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HEY WHATS UP GUYS IM ALEX FARNHAM AND THIS IS ANIMALIST KNOWS.
SO THERE ARE SOME THINGS IN LIFE THAT WE JUST KNOW AS BEING DIFFERENT. PLANTS AND ANIMALS
ARE TWO THINGS THAT SHARE SIMILARITIES, BUT AREN’T EASILY MISTAKEN FOR ONE ANOTHER.
BUT WHAT IF THERE WAS A CREATURE THAT COULD BRIDGE THE GAP?
NEW GENETIC STUDIES HAVE FOUND THAT SEA ANEMONES ARE TECHNICALLY HALF PLANT, AND HALF ANIMAL.
(HEAD EXPLOSION IN SLOW MOTION SOUND/ ACTION) ALTHOUGH ALL ANIMALS, INCLUDING HUMANS, ARE
DISTANTLY RELATED TO PLANTS, CNIDARIANS (WHICH INCLUDE SEA ANEMONES, CORALS,
AND JELLYFISH) APPEAR TO HAVE KEPT MANY OF THEIR ANCESTRAL TRAITS.
IN FACT, THEY USE A PLANT LIKE SYSTEM TO CONTROL ANIMAL GENES. RESEARCHERS FOUND THIS BY LOOKING
AT THE SEA ANEMONES GENE EXPRESSION. BY EXAMINING THE TWO MAIN PROCESSES OF GENE
EXPRESSION, TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION, SCIENTISTS FOUND THAT THE SEA ANEMONES TRANSCRIPTION
IS LIKE THAT OF OTHER ANIMALS, WHILE THEIR TRANSLATION IS SIMILAR TO A PLANTS.
SO BASICALLY, SINCE WE ARE RELATED TO SEA ANEMONES, WE MAY HAVE ALSO SHARED A SIMILAR
PLANT LIKE ATTRIBUTES MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO BUT I GUESS WE LOST LOST THESE GENETIC TRAITS,
OR JUST COMPLETELY CHANGED THEM OVER TIME.
NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD BE COMPARING MYSELF TO A SEA ANEMONE, OR A PLANT…
BUT HEY, THIS IS WHY I LOVE MY JOB! LEARN STUFF LIKE THIS EVERY DAY!
IF YOU COULD BE ANY TYPE OF PLANT/ANIMAL COMBINATION, WHAT WOULD YOU BE? THINK UP SOMETHING WEIRD
AND LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!