Category: Uncategorized

TRADITIONAL SYNTHESIS. “To do this, all of the cells must cooperate with each other in a highly controlled and regulated manner, in turn requiring an extremely stable, shared and identical (nearly) genome. Ultimately, in multi-cellular eukaryotes all somatic cells live or die together as a single individual entity. In the modern synthesis, the differential survival of somatic-cell individuals and their genetically identical germ-line payloads is the driving mechanism of evolution.” https://lnkd.in/ewnQ9Vg View in LinkedIn

VERTICAL INHERITANCE. “Meaningful transfer of genetic information occurs—and only occurs—in a linear pattern from parent to progeny. This, again, is an assumption that only applies to multi-cellular eukaryotes.” https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0180-8 View in LinkedIn

TRADITIONAL VIEW: “The cells of these individuals undergo differentiation into germ-line cells (ultimately gametes) and somatic cells—a “body” of tissues and organs to protect and nurture the germ line, at least until reproduction.” https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0180-8 View in LinkedIn

CLASSICAL SPECIES CONCEPT. “In classical biology, individuals are seen to co-exist in local groups called populations and the set of all populations containing members capable of interbreeding is defined as a species by Mayr’s biological species concept (BSC).” https://lnkd.in/ewnQ9Vg View in LinkedIn

TRADITIONAL VIEW: “ a multi-cellular eukaryote individual was seen as a physically coherent aggregation of cells, all clonally derived from a single cell and all receiving its DNA only from its immediate ancestor(s). The cells of these individuals undergo differentiation into germ-line cells (ultimately gametes) and somatic cells—a “body” of tissues and organs to protect and nurture the germ line, at least until reproduction.” https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0180-8 View in LinkedIn

THE MEASURE OF BIODIVERSITY. “Incommensurate species concepts do matter, because (a) biodiversity is a field that depends on the ability to compare and integrate biodiversity data across myriad systems—indeed, across the entire biosphere, and (b) species are the currency with which biodiversity is measured.” https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0180-8 View in LinkedIn

TRADITIONAL VIEW: “ a multi-cellular eukaryote individual was seen as a physically coherent aggregation of cells, all clonally derived from a single cell and all receiving its DNA only from its immediate ancestor(s). " "“ https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0180-8 View in LinkedIn

TRADITIONAL VIEW: “ a multi-cellular eukaryote individual was seen as a physically coherent aggregation of cells, all clonally derived from a single cell and all receiving its DNA only from its immediate ancestor(s). The cells of these individuals undergo differentiation into germ-line cells (ultimately gametes) and somatic cells—a “body” of tissues and organs to protect and nurture the germ line, at least until reproduction.” https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0180-8 View in LinkedIn

FALSE TREES. “Rampant horizontal gene flow among prokaryotes falsifies the tenet that the evolutionary history of all organisms—and their genes—can be reflected unambiguously by a single, tree-like pattern. It is important to remember that Pace’s universal tree is a tree of small subunit rRNA genes, not a tree of life.” https://lnkd.in/ewnQ9Vg View in LinkedIn

NO INDIVIDUAL, NO TREE. “As fundamental units of evolution, individual organisms are held to be evolutionarily related within species and higher clades that, in turn, compose a single-rooted tree of life. But genomics, particularly the metagenomics of biological dark matter, reveals these truths to be, again, useful approximations restricted to the multi-cellular eukaryote realm. In fact, just as there are no “completely objective” individuals, there is no one true tree of all of life on Earth.” https://lnkd.in/ewnQ9Vg View in LinkedIn