I received an email from the HHMI Ask a Scientist website today. This is the message that was contained in the email:
Danita, thank you for submitting the following question to the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Ask a Scientist website:
If the definition of a cell is changed to mean anything that has its own DNA, what other entities that are not considered to be alive would be placed in the "alive" category?
Here is a response provided by one of our volunteer scientists:
I can only think of viruses. DNA is retained to some degree in fossils, amber-embedded insects, and so on.
We welcome feedback from you about this answer to your question and
appreciate your interest in Ask a Scientist.
Ask a Scientist Coordinator
So, apparently, there was no great international debate regarding my question. It must have just been a backlog.
Again, it is a great website. When I share it with my students, I'll be able to share my experience, and remind my middle school students to remain patient as they wait for a response.
I actually got a chance to use the website in my class this week. As a class we pulled up the site and posted our question. Although we haven't heard back yet, students seemed excited to read the other questions and post their own.
ReplyDelete