h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

During a discussion with a few friends (there are worse topics than amoebas to share around a few beers...), one of us suggested that, because of the way they reproduce, these single-cell organism really live forever...

The idea was that assuming the reproduction of amoeba 'A' gives two identical amoebas, 'A' and... 'A', then 'A' never actually dies until the day when the whole species goes extinct...

Would the author of this article, or any distinguished member of the science/philosophy community of H2G2, care to confirm?

Whether the amoeba is aware of its extraordinary longevity is another matter alltogether...

C.L.

Yes that's pretty true (and perceptive ) although there will be random mutation going on at each cell division and so the genes will slowly change anyway.


Cell immortality (assuming a continuing supply of resources - nothing is immortal in the absence of food or water) is an important thing in cell biology. Cells replicating forever in our bodies is commonly known as cancer after all.