• Question: could we create a super mutant lice of bread, this came t omy attention after been told there are organisms within bread, this been the yeast, could we harness the power of this yeats and create the largest, most powerful sclice of bread that could develop a mind of it's own?

    Asked by Xx_Ronnie_Pickering_xX to Andy, Chris, Harriet, Nikki on 17 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Christopher Blanford

      Christopher Blanford answered on 17 Mar 2016:


      Hey Ronnie_P

      This cracks me up, because I saw “mutant lice bread”. You know, like the things that get in hair makes people itch.

      Short answer: probably not. Yeast can communicate a bit with each other by chemical signalling, but they’re not likely to develop a mind of their own. The best we get are things like slime moulds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slime_mold

      Chris

    • Photo: Harriet Reid

      Harriet Reid answered on 17 Mar 2016:


      Yeast is an amazing organism and we already use it in science to make all sorts of cool things for us. I’m not sure that yeast would be the easiest organism to start with if we wanted to make an new creature with a mind of it’s own though.

    • Photo: andy chapman

      andy chapman answered on 17 Mar 2016:


      I don’t know…I am worried. If the bread was left a very long time, exposed to radiation, maybe the bacteria and yeast could mutate and grow into a mutant slice of bread. Or even mutant lice bread.

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