Editorial

Organism's Adaptability to the Adverse Condition is Genetic or Epigenetic

Hirendra Nath Sarma
Editor-in-Chief
Email: hirendra.sarma@rgu.ac.in

The 21st Century has witnessed tremendous development of "Life's" adaptability, susceptibility, flexibility to the adverse condition in nature. While many organisms died, some survive in the adverse condition. The best example seen by the world community is the COVID 19. The scientists are aware of various such adverse condition of nature which is not favorable for life. Scientists forwarded possible genetic and epigenetic factors of organism which helps the later to survive in such adverse condition. However, a precise mechanism of survival to the adverse condition either environmental or physical to the organism is yet to be elucidated.

Recent development on research on genomics and proteomics using molecular biology tools has unfolded many undiscovered truth on organism's genetic set up and its adaptability to environment. The process of adaptability has been going on in various dimensions starting billions of years back when living cells appeared on the earth. It could have been either over looked or not understood by the philosophers till the other day. The human society has seen today the worst ever struggle against adverse physical, physiological and environmental situations many of which are yet to be illustrated. A small genetic element in the biological form of pandemic viral attack has done the unbelievable annihilation of lives in the beginning of 21st century civilization. Truth lies in the genes, the chemical terminology is the DNA which is live, flexible, adaptable to adverse condition for its existence. Organism's genetic set up is well defined today by its genomic DNA. It is fixed for a specific organism. The number of genes in the specific number of chromosomes in the organism; all has been determined by the scientist in the 21st century. The functions of each and every gene have been too well defined in organism including microbes. In such a well defined structure of Scientific evaluation, it is a question, how organism develop adaptability to adverse situation.

Microbes develop resistance to environmental condition as well as antibiotics application. New antibiotics need to be applied to control microbes over a period of time. While microbes' adaptability and resistance have been widely studied in various dimensions, higher order organisms' survivality and adaptability to adverse situations need to be elaborated. Does the adaptability of higher order organisms to adverse environmental situation is less than the microbes ?

The mechanism of higher order organism's adaptability to adverse environmental condition needs to be elucidated. In nature adaptability of many organisms in low oxygen, water, food and nutrients in cells, presence of toxic materials in surroundings is of common occurrence. Similar ways, life can survive in different adverse situation, like survival of aquatic organism in extreme draught, high temperature, cold as examples. There are umpteen examples of such life's adaptability to difficult situation either against physical or chemical changes of its surrounding environment. During the last century, the humanity has also seen the annihilation caused by atomic radiation and its effects during prenatal and post natal life. Few genetic changes has been reported by scientists in certain organism for this adaptability. However, a clear picture on the changed epigenetic factors or genetic modification as and when necessary with functional changes remains to be unfolded. Available molecular biological tools in modern biological science have unfolded number of chapters of genetic history of organism. However, deeper we go inside more to be find out on the organisms adaptability to nature in various conditions.

Hirendra Nath Sarma
Professor of Zoology, Rajiv Gandhi University
Arunachal Pradesh - 791 112, India
Phone : +91 94360 59038