To Reproduce Giving birth has never been easy. Nature seems to have decided that whoever wants to procreate should put in an effort. Sometimes the process of birth, the physical separation from offspring, is so difficult that a mother needs a helping hand. And humans are not alone in this trait. An interdisciplinary research team at the Weizmann Institute has discovered that 'midwives' also play a role in the microscopic world of amoebas.
Amoebas are single-celled organisms that reproduce asexually.
Reproduction occurs when an amoeba doubles its genetic material, creates two nuclei, and starts to change in shape, forming a narrow 'waist' in its middle. This process usually continues until the final separation into two cells. However, Weizmann Institute scientists found that in one type of amoeba, this separation process stalls just before its completion. The two cells remain connected by a narrow tether, which they have difficulty in severing using the normal cleavage mechanism. In the first, the two cells, the 'mother' and the 'daughter,' tug at their connecting tether, stretching it until it breaks and each can start a life of its own.