Timeline for Is it a forgone conclusion that any exo-bacteria discovered on an alien, albeit Earth-like planet will be deadly to human life?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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| Aug 8, 2016 at 17:41 | comment | added | JDługosz | «The[y] cannot excrete something they have not consumed from their environment» sure they can. They re-arrange the atoms, producing different substances from what they took in. A good example is fermentation. | |
| Aug 8, 2016 at 15:46 | comment | added | Dewi Morgan | @Leliel I think it holds whatever their biochemistry is, doesn't it? The cannot excrete something they have not consumed from their environment. The exception will be where they convert what's in our bodies into toxic metabolites. That feels unlikely enough that I see no foundation for Ghillie Dhu's assertion that they are "more likely" to be toxic. | |
| Aug 8, 2016 at 12:53 | history | edited | user3652621 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Aug 8, 2016 at 0:58 | comment | added | Leliel | @DewiMorgan assuming similar basic biochemistry, that holds. It's possible that alien life may be just that different. If their biochemistry is very different from ours, simple harmless wastes for them may be poisonous to us, and vice versa | |
| Aug 6, 2016 at 14:22 | history | edited | JDługosz | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Aug 6, 2016 at 14:09 | comment | added | Dewi Morgan | The waste products of all living things are toxic, in the sense that one of the purposes of the excretion is to dispose of toxins. However, the level of toxic molecules can't be significantly above what of their food would have with the water and nutrients removed (and with any metabolisable poisons metabolized), unless their metabolism explicitly converts the input from non-toxic to toxic. Deliberately making pioson in your own body is generally something to avoid, other than as a defense mechanism. | |
| Aug 5, 2016 at 23:20 | comment | added | Ghillie Dhu | The toxicity is an important point; independent of any biological interaction, the waste products of exobacteria may be more likely than not toxic. | |
| Aug 5, 2016 at 20:32 | history | answered | JDługosz | CC BY-SA 3.0 |