Living things are composed of cells. It is the basic unit of life. There are two types of cells: eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Eukaryotes are generally multicellular that usually differentiate to form tissues while prokaryotes are unicellular. Inside, both type of cells are different from each other. To compare the two, we can make the analogy that eukaryotic cells are similar to a CEO’s office while prokaryotic cells are like cubicles in an office. In a CEO’s office you may find a variety of equipment while in a cubicle at the corner of an office you’d only find basic stuff. Due to eukaryotes operating in groups, they require lots sophisticated machinery in order to operate properly with fellow cells in contrast to prokaryotes which are “lone wolfs” they only need the most basic commodities in order to live. Organelle wise, in today’s societies everything is revolves around computers. They connect people in order to communicate properly. Similarly, our cell membranes contain receptors that allows us to communicate properly with other cells. In the big picture, computers have way more functions than just merely communications but what I’m trying to relate is the aspect that most companies if not all utilize computers for their networking capabilities and transfer processed data quickly to a delegated worker.
For animals to undergo photosynthesis, primarily the greatest benefit their cells will have is the ability to produce their own food. Especially today where our technology leaves a giant carbon footprint in where we live, we can literally make ourselves grow out of thin air, sunlight, water and essential nutrients: nitrogen and sulfur (Cook, 2013). By today’s standards I don’t we’d be able to engineer animals to have chloroplasts. An article from BBC by Yong (2012) tackled this subject. He interviewed a researchers and their opinions regarding the matter. One tried to insert photosynthetic bacteria to act as smybionts in zebra fish, but nothing happened. A biochemist from the University of Cambridge said there was a catch with Elysia sp. (sea slug) taking in chloroplasts: in their genome, scientists found an algal gene. This would make sense since similar to that of getting a car, you’d need proper equipment and knowledge to properly maintain it (cells don’t have the liberty of going to a car shop). Animal cells would need the proper DNA in order to express the proper proteins a chloroplast would use. It would require large scale genetic engineering which is not possible in today’s standards and even if in the future it would be possible, it would raise questions regarding human ethics.
Sources:
Cook, B. (2013, April 9). The important role of photosynthesis. Retrieved November 21, 2014, from http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/the_important_role_of_photosynthesis
The Inside Story of Cell Communication. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2014, from http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/cells/insidestory/
Yong, E. (2012, September 7). Will we ever photosynthesise like plants? Retrieved November 21, 2014, from http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120906-will-humans-ever-photosynthesise
