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Consider the following dilemma: You turn up for an exam, having no prior knowledge of the subject. You are handed one of two opportunities: You can get your answers either from an expert, but in a completely different language from yours or, alternatively, from someone who has only passable knowledge, but shares your language. Which would you choose?
Bacteria were put to a similar test in the lab of Prof. Yitzhak Pilpel of the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Molecular Genetics Department. He, Dr.OrnaDahan and other members of his lab team asked: When bacteria take on foreign genes, how does this affect their chances of survival, and do the bacteria prefer to take these genes from species that “speak” their language?