: I have often wondered how the folk who model global warming and so on deal
: with this. How *do* they parametrise CO2 fluxes to and from e.g. the ocean
: when, as Mark says, 99-99.9% of the bugs don't plate out? Anyone know?
As with any model, it's only as good as the limited data it was built
upon (and the limited data used to verify it, if verification is even
done). Some of the classis blunders are using _E.coli_ results as
parameters for other microbial species. The global modelling is most
likely based on "bulk process" data, so its a conglomeration of ALL
sinks/sources of CO2 in a certain area.
: IMHO, the BIG question in (micro)biology generally is how the inside of the
: cell is organised - too much of our thinking and modelling is still such
: that the implicit view is the 'bag-of-enzymes', which it definitely aint.
I agree. (Micro)organisms are living, dynamic animals that cannot be
seen as simply a "black box" carrying out some process.
Mark
