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Article: Before kingdoms arose, early organisms exchanged genes freely, biologist says.
- Article from:
- The Dallas Morning News (Dallas, TX)
- Article date:
- June 29, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Dallas Morning News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Sue Goetinck Ambrose
If your vehicle were simple enough, parts would be easy to find _ you could borrow from almost any other vehicle around.
But if you're driving a Ferrari, you're well past the threshold of simple repairs. The car is just too complicated to replace parts with anything ordinary.
Life crossed a similar threshold in its earliest days, according to a new theory. Early life traded genes the way horseless carriages could trade wheels.
There were no barriers between species, and newly acquired abilities were continually auditioned, then kept or shed.
The catchphrase for life's earliest days was "genetic ...