Is the Salmonella design due for a revamp?
Salmonella’s impressive ability to survive in a hostile environment was a major factor that earned it the Intelligent Design Prize 1885. It has well-engineered counter-measures that cripple the defenses of the host’s innate and immune systems. Kitted out with DNA modules called Salmonella Pacification Islands, it fends off antibodies, neutrophils, macrophages, dendritic cells, T and B lymphocytes, and the deadly complement.
Salmonella also evades host defenses by sheltering within host cells(left panel). The host cytoplasm was thought to be a safe haven, a place where a beleaguered force could build up reserves and from which it could invade the circulatory system. But this space is now a contested area. Salmonella is being caught off guard and its panoply of membranes breached by a crude and asymmetric attack: soapiness.
When activated T-cells detect the presence of Salmonella they release Interferon gamma(INF- γ) which induces epithelial cells to express apolipoprotein L3 (APOL3), a detergent-like protein(right panel). A trap is set: after a guanosine triphosphate–hydrolyzing enzyme dissociates Salmonella’s outer membrane, APOL3 dissolves its inner membrane, splitting open the bacterium and destroying its operational effectiveness.
Although the Salmonella design is far from obsolete, this vulnerability indicates the need for a structural upgrade or retrofit
Contribution of Intelligently Designed Microbes
How effective are the designs operating in nature? Of the world’s body count of 56 million in 2001, almost one third (26.1%) can be directly attributed to the actions of intelligently designed microbes. And of course microbes often indirectly contribute to the category of poorly designed targets(such as cardiovascular disease and cancer) and less often to the category of self-injury.
However, microbes don’t achieve the same level of success in all countries. Below are body counts recorded in two countires, Australia and South Africa. The plots above show that microbes(blue) score highly among all age groups in South Africa, but eliminate only young targets in Australia. The plots below show that year in year out, offensive operations are far more successful in South Africa than in Australia.
This disparity is perplexing because the microbes employed in both countries share nearly identical design features. Perhaps Australia throws up more effective defenses, or African microbes are outfitted with more powerful virulence factors.
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