NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=0000F9E2-5E64-137E-9E6483414B7F0000

I don't even know if I should post this in a family-friendly forum.

But seriously though, this is both interesting and a little scary.

It's not new science either. Mating strains of yeasts and bacteria and genetic exchange have been known about for at least as long since I last took bio about 15 years ago. :confused:

It's not new science either. Mating strains of yeasts and bacteria and genetic exchange have been known about for at least as long since I last took bio about 15 years ago. :confused:

I'm sure that there are many on this forum that this is indeed new to.

I think the article was pretty kewl. I'm not very big on the scientific side of things when it comes to bacteria and such, but even so, I liked the gained knowledge.

I wonder if thats one reason why when people get sick with a lot of things at once, its even worse off. Aside from having the bodies defenses overmaxed, but then to know that they actually strengthen themselves with eachothers defenses too.

I'm sure that there are many on this forum that this is indeed new to.

Indeed! So many posters haven't even heard of DHMO! :eek:

Indeed! So many posters haven't even heard of DHMO! :eek:

DHMO?!? wassat?

Explains my tummy troubles today. :confused:

Not for the faint of heart: Steamy bacteria sex...REVEALED!
Wow. And there are pictures, too.

Wow. And there are pictures, too.
<drools>

http://www.mun.ca/biochem/courses/3107/images/Stryer/Stryer_F32-13.jpg

Look Ma! Bacteria pr0n!



My god that thing's thingy is huuuuge. :eek:

My god that thing's thingy is huuuuge. :eek:

Yeah, but that chick doesn't shave.

Indeed. They appear to be two different strains. Maybe the fuzzy one is being injected with the hygiene and grooming gene.

Yeah, but that chick doesn't shave.

some people like it that way

some people like it that way

Yeah, but that much of it?

This is like some freaky east european porno.

Yeah, but that much of it?
This is like some freaky east european porno.

Oh, please. East-European porno is just full of hairless guys pleasuring eachother. Usually no hair in sight. Methinks you need to watch some.

Oh, please. East-European porno is just full of hairless guys pleasuring eachother. Usually no hair in sight. Methinks you need to watch some.

I'm half Eastern European. I should know :p

I'm half Eastern European. I should know :p

Yes, you should, but you don't. They export the porn to the west, and it very much obliges to our standards.

Yes, you should, but you don't. They export the porn to the west, and it very much obliges to our standards.

But they don't have Scheissenfilmen like Germany... :rolleyes:

Best...Microscopic....Porno...Ever!

But they don't have Scheissenfilmen like Germany... :rolleyes:

Oh, they do. They're just called something else in every pertinent language.

Oh, they do. They're just called something else in every pertinent language.

The only thing similar in Canada I can think of was a particularly scatological video of a "hazing" in our former Canadian Airborne Regimen.

:eek:

The only thing similar in Canada I can think of was a particularly scatological video of a "hazing" in our former Canadian Airborne Regimen. :eek:

Be glad that you are not aware of the low quality and lowly contents of Canadian porn, especially the kind geared toward such fetishes.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=0000F9E2-5E64-137E-9E6483414B7F0000

I don't even know if I should post this in a family-friendly forum.

But seriously though, this is both interesting and a little scary.


Bacteria sex is really cool - but conjugation (what they briefly described in the article) is definately not the only method of Horizontal Gene transfer. The thing is that much of the genetic exchange that happens in bacteria actually happens by accindent. For instance, if you starve a culture of bacteria, with bits of DNA floating around, the bacteria begin to take up the genetic material - arguably as a form of food. Some of this DNA gets incorporated, by chance, into the bacterial chromosome (or rather, plasmid) while most of the other stuff gets digested as raw materials. If, on hte off chance, this new bit of DNA is useful, that bacterium has the evolutionary edge.

Another thoery is that there exist (or at some point in evolution, existed)small genetic units, called "selfish DNA" that insert themselves into bacterial genomes and propagate their own existance by coding for proteins that will excise them out before translation. ie. the original source of introns. Its pretty cool - natural selection can work on the molecular level.

Be glad that you are not aware of the low quality and lowly contents of Canadian porn, especially the kind geared toward such fetishes.
Does every conversation with you have to end up as a discussion of porn, Fass?
There is more to life then porn. For instance, there's, um . . . there's, er . . . Well, there's alcohol!

[QUOTE=Kreitzmoorland]Bacteria sex is really cool - but conjugation (what they briefly described in the article) is definately not the only method of Horizontal Gene transfer.

Conjugation! that just sounds messy...possibly something that could be in Eastern European Porn...not Canadian though...

or so i'm led to believe! :rolleyes:

Yes, you should, but you don't. They export the porn to the west, and it very much obliges to our standards.

Well, all I can say is, they've tampered with the goods. :p

Does every conversation with you have to end up as a discussion of porn, Fass?
There is more to life then porn. For instance, there's, um . . . there's, er . . . Well, there's alcohol!

LOL...sigged!

Does every conversation with you have to end up as a discussion of porn, Fass?
There is more to life then porn. For instance, there's, um . . . there's, er . . . Well, there's alcohol!

If you didn't notice, this thread was about a kind of porn.

[Fiddlebottoms VIII]Does every conversation with you have to end up as a discussion of porn, Fass?
There is more to life then porn. For instance, there's, um . . . there's, er . . . Well, there's alcohol!

And err, well, there's, you know....that...oh, what fulfilled lives we have!

If you didn't notice, this thread was about a kind of porn.
Yes, but not East European porn. This is about bacteria damn it, now keep your flagellation out of it!

Yes, but not East European porn. This is about bacteria damn it, now keep your flagellation out of it!

Flagella have everything to do here, and I was not the one that mentioned East-European porn - I dispelled a wrongful assumption about it. I will not stand idly by and have them malign those cute, Eastern lads and their rigid professionalism.

Flagella have everything to do here....sorry, but flagella are purely eukaryotic accoplishments. They don't apply.

sorry, but flagella are purely eukaryotic accoplishments. They don't apply.

What are you talking about? Procaryotes have flagella - E. coli, for instance (http://www.agen.ufl.edu/~chyn/age2062/lect/lect_06/20_16.GIF). I do believe you may need to refresh microbiology 101.

Flagella have everything to do here,
Yes, that was the irony in my statement, using a literary reference (to Catch 22) in the context creates an apparent contradiction through a pune, or play on words.
and I was not the one that mentioned East-European porn - I dispelled a wrongful assumption about it. I will not stand idly by and have them malign those cute, Eastern lads and their rigid professionalism.
Well, if you were defending the honor of porn actors then I suppose that all was just and good in your actions. You are a true hero to, er, somebody.

Yes, that was the irony in my statement, using a literary reference (to Catch 22) in the context creates an apparent contradiction through a pune, or play on words.

A torpid jeux-de-mots of sorts, that did not go lost on me, I assure you.

Well, if you were defending the honor of porn actors then I suppose that all was just and good in your actions. You are a true hero to, er, somebody.

Oh, to young Ivan or Milos or Florian or Dhimitri or some such, again, most assuredly.

What are you talking about? Procaryotes have flagella - E. coli, for instance (http://www.agen.ufl.edu/~chyn/age2062/lect/lect_06/20_16.GIF). I do believe you may need to refresh microbiology 101.Weird - I now realize that you're right of course, but aren't the cyctoskeletal elements necessary in basal bodies, like Microtubule organization centers and such only found in Eukayotes? I thought developed cyctoskeleton was only present in Eukaryotes, so I just assumed that the microtubule orginization (anchoring, protein capping and so on) needed for flagella didn't happen in bacteria.


damn I need to go study for that test some more.

A torpid jeux-de-mots of sorts, that did not go lost on me, I assure you.
Just so long as the full impact of this public onanism in which we participate is never lost.
Oh, to young Ivan or Milos or Florian or Dhimitri or some such, again, most assuredly.
Hopefully, they will send you all the fan mail and letter bombs that you can eat.

Just so long as the full impact of this public onanism in which we participate is never lost.

Not to worry, I shall always remain steadfast in place to collect, and suitably dispose of, your verbal ejaculate.

Hopefully, they will send you all the fan mail and letter bombs that you can eat.

Such a way for them to turn the tables on me would be almost ironic, if we were to go by laical definitions of such, which I do believe you do.

well, upon a bit of investigation I am sort of right. Prokaryotic flagella aren't "true" flagella - they actually have completely different structures and propulsion mechanisms, though similar at first sight. Bacterial Flagella are completely rigid and turn like a propeller, wheras eukaryotic flagella are actually mobile and can be controlled in a whip-like motion. So it's pretty weird that they're both called the same thing.

Not to worry, I shall always remain steadfast in place to collect, and suitably dispose of, your verbal ejaculate.
Point, set, and match, good friend.
Such a way for them to turn the tables on me would be almost ironic, if we were to go by laical definitions of such, which I do believe you do.
No, I was going for more of a "completely nonsensical statement that may or may not involve a death threat depending on how it is read" sort of thing.
Irony would have required far too much thought for a discussion about this kind of thing that we are discussing.

well, upon a bit of investigation I am sort of right. Prokaryotic flagella aren't "true" flagella - they actually have completely different structures and propulsion mechanisms, though similar at first sight. Bacterial Flagella are completely rigid and turn like a propeller, wheras eukaryotic flagella are actually mobile and can be controlled in a whip-like motion. So it's pretty weird that they're both called the same thing.

Probably because they didn't know they were different when they named them. No electron microscopes back then, and all that.

Irony would have required far too much thought for a discussion about this kind of thing that we are discussing.

Few things literary are worse than laboured irony, so I suggest you enjoy your inadvertent facsimile.

"Some may argue that nutritionally-stressed cells take up DNA to obtain genes that might alleviate the stress. This is like arguing that a hungry man eats steak because he might acquire a cow gene that enables him to digest grass."
-Rosie Redfield (my Biology prof)

Few things literary are worse than laboured irony, so I suggest you enjoy your inadvertent facsimile.
I shall cherish it like a prize found in a cereal box.

interesting article....however it kind of struck me as a given .....considering bacteria have not nuclus to hold their DNA, its quite logical that bacteria would be able to transfur bits and pieces of there DNA between themselves..........

I shall cherish it like a prize found in a cereal box.

It is but comme il faut.

Weird - I now realize that you're right of course, but aren't the cyctoskeletal elements necessary in basal bodies, like Microtubule organization centers and such only found in Eukayotes? I thought developed cyctoskeleton was only present in Eukaryotes, so I just assumed that the microtubule orginization (anchoring, protein capping and so on) needed for flagella didn't happen in bacteria.


damn I need to go study for that test some more.

Actually you are right because bacteria have cilia, not flagella.

No no, they have flagella, but they are made of different proteins and motored by a different mechanism than eukaryotic flagella. There's a pretty simple exlanation here:

http://www.bms.ed.ac.uk/research/others/smaciver/Cell%20biol.topics/Cell_Locomotion.htm
I'm quite sure that ciliated cells are all eukaryotic. (*waits to be proved wrong*)

Actually you are right because bacteria have cilia, not flagella.

No, they do have flagella. They are different from procaryotic flagella, but they do have them (http://www.cat.cc.md.us/courses/bio141/lecguide/unit1/prostruct/flag.html).

I'm quite sure that ciliated cells are all eukaryotic. (*waits to be proved wrong*)

*ahem* (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=4891313&dopt=Abstract)

interesting article....however it kind of struck me as a given .....considering bacteria have not nuclus to hold their DNA, its quite logical that bacteria would be able to transfur bits and pieces of there DNA between themselves..........

good point....

No, they do have flagella. They are different from procaryotic flagella, but they do have them (http://www.cat.cc.md.us/courses/bio141/lecguide/unit1/prostruct/flag.html).

Ehhhh I gave up reading that site when it referred to the cell membranes of prokaryotes as 'cell walls'. Only Kingdom Plantae has cell walls with the very slight possibility of an exception for cyanobacteria.

BTW my former bio instructor is a Rhodes Scholar.

Ehhhh I gave up reading that site when it referred to the cell membranes of prokaryotes as 'cell walls'. Only Kingdom Plantae has cell walls with the very slight possibility of an exception for cyanobacteria.

BTW my former bio instructor is a Rhodes Scholar.Rhodes scholar or not, that's blatantly false. Kingdom Fungi have calls walls as do bacteria - he/she was probably simplifying things for your benefit.

its important to remember that taxonomy (even at the Kingdom level) is not entirely based on phylogeny, but rather on morphological similarity. Often these represent monphyletic groups, but in many cases they are the result of convergance, and groupos that are "farther" in the taxonomic system are in fact much closer on the phylogenetic tree of life.

*ahem* (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=4891313&dopt=Abstract)
PubMed continues to ruin my life. Ah well, at least it was forseen.

Ehhhh I gave up reading that site when it referred to the cell membranes of prokaryotes as 'cell walls'. Only Kingdom Plantae has cell walls with the very slight possibility of an exception for cyanobacteria.

Actually, procaryotes do have a structure called a cell wall, as well as a membrane that is called a cell membrane (the terms "inner" and "outer" membrane are prevalent as well). It isn't the same as plants, or fungi for that matter, have, but that is what it's called.

It consists of a peptidoglycan that is a mesh of polysaccharides of acetylgukosamine and acetylmuramic acid, to which is attached a tetrapeptide, which in itself is special because it contains both L and D amino acids. And I'm not even mentioning teichoic and lipotechoic acid and lipopolysaccharide.

BTW my former bio instructor is a Rhodes Scholar.

So? It doesn't seem to reflect on his pupils.

Actually, procaryotes do have a structure called a cell wall, as well as a membrane that is called a cell membrane (the terms "inner" and "outer" membrane are prevalent as well). It isn't the same as plants, or fungi for that matter, have, but that is what it's called.

It consists of a peptidoglycan that is a mesh of polysaccharides of acetylgukosamine and acetylmuramic acid, to which is attached a tetrapeptide, which in itself is special because it contains both L and D amino acids. And I'm not even mentioning teichoic and lipotechoic acid and lipopolysaccharide.



So? It doesn't seem to reflect on his pupils.

Thanks for reminding me why I can't stand gay guys.

Thanks for reminding me why I can't stand gay guys.

Thank you for reminding me why I can't stand people who think the achievements of their professors reflect on them, or that name-dropping gives them by association some sort of authority in saying blatant falsities.

Thank you for reminding me why I can't stand people who think the achievements of their professors reflect on them, or that name-dropping gives them by association some sort of authority in saying blatant falsities.

Even so she'd laugh hysterically at your cell wall thing and promptly give you an F.

Thank you for reminding me why I can't stand people who think the achievements of their professors reflect on them, or that name-dropping gives them by association some sort of authority in saying blatant falsities.More or less what you were doing, except with molecules not people. Neither exhibits much understanding.

Even so she'd laugh hysterically at your cell wall thing and promptly give you an F.

I would of course call her on it and produce numerous microbiology books (for instance Murrey's et al. Medical Microbiology), not to mention Pubmed results referring to the cell walls of bacteria, and describing their composition.

You may cower to point out the shortcomings of your "Rhodes scholar" instructor, if I may continue to call her that after her apparent failure at instructing, but I would not.

Thanks for reminding me why I can't stand gay guys.
edit this wasn't meant to sound as harsh as it did... just been having not good times.

More or less what you were doing, except with molecules not people. Neither exhibits much understanding.

Oh, if you wish for me to explain how they are synthesised, and how their assembly takes place, not to mention the points at which certain antibiotics disrupt this process (this is basic pre-med here, although it was a while since I was pre-med) of cellular wall construction, you can just ask.

Not that I see why I should have to prove any sort of understanding to you of all people.

edit this wasn't meant to sound as harsh as it did... just been having not good times.

Do not consider your homophobic remark excused by them.

Do not consider your homophobic remark excused by them.
Aww I was just trying to take the piss out of you coz your so cute when you're angry. :p

Not that I see why I should have to prove any sort of understanding to you of all people.Your contempt is misplaced and unecessary. I don't require proof of your proficiency. I was just commenting on the minimal usefullness of spouting technical information out of spite, without effectively communicating the idea that would correct somone's basic misconception.

Aww I was just trying to take the piss out of you coz your so cute when you're angry. :p

If you think anything in this thread elicits such an emotion from me, then your "bad times" truly are pouring. Hint for next time: While I do not give a rodent's ass about your apologies or excuses, if you're trying to make one, do not think your self-avowedly pathetic situation constitutes it.

If you think anything in this thread elicits such an emotion from me, then your "bad times" truly are pouring. Hint for next time: While I do not give a rodent's ass about your apologies or excuses, if you're trying to make one, do not think your self-avowedly pathetic situation constitutes it.

OK then despite my hints to get you to lighten up read between the lines and possibly understand what I meant you seem to wanna make a fight out of this. While I haven't yet been banned from NS for having hissy fits unlike you I'm gonna walk away and let you to be your usually evident pathetic self.

Your contempt is misplaced and unecessary. I don't require proof of your proficiency. I was just commenting on the minimal usefullness of spouting technical information out of spite, without effectively communicating the idea that would correct somone's basic misconception.

It's called facts, and I used it to show that I do indeed know what science says about the bacterial cell wall, and that I was not just pulling the existence of it out of my damned fine posterior. I was explaining what exactly we think the wall is. That you think an explanation of a model of its composition is off-topic in a reply to someone doubting its existence, just because the words used to denote the substances therein are a bit long, and that that is "name-dropping," well, then, that'll speak for your understanding of the situation.

Conjugation, eh?
I conjugate
You (singular) conjugate
He conjugates
You (plural) conjugate
They conjugate

OK then despite my hints to get you to lighten up read between the lines and possibly understand what I meant you seem to wanna make a fight out of this. While I haven't yet been banned from NS for having hissy fits unlike you I'm gonna walk away and let you to be your usually evident pathetic self.

I was not banned for a hissy fit. I was banned for being mean to a Nazi. Now, you do run along now thinking you've fooled anyone with the assertion that dull "humour" surrounded your feeble slur, but rest assured that its success is quite poor indeed.

I was not banned for a hissy fit. I was banned for being mean to a Nazi. Now, you do run along now thinking you've fooled anyone with the assertion that dull "humour" surrounded your feeble slur, but rest assured that its success is quite poor indeed.

Banned nonetheless and while I have your attention, please ask Sinuhue to ban my account on the LGBTS alliance forum. Heaven forbid I might say something there to infuriate the resident gestapo agent. :(

Fass... du är galen...*bugar i respekt* hur tusan kan man veta sånt och samtidigt vara rolig? :D

Banned nonetheless

Yeah, so? You think that somehow affects anything said here? I was banned. Big deal. If you think gloating over it constitutes anything but an act itself actionable by the mods, you're grossly mistaken.

and while I have your attention, please ask Sinuhue to ban my account on the LGBTS alliance forum. Heaven forbid I might say something there to infuriate the resident gestapo agent. :(

You leaving a place I haven't been part of in months and had no idea you were in - that'll show me! :rolleyes:

Run your own mouth to Sinuhue. You're a big girl.

Fass... du är galen...*bugar i respekt* hur tusan kan man veta sånt och samtidigt vara rolig? :D

Ah, det är tack vare, och inte trots det, som jag är "rolig." Humor, min kära kamrat, är ibland det enda som håller en flytande.

Yeah, so? You think that somehow affects anything said here? I was banned. Big deal. If you think gloating over it constitutes anything but an act itself actionable by the mods, you're grossly mistaken.



You leaving a place I haven't been part of in months and had no idea you were in - that'll show me! :rolleyes:

Run your own mouth to Sinuhue. You're a big girl.

Well little sister run along to the mods like usual and while at it explain the direct personal attack you just made.

It's called facts, and I used it to show that I do indeed know what science says about the bacterial cell wall, and that I was not just pulling the existence of it out of my damned fine posterior. Yes. You set out with the aim of exhibiting what you know rather than what is known. Had the latter been your objective, you could have done much better.

Well little sister run along to the mods like usual and while at it explain the direct personal attack you just made.

Personal attack? Where? Assuming you're capable of acting as an adult is a personal attack with you?

Yes. You set out with the aim of exhibiting what you know rather than what is known. Had the latter been your objective, you could have done much better.

My motives are mine, and you speaking of such displays only your ignorance of them.

Personal attack? Where? Assuming you're capable of acting as an adult is a personal attack with you?

That's two now.

Ah, det är tack vare, och inte trots det, som jag är "rolig." Humor, min kära kamrat, är ibland det enda som håller en flytande.

Du kan nog ha en poäng där, enbart vitsiga människor har ju ioförsig en tendens att förr eller senare få slut på vitsigheten och visa sitt relativt banala inre... om man kan backa upp kvickheter med visdom så kan man både roa när man undervisar och vice versa... :)

As for now, I'll refrain from writing in swedish and continiue to make my (rather uneducated, atleast in this thread) voice heard in the native tongue of this forum hehe...

That's two now.

Wow, you really have no idea what a personal attack is.

Wait, did I insult your gender association by calling you a girl? Is that where this sensitivity comes from? I can call you a boy if you want. Don't let it be thought I'm genderist.

I don't mind the Swedish, but in general, you two just shut up. Please.

I don't mind the Swedish, but in general, you two just shut up. Please.

Me thinks this thread will soon be locked and Fass might be off for a while.

Du kan nog ha en poäng där, enbart vitsiga människor har ju ioförsig en tendens att förr eller senare få slut på vitsigheten och visa sitt relativt banala inre... om man kan backa upp kvickheter med visdom så kan man både roa när man undervisar och vice versa... :)

Poäng, poäng. En lussebulle till min herre (eller dam)! :)

I don't mind the Swedish, but in general, you two just shut up. Please.

I doubt Fass will take orders, but I'm a pussy so... :|

Poäng, poäng. En lussebulle till min herre (eller dam)! :)

Herre, och jag bjuder väl på glöggen då :)

Me thinks this thread will soon be locked and Fass might be off for a while.

Ah, so you were just attempting to bait me into breaking some rule so I'd get banned? Nice that you made your infraction known.

Herre, och jag bjuder väl på glöggen då :)
Oh God they're talking about me in da Svenska. Oh the agony!!!!!!! :(

Herre, och jag bjuder väl på glöggen då :)

Julmust hade varit att föredra, men en god systemetglögg säger man inte nej till. Man tackar, man tackar, istället :)

Oh God they're talking about me in da Svenska. Oh the agony!!!!!!! :(

Uh... actually... no, I just invited Fass over for some hot spiced wine, a swedish speciallity around christmas time.
I stand on the ringside of this fight, I don't doubt Fass can throw his/her own fists heh...

Oh God they're talking about me in da Svenska. Oh the agony!!!!!!! :(

He was complimenting me, I offered him a lussebulle for it, and he provided the glögg. You were mentioned nowhere.

Ah, so you were just attempting to bait me into breaking some rule so I'd get banned? Nice that you made your infraction known.

Nope, you took mere mention of the fact my bio instructor is a Rhodes Scholar while missing where I said I haven't studied bio in over 15 years so my knowledge is bound to be rusty and made it into an excuse to violate the rules of conduct.

He was complimenting me, I offered him a lussebulle for it, and he provided the glögg. You were mentioned nowhere.

Hmph!

Nope, you took mere mention of the fact my bio instructor is a Rhodes Scholar while missing where I said I haven't studied bio in over 15 years so my knowledge is bound to be rusty and made it into an excuse to violate the rules of conduct.

The only violations here I see is the bickering that might close this thread down, your gloating over my ban and now this admission that you were baiting me into the argument to get me rebanned. Report the thread all you want if you think I have wronged you, but, please, spare me your false innocence.

Me thinks this thread will soon be locked and Fass might be off for a while.

Why? As far as I can tell (granted, I can only read the English), Fass has done nothing wrong in this thread. Sure, he came off as being a little proud of his superior knowledge of biology, but then again, he was accused rather bluntly and rudely of having said something wrong, when he indeed had not.

You, on the other hand, seem to have been trying (unsuccesfully) to flamebait him into insulting you or something. Why exactly are you doing this?

Why? As far as I can tell (granted, I can only read the English), Fass has done nothing wrong in this thread. Sure, he came off as being a little proud of his superior knowledge of biology, but then again, he was accused rather bluntly and rudely of having said something wrong, when he indeed had not.

You, on the other hand, seem to have been trying (unsuccesfully) to flamebait him into insulting you or something. Why exactly are you doing this?

Me thinks you need to read back. He's the one that started getting all flamey... no pun intended.

I haven't successfully flamed him because it wasn't my aim except for one little remark made in response to his royal snottiness and it turned out to be the crime of the century.

Me thinks you need to read back. He's the one that started getting all flamey... no pun intended.

I haven't successfully flamed him because it wasn't my aim except for one little remark made in response to his royal snottiness and it turned out to be the crime of the century.

I didn't say you were trying to flame him. I said you seem to be trying to flamebait him. Many of your comments seem specifically designed to draw flames out of him. Thus far, the closest he has gotten is to point out that, Rhode Scholar bio prof or not, you were incorrect in your assertions.

fascinating though this pettiness is, I propose a return to Bacteria.

"Is sex with dead cells ever better than no sex at all?"

http://www.genetics.org/cgi/reprint/119/1/213.pdf

I didn't say you were trying to flame him. I said you seem to be trying to flamebait him. Many of your comments seem specifically designed to draw flames out of him. Thus far, the closest he has gotten is to point out that, Rhode Scholar bio prof or not, you were incorrect in your assertions.
That is where he started and what was meant to be ironic humour (AS WAS MY HOMOPHOBIC CRIME OF THE CENTURY POST) was as much directed at myself as anyone.