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Ausoge t1_j312jgd wrote

Reply to comment by abalawadhi in How does dish soap eliminate bacteria? by [deleted]

Honestly, I don't know - evolution is capable of producing some pretty incredible results - but I doubt it. It would require cells to either use something other than lipids to form their outer membrane, or to reinforce the layer to the point that the attractive molecular forces cannot break it. Such an adaptation would so fundamentally change the way cells currently operate, that any drift in that direction would probably be incompatible with life.

A suitable analogy might be to ask if vertebrates could evolve to be totally immune to fire. Like yeah, maybe, but the required physiological changes would be totally incompatible with life as we know it.

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alvysinger0412 t1_j31ppqm wrote

Its hard to imagine in between steps of evolution towards "detergent resistance/immunity" that would be selectively advantageous. Is that kinda what you're getting at?

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mad_method_man t1_j32feis wrote

there may not even be too much of an in-between step to begin with. whether it is baby steps or a leap, it is both difficult to imagine

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SoftBaconWarmBacon t1_j32th5o wrote

The habitat that requires this kind of resistance is the sewage system, I wonder how many generations of human are required to contribute to their evolution

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