SINGLE-celled organisms are capable of altruism, says a German
microbiologist. He has found that individual yeast cells commit suicide so that
their starving neighbours can cannibalise their nutrients.
In multicellular animals, dangerously mutated or infected cells frequently
kill themselves for the greater good of the organism. When these cells die,
through programmed cell death or “apoptosis”, they are careful not to harm
nearby cells. The suicidal cells reduce themselves to neat packages of
membrane-bound detritus containing chopped-up pieces of DNA and other cell
components. This ensures that neighbouring cells aren’t exposed to damaging
enzymes.
In the case of single-celled organisms,…
