# Natural life expectancy of a bacterium ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 21, 2002, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-life-expectancy-of-a-bacterium/124869 "2002-08-21T05:01:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-life-expectancy-of-a-bacterium/124869/1 "2002-08-21T05:01:26Z")
The reason I ask, is because in the past there has been speculation that aging of life forms could be the result of a “death” gene. If the bacterium itself has a built in limited life span, then that gene might be more easily isolated if it existed at all. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-life-expectancy-of-a-bacterium/124869/2 "2002-08-21T05:05:03Z")
in ideal conditions, 20 minutes before division, for E. coli, IIRC. let me citequest…[BAM!](http://www.cellsalive.com/ecoli.htm) ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-life-expectancy-of-a-bacterium/124869/3 "2002-08-21T12:51:30Z")
THe problem indirectly pointed out by Tars T is that they will divide - so now you have 2 - Is the 1st one dead? or is it now 2? or is one the original and the 2nd a copy? ---
**Author:** ![bryanmcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@bryanmcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryanmcc)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-life-expectancy-of-a-bacterium/124869/4 "2002-08-21T13:20:04Z")
Forever. All bacteria are about 3.5 billion years old, give or take a few hundred million. -b ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-life-expectancy-of-a-bacterium/124869/5 "2002-08-21T13:20:29Z")
The problem with your supposed death gene is that an organism that had a damaged or deactivated copy would have a tremendous reproductive advantage over its kin. So the gene would quickly be eliminated. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-life-expectancy-of-a-bacterium/124869/6 "2002-08-21T14:24:46Z")
Bacteria can die without undergoing binary fission, but they’re just as likely to form spores, or go into some other dormant state while waiting for conditions to improve. That makes their “death” difficult to study, as you must be sure that they aren’t just faking it. I think the word you’re looking for is [Apoptosis](http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/A/Apoptosis.html), the process by which cells commit suicide. As usual, google has far more on apoptosis, if you’re interested. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-life-expectancy-of-a-bacterium/124869/7 "2002-08-21T15:25:44Z")
> [@](#): > > The problem with your supposed death gene is that an organism that had a damaged or deactivated copy would have a tremendous reproductive advantage over its kin. So the gene would quickly be eliminated. Not necessarily a tremendous advantage. Given that the orgaism will die anyway (disease, predator, drought, whatever…), I’m not convinced the lack of such an hypothetical gene would add much to the organism’s lifespan. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2002, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-life-expectancy-of-a-bacterium/124869/8 "2002-08-21T18:00:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by k2dave \* > \*\*THe problem indirectly pointed out by Tars T is that they will divide - so now you have 2 - Is the 1st one dead? or is it now 2? or is one the original and the 2nd a copy? \*\* They are both children of the parent that divided. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2002, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natural-life-expectancy-of-a-bacterium/124869/9 "2002-08-22T10:23:25Z")
The original one isn’t dead _per se_. Having ring shaped DNA means it can live forever.