<div dir="ltr">Yeah, I mentioned bdelloid rotifers in my post. </div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, May 15, 2016 at 6:38 PM, John Clark <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:johnkclark@gmail.com" target="_blank">johnkclark@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_extra"><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"><div lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><br><br></b></span></p></div></blockquote><div> </div>Rafal Smigrodzki<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"> </div>Wrote:<div><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"> >…Is there a reason to expect that ems would have a male and a female gender? </blockquote><div><br></div><font size="4">Is there a reason<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"> to expect</div> that humans or any other multi cellular animal<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"> </div>would have a male and a female gender? <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">The embarrassing answer is "not that we know of". The existence of sex is one of the biggest mysteries in Evolutionary Biology. And in fact there are a group of animals called "</div>Bdelloidea<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">" that have been around for at least 40 million years and they have no males, only females. </div>Bdelloidea<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"> are </div><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"></span>multi cellular<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"> and big enough to be seen if you have good eyes but have no sex. </div></font></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"><br></div></div><font size="4">Some textbooks say there are 450 different species Bdelloidea<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"> </div>but that's misleading, a species is a group that can interbred but Bdelloidea<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"> </div>engage in no breeding; so really there are 450 types of <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"> </div>Bdelloidea<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"> </div>that look different from each other, but "species" is a meaningless concept for them.</font></div><div class="gmail_extra"><font size="4"><br></font><div class="gmail_quote"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"><font size="4"> John K Clark</font></div></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div><br></div><div lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><span><font color="#888888"><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p></font></span></div></div></div></div>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">Rafal Smigrodzki, MD-PhD<br>Senior Scientist,<br>Gencia Corporation<br>706 B Forest St.<br><br>Charlottesville, VA 22903<br><br>tel: (434) 295-4800<br><br>fax: (434) 295-4951<br><br> <br><br>This electronic message transmission contains information from the biotechnology firm of Gencia Corporation which may be confidential or privileged. The information is intended to be for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. If you have received this electronic transmission in error, please notify us by telephone (434-295-4800) or by electronic mail (<a href="mailto:fportell@genciabiotech.com" target="_blank">fportell@genciabiotech.com</a>) immediately.<br></div>
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