[TML] Alien ecologies

[Jerry W Barrington]

On 8/21/08 12:46 AM, "shadow at shadowgard.com" <shadow at shadowgard.com> wrote:

> The oddity is yet another proof that evolution tends to find *local*
> maxima in efficiency.
> 
> Cholorophyll evolved early and is "better" than the other such
> chemicals that had evolved. There may be better possibilities, but
> you can't get there from any of the alreadsy evolved pigments without
> going thru intermediates that don't work worth a damn.

Oh, absolutely.  Of course, that leaves an interesting opening for genetic
engineers.  *If* they could figure how to code for a different
chlorophyll-analogue and splice that into a plant, they could produce a more
efficient carrot.  Or whatever.