- #1
ViktigLemma
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Hi,
I'm writing to you as a graduate applied math student who has taken a recent interest in biology and the modeling of all kinds of microbiological systems, something I plan on continuing with in my PhD. As such, I'm modeling biology without knowing as much about it as I should :P My question is this:
Assume a bacterial population where all the cells are identical except that some of them are over-expressing a little needed gene, or some of them are unable to make use of a certain sugar in their environment. Now, assuming a plentiful growth medium, by what mechanism will these bacteria with reduced fitness die out?
I imagine that they will clone themselves more slowly than the other bacteria, but even if a maximum population is reached, shouldn't they just keep multiplying, albeit more slowly?
Regards
ViktigLemma
I'm writing to you as a graduate applied math student who has taken a recent interest in biology and the modeling of all kinds of microbiological systems, something I plan on continuing with in my PhD. As such, I'm modeling biology without knowing as much about it as I should :P My question is this:
Assume a bacterial population where all the cells are identical except that some of them are over-expressing a little needed gene, or some of them are unable to make use of a certain sugar in their environment. Now, assuming a plentiful growth medium, by what mechanism will these bacteria with reduced fitness die out?
I imagine that they will clone themselves more slowly than the other bacteria, but even if a maximum population is reached, shouldn't they just keep multiplying, albeit more slowly?
Regards
ViktigLemma