It’s possible that the lack of sufficient oxygen in the environment could have contributed to inhibiting single cell life to evolve into multi-cell organisms. There is something to be said for being a mufti-cell adaptation, speaking strictly from a non-biased position on the subject, of course.There does seem to be positive and negative views about flesh oriented collagen, it does have some drawbacks, like having to get it from cows, pigs and human cadavers.
I read an article on a new source of collagen that interested me, Tobacco, a vegetable or plant species could be more Collagen friendly source to the vegetarian, at least as a potential substitute for animal based Collagen. The article is in the Science Daily June 10, 2010, called Collagen Manufactured from Transgenic Tobacco Plants by Robert H. Smith a scientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100610104549.htm
There may be other factors that affected the change in types of nutrient requirements. Perhaps the loss of availability to their customary diet, or having Collagen introduced synthetically from an external source or maybe a combination of the two… or something else entirely.
It makes me wonder if nature had help or a hindrance to what was intended to evolve here.
You pose an interesting question in your remark: “It makes me wonder if nature had help or a hindrance to what was intended to evolve here.”
Certainly the introduction of collagen was a critical juncture for multicellular life on planet earth. Without collagen, there would be no multi-cell development. Collagen is the glue that holds us all together (“the force, Luke”). Without it, we’d all be some derivative of the paramecium instead of humans.
It’s an interesting substance, collagen, in that it appears to conform to instructions given it by DNA. How else would it “know” to bind two ear cells together instead of an ear and a mouth cell? I wonder if anyone has investigated this apparent “intelligence”.
It certainly seems to point in the direction of “intelligent design” – but the question remains: whose design?
I have a suspicion that Collagen is found in more ways than science has recently revealed. How did hydras form, without the introduction to meat proteins? There are so many multi-cell creatures that emerged in vegetation only environments. The introduction to meat or flesh consumption produced has many drawbacks as benefits. Perhaps the Collagen found in meat is different than what cells, at least of plants and plant eaters were exposed to. It would seem that earth has never been without intelligent intervention, for what we would call positive or negative influence.
Makes good sense to take care of our home, then, huh? You never know when you might lose it. For all we know Earth is the ONLY place where life as we know it exists in the universe. If that is so, we are PRECIOUS – but only to us because we’re all there is to appreciate it. But even if we are not alone in the universe, life is still precious and probably fairly rare.
I’m so in agreement with you about passing on a legacy of appreciation.
Thank you!