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HUMAN JUMPING GENES (or transposons or "junk DNA") make up a whopping 50% of the human genome and a blistering 90% of maize genomes. Some are silenced and some are pathogenic, but the genetic diversity created is an evolutionary driver. At least in some species, the jumping gene vectors may be parasites and viruses. " " http://lnkd.in/GEpmJN View in LinkedIn

LATERAL GENE TRANSFER generated evolutionarily important fungal antibiotic defense chemicals across 100 species. "Horizpntal transfer of gene clusters may have been a big player not only in the evolution of bacteria but also in more complex organisms. Our discovery that one of the largest gene clusters responsible for making such a poison moved intact between species suggests that horizontal transfers of wholesale pathways may have contributed significantly to the generation of diversity."" " http://lnkd.in/kPywUH View in LinkedIn

LIFE AS A GENETIC MOSAIC not a tree. "The discovery that a large cluster of genes appears to have jumped directly from one species of fungus to another significantly strengthens the argument that a different metaphor (from the tree of life) such as a mosaic, may be more appropriate. Because most people didn't believe that such large gene clusters could be transferred horizontally, they haven't looked for them and they haven't been found."" " http://lnkd.in/kPywUH View in LinkedIn

PLANTS AND ANIMALS ARE HYBRIDS, and have been so for millennia. "When two completely different organisms merge to form something new, this is called symbiogenesis. For many years, this was considered a heretical idea in biology, until (it was) discovered that mitochondria in animals and chloroplasts in plants were both originally symbiotic bacteria that had been incorporated into the larger organisms as organelles."" " http://suite101.com/article/horizontal-gene-transfer-and-symbiogenesis-a165326 View in LinkedIn

VECTORS can propagate jumping genes. "The lateral transfer of genetic information across species is common in bacteria, but rare among vertebrates—or so scientists believed. Now, researchers have demonstrated that a particular DNA sequence has likely jumped several times between the genomes of reptiles, marsupials, and mammals." The vector may be a tick that allows promiscuous genes to cross species barriers. " " http://lnkd.in/YRfXK8 View in LinkedIn

HUMAN GENOME is 50% jumping genes. "Retrotransposons (jumping genes) are traveling bits of DNA that replicate by copying and pasting themselves at new locations in the genome. Having duplicated themselves and accumulated over evolutionary history, transposable elements now make up about half of the human genome."" " http://lnkd.in/uw5mTk View in LinkedIn

THE FUNDAMENTAL UNIT OF LIFE? For Darwinians, it is the species. For Selfish Gene followers it is the dazzling gene. For collective consciousnessistas, the meta-species. For old-fashioned biologists, it is the cell. Viruses and jumping transposons are parasitic genetic elements who need a host cell machinery to reproduce, but whose seemingly lifeless animation confounds us. In the end, all these driving units may not be mutually exclusive but yet another Darwinian layer, driven by the burning need for endless propagation of another brilliantly innovative life form. View in LinkedIn

SELFISH GENE VS DARWINISM. "The gene-centered view of evolution, gene selection theory, or selfish gene theory holds that adaptive evolution occurs through the differential survival of competing genes, increasing the frequency of those alleles whose phenotypic effects successfully promote their own propagation, with gene defined as "not just one single physical bit of DNA but all replicas of a particular bit of DNA distributed throughout the world." (Wikipedia). View in LinkedIn

NATURE has an insatiable appetite for genetic diversity and has devised a seemingly endless number of mechanisms to achieve this goal. New genes, new genetic elements, that can be recombined in organisms, tested by environmental stresses to find new successful attributes to succeed as a species, is the name of the game according to Darwinians. View in LinkedIn

INTERSPECIES CHIMERAS have been made by nature at least since the mitochondrion and chloroplast took over plant and animal cells and through extensive lateral gene transfer in many species. This has been called by some a significant driving force in billions of years of evolution -- the creation of genetic hybrids between different species. View in LinkedIn