Self-sacrificing Cells Demonstrate a Selfless Designer by Brian
Thomas, M.S. * Scientists have discovered that a single yeast
cell gene (FLO1) expresses a protein that causes individual
cells to stick to one another for protection. The cells
flocculate, or form clumps “consisting of thousands of cells,”1
with the outside cells sacrificing themselves to protect the
inner cells from possible harmful chemicals. These organisms
have an obvious programmed behavior that mimics altruism, the
principle or practice of unselfish concern for the welfare of
others. But could nature have programmed it unaided, and if so,
how? The FLO1 study, published in the journal Cell, proposes
that the common yeast “S. cerevisiae is also a model for the
evolution of cooperative behavior.”1 The standard and often
repeated mechanism for evolution involves “functional
intermediates.” In this scenario, there was supposedly a series
of mutation-generated biochemicals, each with new, immediately
useful applications for those yeast cells. Th