morphological characteristics and energy-dependent biochemical mechanisms. Apoptosis is considered a vital component of various processes including normal cell turnover, proper development and functioning of the immune system, hormone-dependent atrophy, embryonic development and chemical-induced cell death. Inappropriate apoptosis (either too little or too much) is a factor in many human conditions including neurodegenerative diseases, ischemic damage, autoimmune disorders and many types of cancer. Its benefits are that apoptosis occurs normally during development and aging and as a homeostatic mechanism to maintain cell populations in tissues. Apoptosis also occurs as a defense mechanism such as in immune reactions or when cells are damaged by disease or noxious agents. In summary, apoptosis is activated at various stages during normal embryonic development, removing unwanted cells and so sculpting our tissue and organs. It is also activated in bacterially or virally infected cells and serves to limit the success of these pathogens. Apoptosis is also a stress response, acting to remove damaged cells that can no longer serve a purpose or that pose a threat to the organism as a whole.

    3.The advantage to having the vital energy producing organelle also double as a death organelle would be providing efficiency within the cell to perform its multiple tasks, which mitochondria is in charge of both roles of the production of energy in the form of ATP (the mitochondria is known as powerhouse of the cell) and apoptosis or programmed cell death. Therefore, the efficiency allows the cell to accomplish the processes that are occurred within the cell and function properly and essentially in order to support active mechanism and development of the cell.

    4.There are parallels in function between mitochondria and extracellular free living bacteria with respect to energy production and promotion of cell death. They both contain their own DNA with an ability to replicate and perform a division within the cell, and provide energy by producing ATP. Moreover, they are in same size and shape, and have their cell membrane. Both mitochondria and extracellular free living bacteria are similar in possessing the chemical breakdown and self-destruction which results the cell death.

    ReplyDelete
  24. (Continue...)

    5.The endosymbiosis theory is logical with respect to the evolution of mitochondria. Since the mitochondria performs and functions its tasks as an internal bacterium does similarly, which both are originally came from one cell and integrated into the cell (from the endosymbiosis theory). Consequently, it supports that the mitochondria needs to rely on each other in order to survive.

    6.God could have created cells in this manner, by using an endosymbiotic process. God already created and completed everything perfect without any mistake from the beginning (in the Book of Genesis). He is Almighty God and powerful that He can do whatever He wants such as employing even endosymbiotic process, with having His intention and decision to make His creation.

    7.The supports in favor of endosymbiosis theory and the arguments against it are similarities between mitochondria and extracellular free living bacteria for the supports of the endosymbiosis theory and differences between Hatena and Nephroselmis for the arguments of the endosymbiosis theory. I believe based on the evidence that the relationship with both mitochondria and the bacteria integrated into the cell and can produce the energy and possess the self-destruction or self-death in common, however, the relationship with Hatena and Nephroselmis cannot be part of each other’s organelle in the cell which is against to the endosymbiosis theory even though they both are dependent and live together with giving benefits each other.

    8.God could have created internal bacteria to do things inside our cells, similar to the idea that bacteria do important things for creatures when they are outside of cells. He is omniscient and omnipotent that He can create anything that He wants or thinks helpful if this process is His purpose and the way that He designs for, and makes Him pleased and glorified although He did not create it.

    ReplyDelete
  25. 1. It’s possible for a cell to die either through injury due to an outside influence, or from cell suicide.
    2. The process of apoptosis (programmed cell death) can be beneficial to the cell. In fact, it is very important in the survival of the cell. It provides for the elimination of cells with a minimum amount of damage to other cells. It’s better for the organism as a whole that the cell kills itself rather than being killed from outside factors.
    3. It is efficient for the mitochondria to also be the cause of death. The mitochondria are the main energy source of the cell. Therefore, if it were to shut down, it wouldn’t take long for the cell to die.
    4. Both Mitochondria and bacteria have their own unique DNA. One could also argue that their shape is somewhat similar. However, this certainly proves nothing in regard to evolution.
    5. The endosymbiosis theory isn’t a horrible idea. Yet there’s obviously no evidence of this occurring. Some thought that the discovery of the Hatena and Nephroselmis supported this theory. However, it seemed instead that the two organisms were specifically made for each other. Also, there was no evidence of the nephroselmis evolving any further than what it became when it entered the Hatena.
    6. I suppose He could have, yet I really don’t think He did. God is not bound by science and He created the world and everything in it in six days.
    7. Some info supporting the theory would be the fact that a double membrane surrounds both the mitochondria and chloroplasts. Both organelles also use DNA to produce proteins and enzymes. However like I stated in regard to the Hatena and Nephroselmis, I would take a stance against the endosymbiotic process.
    8. God could have created internal bacteria. It would make sense because even now we have some bacteria inside us that is helpful.

    ReplyDelete
  26. 1. Cells die by one of two ways: necrosis and apoptosis. Necrosis is the unprogrammed death of cells and living tissue. It is a form of cell injury that results in the premature death of cells in living tissue. It is caused by external factors to the cell or tissue, such as toxins, infection, or trauma that results in the iregulated digestion of cell components. Necrosis is almost always detrimental and can be fatal. Cell death by means of necrosis can lead to inflammation which causes further distress or injury within the body. Apoptosis is part of programmed cell death. It is a naturally occurring programmed and targeted cause of cellular death—a cell committing suicide.

    2. Apoptosis is the process of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms. It generally confers advantages during an organism’s life cycle. It produces cell fragments that help phagocyte cells to remove before the contents of the cell can spill out onto surrounding cells that would cause damage. Apoptosis differs from necrosis because it essential to human development. While we are in the womb, our fingers and toes are connected by a sort of webbing. Apoptosis is what causes the webbing to disappear. We have more cells than what our bodies need, so the ones that do not form synaptic connections undergo apoptosis so that the remaining cells function well.

    3. Having these two seemingly opposite process in an organelle would allow it to be able to sustain itself and also kill itself. The energy it produces can be used to induce suicide without harming any surrounding cells within the membrane. The process is beneficial to the organelle, in the case that it is sick if damaged. It can kill itself off without harming any other cells, allowing them to function better.

    4.There are similarities between the two in their DNA and ability to provide energy. Only mitochondria is able to undergo apoptosis because they are more complex than bacterium.

    5.This is a logical theory because mitochondria and bacteria have similar characteristics. They could live within an endosymbiotic relationship. In essence because they are different organisms, one would have to give up some of its traits to account for the other living in the same environment. In the large scope of things, this theory could explain the evolution of mitochondria.

    6.God’s knowledge is far beyond what we can comprehend. In the process of making mitochondria and chloroplasts, he could have instantly used endosymbiotic relationships to create the early cells. Much like replicating how life began, this would be hard to replicate because God could have achieved this process by mere thought. If there is truth to this theory, then we must figure out the ins and outs of how this could have worked in the beginning days of the Earth.

    7.Endosymbiosis is a type of symbiosis in which one organism live inside the other, where the two behave as a single organism. According to this theory, mitochondria and plastids were taken inside another cell as an edosymbiont and developed into other types of cells. The belief is that both mitochondria and chloroplasts can arise only from preexisting mitochondria and chloroplasts. They cannot be formed in a cell that lacks them because nuclear genes encode only some of the proteins of which they are made. There were no new organisms made, but merely a better developed organism that was formed from a symbiotic relationship. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, so I am do not fully support this theory. There is a lot of evidence that supports this theory, but it needs to be developed more.

    8.With God, anything is possible! There are so many things that science has yet to uncover, but in all His goodness He has thought of everything that our bodies need for sustainability. As of right now, I do not know enough about biology on the cellular level, but if God can create everything in 7 days then the little details are nothing in comparison.

    ReplyDelete
  27. 1)The two most common ways for a cell to die is by Necrosis which is by the cell membrane being compressed by an external force or allowing a toxin to enter through it or just stress and temperature extremes. Apoptosis is the second; it is when the cell terminates its own life chemically which is common for cells to do.

    2) Apoptosis is when the cell purposely and orderly terminates its life. The benefits are many and vary, because it starts from the embryonic stage to creating a whole multicellular organism. At the embryonic stage it is the ability for cells to differentiate if the fingers and toes should have webbing between the spaces or not. By an “old” cell terminating, a new cell is able to be generated and take its place. Before that “old” cell gets to aged it needs to be eliminated from the organism or it will become a burden by not being efficient with the energy and resources it continued to absorb if left alive. And if every cell were like this in that organism, it would be doomed to not survive long. It also destroys mutated cells (formed by mitosis) from surviving, too. By not allowing them to stay alive long enough to reduplicate.

    3) It’s efficiency and lacks complicates to arise. If the energy (ATP) is stopped being produced by the mitochondria the cell will disintegrate because it can’t use its ATP transports nor break down molecules to feed itself. The phospholipid membrane would not fall apart until everything inside would be destroyed allowing it to encapsulate any toxins that might be produced during this process that might affect other surrounding cells.

    4)I think is question is based on one’s opinion. An example: humans- 4 limbs, heart, mouth, tongue, 2 nostrils, 2 eyes, need to eat, need to breath. A cow as the same similarities and functions they need to preform to survive, but that doesn’t make humans, cows nor cows, humans. So, yes there are parallels/ similarities between the mitochondria and the free living bacteria that someone could support a theory with. First off they both have their own DNA closely related and they replicate them similarly. They both have their own membranes which is where they both produce energy (ATP); bacteria serve themselves though and mitochondria serve the whole cell.

    ReplyDelete
  28. 5)If one doesn’t look too hard it seems plausible (it is just a theory) where an endosymbiosis relationship is formed for the benefit of the ingested bacterium would be protected by an early eukaryotic cell to turn into its mitochondria. There are struggles with this. Josiah thoughts were similar to my own; it (early eukaryotic cell) needed some way to produce energy to live before the mitochondria was formed from the bacteria.

    6) Yes, but I don’t think this is really that case. With the Hatena and Nephroselmis algae, they weren’t exchanging there genetic code and so we don’t see a complete mutation- 2 identities. While this one is claiming that they merge together to create one. Which is biblical, but under the direction of marriage. God is able too, but I think He enjoys getting the recognition of his diversity and creativity of creating something new. We has humans can never create anything “new”; we combined things together, but never any “original” idea. A good book that talks about that is: The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer.

    7) The only thing that supports this is the mitochondria and the bacteria above. Which really doesn’t do a good job. As I was stating earlier the Hatena and Nephroselmis algea, created nothing new, and all we see are speculations of what look similar in appearance and function; they don’t hold any weight though. The evidence points to people are trying too hard to create a theory, and that a bias opinion can sway the perspective we view evidence and our perspective on the world.

    8) yes, to this question too! Bacteria, I do not believe came out of the fall. They got mutated when sin and death entered the world. But they were(and a lot still are) harmless and even a benefit to us. If anything this relationship shows the interaction of the trinity, marriage, and the church body. Being able to live in harmony and peace how Eden was supposed to be.

    ReplyDelete
  29. 1. All cells die by two processes Necrosis and Apoptosis. Necrosis is when a cell dies due to external conditions such as temp or lack of energy. Apoptosis is when a cell choses to kill itself when such a condition would be more beneficial to the organism.
    2. Apoptosis benefits the organism bye making sure that if a cell turns cancers it will eliminates the mutant cell before they could cause major damage.
    3. The main plus of having an energy producing organelle double as the cause of death is increasing the cells efficiency. Also if the cell is designed to create energy it would be easily reversible so that the energy created could cause destruction.
    4. Some mitochondria parallel functions of bacteria but the theory that mitochondria originated as free bacteria should not be possible with the mitochondria’s self-destruction process.
    5. The endosymbiosis theory has a seemly possible explanation but the issue is in that all cells the mitochondria are depended upon greatly so how would the cell surviving without it.
    6. Are God could use any means he sees fit but I believe such a plan would not be in his nature to follow.
    7. The supports are as follows fist mitochondria consume oxygen to obtain glucose acting similar to bacteria. Second is that chloroplasts consume water and carbon dioxide through sunlight and produce waste. There is no real way to know what occurred but bye following Gods character I believe the endosymbiosis theory is wrong.
    8. As I stated above God is God and he could do whatever he wished but using logic god would use a good design on the inside as well as out.

    ReplyDelete
  30. 1. The two primary ways that a cell can die is through apoptosis which is a form of programmed cell death in which the cell induces processes that lead to its own death and through necrosis which is death that is induced by external factors. Cell death is not limited to these means but cells also die through autophagy when they are in nutrient deprived conditions or through anoikis which occurs when anchorage-dependent cells are detached from the extracellular matrix. These are just a few processes that result in cell death but there are still more such as through excitotoxicity, Wallerian degeneration and cornification to name even a few more of the many diverse methods that can cause death to a cell.
    2. Apoptosis is a form of programmed cell death in which biochemical changes lead to morphological changes and to cell death. Apoptosis is beneficial because it allows for the body to constantly be replacing the cells so that the components of the human body are being renewed and it prevents cells from accumulating damage!
    3.The advantage to this is that the vital energy producing organelle is the best equipped to care out this job because of it’s inherent importance as the energy producer. This ability to produce energy is also not just vital for life but also for death as the energy is used to power all the process that go on in cellular death.
    4.Mitochondria and bacteria share many similarities in that they are generally the same size, shape and both possess their own DNA however they differ in their method of energy production. Bacteria obtains energy through anaerobic glycolysis whereas the mitochondria through aerobic metabolism which is why the endosymbiont theory is used to explain this advantageous change.
    Despite this difference in energy acquisition there are many similarities between the two including their promotion of cell death. Both Mitochondria and bacteria have forms of programmed cell death that benefit the “community” of cells. Mitochondria induced death benefits the organism where as bacteria’s programmed cell death benefits the colony.
    5.The endosymbiosis theory is not logical in respect to the evolution of mitochondria because the method of integration does not seem possible as engulfing of other bacteria does not typically lead to integration and it would have to occur on a larger scale in order to continue propagation. There are also problems with the DNA integration that remain unresolved so I do not think this theory is logical given these things.
    6.Yes, God can create cells through endosymbiotic processes and I think it would serve to show the ingenuity and the complexity of his design that he would use these methods to create cells.
    7.Some of the supports in favor of endosymbiosis theory is that is provides an explanation for the development of the things that we see today, it uses valid processes such as endosymbiosis and both bacteria and mitochondria are similar to each other. Some arguments against it include the fact that though there are many incidences of bacteria being engulfed there are no evidence of it forming anything like a mitochondria, there are problems with the DNA and it’s relation to the nuclear DNA of a cell, and this integration seems to face many challenges that would be difficult to surmount. Based on the evidence I would have to conclude that I do not think that the endosymbiosis theory is a proper or complete explanation!
    8.Yes, God could have created internal bacteria that do things inside of our cells just as they do important things when they are outside of the cells. There is substantial evidence showing that bacteria interacts beneficially with our cells and supports the maintenance of our homeostasis so I think it could be very likely that God could have created internal bacteria to operate within out cells for our benefit and his glory.

    ReplyDelete
  31. 1. Cells can die in many ways some of these are by being infected by a virus, becoming too hot and overheating, becoming poisoned or even by a lack of oxygen. The result of cellular death is categorized as being either apoptosis which is cellular suicide or necrosis which is caused by a force from outside the cell.
    2. Apoptosis is when a cell self-destructs. This does not occur randomly but rather when something has affected its function or when it is no longer needed it may choose to destroy itself. Unlike the process of necrosis, this method of destruction is ordered; there is no loss of membrane integrity resulting in a swelling cell. An example is when a cells development is mutated. The cell will proceed with apoptosis getting rid of the mutated cell just in case it is a cancer cell. It also can help to get rid of no longer needed cells to promote further development.
    3. The vital energy producing organelle would be the mitochondria. It would be efficient to double as a death cell because if there is problems with the cell then the destruction of the mitochondria would cause it to break down due to its dependence on the energy that the mitochondria provides.
    4. There are parallels between the structure and function of a mitochondria and extracellular bacterium. They are similar in that they are able to produce their own energy and have their own set of DNA which enables them to replicate. Both extracellular bacteria and the mitochondria can promote a cells death. As seen earlier, mitochondria have the ability to stimulate death by apoptosis. An outside bacterium may have the ability to kill cells because there are cells in the body such as white blood cells that specifically target bacterium in order to destroy it before it can cause damage.
    5.From an evolutionists view it is a logical theory based upon the fact that their nature is very similar. It could be possible that the mitochondria bacterium utilized the endosymbiosis state providing convenience in having a dependent relationship between the cell and itself. However, I do believe that God could have purposely created the cells in that manner and the fact that they are so similar is due t the fact that God the perfect creator made them that way.
    6.God is knowledge and truth and is capable of things that surpass the understanding of any human being. That being said it is possible that God specifically designed the cell by using endosymbiosis.
    7. The endosymbiosis theory is based on the idea that two organisms agree to cohabiting each other so that they both can benefit from it. Many scientist believe in this state because they observe things like the mitochondria and see the similarities between it and extracellular organisms. I do think that organisms can depend on one another through endosymbiosis as was seen with the case of the Hatena and Nephroselmis but I don’t think that the cells will evolve to change what God has already created. They may adjust but an entire new species will not be formed.
    8. Yes, God could definitely have done this. This idea seems a lot more reasonable than the evolutionist beliefs of continual change.

    ReplyDelete
  32. 1. There are two processes through which a cell can die, Necrosis and Apoptosis. Necrosis is a result of external factors; some examples of this would be infection, poisoning, overheating and lack of oxygen. Necrosis is uncontrollable and as a result, can be very messy and may in fact damage surrounding cells. Apoptosis, however, is a highly regulated process through which a cell may commit suicide. Though it may seem awful it is entirely normal and healthy for life. If the organism is not able to control this latter process, it can obviously be detrimental to its health.
    2. Apoptosis is the process of programmed cell death. As I stated in my previous answer, it may seem awful but it is in fact normal and crucial to the sustaining of life. During the development of an embryo, the formation of the fingers and toes is a direct result of this controlled process. If cell is reproducing too rapidly, it may form a tumor and destroy the entire tissue. Apoptosis gets rid of the existing cells making room for the new ones. In doing so, unlike necrosis, its produces apoptotic bodies that essentially signal phagocytic cells to engulf it quickly before its contents spill and cause damage to the neighboring cells.
    3. The mitochondria’s ability to both deliver and withhold energy from the cell provides the organism with the most efficient way to carry out these processes. It allows for each of the signals to be more specific as to which cells need to die. Ensuring that cells are not killed unnecessarily.
    4. Although the mitochondria’s production of ATP and a bacteria’s ability to recycle nutrients may be a parallel. Bacteria’s inability to end the life cycle leads me to believe that there is no direct correlation between the two.
    5. From an evolutionary standpoint, it makes perfect sense, but when we examine the facts closely. The question not only becomes how does the cell know not to engulf the mitochondria, but also from where is it getting its energy from?
    6. God is fully capable of doing whatever He wants, if He wanted to use the endosymbiotic relationship then He very well could have. But as Hannah said “He isn’t bound by our method of reasoning. Though I, as well as many others, do not believe endosymbiosis to be the mechanism, God created the universe in the manner He saw fit, endosymbiosis or not.
    7. The definite similarities in the mitochondrial and some bacteria are in clear support of the theory. However, when we studied the Hatena and Nephroselmis, it was clear that though it was an endosymbiotic relationship, nothing new was created; it was not true macroevolution. That may very well be the case with this.
    8. Again, God is in complete control of His creation as we see in Mark 4. It would make sense that bacteria could do important things for creatures both inside and outside the cells.

    ReplyDelete
  33. 1. There are two different ways that a cell can die:
    a) Necrosis, which is caused by external forces, which includes:
    – Infection
    - Poisoning
    - Overheating
    - Bodily injury
    - Lack of oxygen and nutrients
    b) And by self-destruction (apoptosis or ‘programmed cell death’)
    2. Apoptosis is formed from the Greek prefix apo-, “off, from, away; at an extreme” and the Greek word ptosis, “a falling in or upon (something).” Apoptosis is when a cell commits ‘suicide’. In this process, enzymes called caspases are responsible to break down the components of the cell needed for survival and to spur production of other destructive enzymes, as DNases. After that, macrophages are responsible to clean away the dead cells.
    Apoptosis is important since it’s essential for multicellular organisms’ development, during embryo phase and also during menstruation for the women, for example.
    3. It would make the cell do many things in the same time, increasing its metabolism. That would be an advantage for the cell.
    4. Since scientists defend that mitochondria was a bacteria that entered a bacteria to live in a symbiotic relationship, both extracellular bacteria and mitochondria need to produce energy to survive. One to maintain its metabolism and other to keep giving a feedback for its host cell and receive protection.
    5. No, since it turned to be a organelle after being an organism.
    6. He could, but that’s not the way he did. Got created organisms in specific kinds, allowing variation within the kinds.
    7. Yes. An example of how bacteria can be important in our organism is the bacterial flora inside our intestines. I’m not sure of a bacteria that helps us being inside our cells, but I’m pretty sure that can happen to help us in someway.

    ReplyDelete
  34. 1. Cells can either die from external factors such as an imbalance in homeostasis or an attack from a different cell but also it can die by apoptosis in which a cell commits suicide.
    2. Apoptosis is when a cell is programmed to die. In a case where there are too many cells in a certain area they can diminish themselves. This would be useful to prevent tumors and cancerous cells.
    3. Since the mitochondria provides energy for the cell it can stop providing energy and cause it to die. It would be beneficial for both life and death.
    4. The mitochondria provides the energy that is needed for cells to carry out their processes. In this case it gives energy and signals for which cells need to die. This prevent unnecessary cell deaths since the specific cells are targeted.
    5. The theory seems logically but once you dig in deeper into the details there are certain things that don't make sense. If the mitochondria was consumed how would the cell survive and where would it obtain its energy from? It would be impossible but it only proves that there is an intelligent designer.
    6. God could have used this method to create cells but life was created instantaneously so perhaps its unlikely.
    7. The only case that I have studied that can support this theory is the relationship between the Hatena and Nephroselmis. Even that relationship isn't fully understood. The difference being that they both can live independently and there is no evidence that the mitochondria can live outside a cell.
    8. I believe God definitely could have but mainly after the fall. Before the fall all was at a perfect state but after we were exposed to sicknesses and different diets and bacteria could have been used to adapt our bodies to the new state of life.

    ReplyDelete