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Article: Before kingdoms arose, early organisms exchanged genes freely, biologist says.(The Dallas Morning News)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- July 8, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. 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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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 swapping."
"In the early ...