Scientists Create Super Ants

 


Researchers use hormones on ant larvae to turn them into supersoldiers.


Summary: An international team of researchers says it has programmed ants to become “supersoldiers.” Writing in Science magazine, the scientists say they worked with Pheidole ants, a large group of 1,000 related species among whom only eight naturally have a so-called supersoldier caste. Soldier ants protect their colonies by using their large heads to block entrances from invaders.


Led by Dr. Ehab Abouheif from Montreal’s McGill U., the team found it could treat ant larvae with a hormone at a very specific time during their development in order to turn them into giant supersoldiers. They accomplished this in two ant species that do not normally have a supersoldier caste.


The idea for programming developing ants to become giant soldiers came to Dr. Abouheif when he noticed a few strange big-headed ants in a Pheidole ant species that lacks supersoldiers. This led to the scientists studying the ants to discover what caused these “mutant ants.” When a queen ant lays eggs, each egg develops into a certain caste such as soldiers or workers depending upon its environment (temperature; the nutrition it receives). However, switching into a specific caste is controlled largely by one chemical called a juvenile hormone inside the eggs .       


"So if you treat any species at the right time in development, just with a hormone, you can induce the development of the supersoldier," explained Dr. Abouheif. "The fact that you can induce it in all these different species [that don't naturally have that caste], means that one common ancestor of all these species had [supersoldiers]."  He saw this discovery as having far-reaching implications for evolution studies. "This ancestral potential is locked in place for 35 million years and... if you can find it, you can unleash [it]." 


Abouheif thinks that unlocking hidden traits in many species could lead to such advances as breeding more nutritious crops or even tackling cancer.


(Photo of soldier ants from Wikimedia Commons.)


To read the entire article, click on BBC NEWS.


Comment: By using their evolution-tinted eyeglasses, these scientists have interpreted their discoveries in terms of Darwinism. But I see this story as having more to do with intelligent design. 


Genetic engineering has been performed by intelligent scientists for quite some time now and in many fields including medicine, research, industry and agriculture. It involves direct human manipulation of an organism’s genome by the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes. Evolution is a blind, random process that has no particular goal in mind. But genetic engineering performed by humans is different in that there are specific outcomes that are desired such as a new medicine or better food.


The lesson from this story is that we should critically read science stories in order to detect statements that are colored by a scientist’s or a writer’s worldview. There is no reason to see evolution in every new scientific development. Science can be done quite well without reference to evolution theory. Dr. Marc Kirschner of the Harvard Medical School, as quoted by Dr. Jonathan Sarfati, has said that almost all of biology has proceeded independent of evolution. “Molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology, have not taken evolution into account at all,” Dr. Kirschner has said.


It was interesting to read Dr. Abouheif’s reference to “one common ancestor” of all the ant species which he has been studying. That fits in well with the biblical picture of one or a few ant species surviving the Flood with the genetic potential to develop into the various modern species. (Note: some creationists hold open the possibility that insects were not on the ark but survived outside the structure on floating debris.) 


Genetic engineering may prove to especially be a blessing as scientists discover how to use it better in treating human genetic-based diseases. Meanwhile, the greatest disease we are dealing with, our sick, sin-filled souls, will not yield to any human manipulation. It can be cured only through faith in Jesus Christ, which brings with it complete healing.


“Praise the LORD, O my soul, 
   and forget not all his benefits— 
who forgives all your sins 
   and heals all your diseases” (Psalm 103:2-3).


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QUESTION OF THE DAY


What were the first genetically-engineered organisms and when did this breakthrough occur?


Bacteria became the first genetically-engineered organisms in 1973, followed by mice in 1974. Insulin-producing bacteria were commercialized in 1982, and since 1994 genetically modified food has been sold.


Source: Wikipedia


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