Borg DNA packages share more than name with a cybernetic hive-mind collective of the star trek frankness – like their namesake, they can assimilate genes, and according to a new study, this ability could be essential in the fight against climate change.
According to the study, the results of which were published in the peer-reviewed journal Naturethe Borg, present in certain microscopic organisms, may prove useful in ridding the Earth’s atmosphere of one of the most devastating greenhouse gases: methane.
And resistance is futile – to the potential benefits, that is.
Remove methane from the atmosphere: do it, number one!
Methane is arguably the most potent of all greenhouse gases, trapping 30 times more heat than carbon dioxide.
Methane is technically a natural chemical, released naturally through geological processes. In fact, Saturn’s moon Titan has entire oceans and rivers composed mostly of methane.
Methane can also be released by industrial activity, which is why so much methane is now found in the Earth’s atmosphere. In fact, it contributes nearly a third (30%) of all human-caused global warming.
How to get rid of methane?
Some organisms get rid of methane, especially Methanoperedens and other specific microbes. However, they are less common than other microbes, which use photosynthesis, fermentation, or oxygen instead.
Nevertheless, we know that these methane-consuming microbes can remove methane from the atmosphere. How, then, do they do it? What genes are at play here?
In trying to examine this, scientists have examined Methanoperedens and discovered different Borg inside of them.
Just like the Borg in star trek have never been given a proper or satisfactory origin, nor are scientists sure exactly where the real Borg came from, although there are theories, and they have undoubtedly been around for a very long time.
More research is needed to study Methanoperedens and Borg in labs, especially since not all microbes use them, but one likely option is that Borg are, in a sense, just containers, somehow storing certain genes until they are necessary.
Maybe it could be seasonal. After all, the concentration of methane is not constant – rather it varies throughout the year. Perhaps the Borg are only used when there is more methane in the atmosphere, helping the Methanoperedens break down more methane than they could otherwise handle.
There is a priority for that too. After all, plasmids perform a similar function, although instead of eating methane, the genes in question serve to resist toxins.
But either way, there are benefits to it.
Borg was first discovered by scientists in 2021. We know they somehow help Methanoperedens consume methane. And more importantly, we know how dangerous and harmful methane is to the atmosphere and the planet.
What if we could use it? For the star trek Borg, resistance may be futile, but on Earth, resistance may be counterproductive.
What if scientists could cultivate Methanopreredenes and Borg in the labs? What if we could use them to help remove methane from the atmosphere? What if we could find a way to see if the Borg can exist alongside other species?
These are not assumptions. These are rather questions that scientists ask themselves.
These Borg are nothing like the dangerous star trek Borg, although with how dangerous and disastrous climate change has become, perhaps some might choose to be likened to the fictional Borg. After all, with the severity of climate change at this point, humanity may not survive the 24th century to meet the space cybernetic collective anyway.
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