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DIRECTIONAL INFORMATION FLOW. “The reductionist causal chain is then represented by upward-pointing arrows from genes upwards to proteins and RNA, to cells and tissues and ultimately the organism.” http://rsfs.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/2/1/55 View in LinkedIn

HIERARCHICAL THINKING. “In biological science, we are used to thinking in terms of a hierarchy of levels, with genes occupying the lowest level and the organism as a whole occupying the highest level of an individual. Protein and metabolic networks, intracellular organelles, cells, tissues, organs and systems are all represented as occupying various intermediate levels.” http://rsfs.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/2/1/55 View in LinkedIn

THE FIXED CENTER FALLS APART. “First, we removed the idea of privileged location (so the Earth is not the centre of the Universe), then that of absolute velocity (since only relative velocities can be observed), then that of acceleration (an accelerating body experiences a force indistinguishable from that of gravity, leading to the idea of curved space–time). Could biology be the next domain for application of the relativity principle?” http://rsfs.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/2/1/55 View in LinkedIn

WHERE THINGS START. “Have we reached the limits of applicability of the relativity principle? And could it have relevance to biology? By ‘relativity principle’ in this context, I mean distancing ourselves in our theories from specific absolute standpoints for which there can be no a priori justification.” http://rsfs.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/2/1/55 View in LinkedIn

CELL SPECIFICITY WITH SINGLE CODE. “Which proteins and RNAs are made when and where is not fully specified. This is why it is possible for the 200 or so different cell types in an organism such as the human to make those cell types using exactly the same genome. A heart cell is made using precisely the same genome in its nucleus as a bone cell, a liver cell, pancreatic cell, etc.” http://rsfs.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/2/1/55 View in LinkedIn

READ-ONLY VERSUS READ-WRITE. “But the genome is not a fixed program in the sense in which such a computer program was defined when Jacob and Monod introduced their idea of ‘le programme génétique’. It is rather a ‘read–write’ memory that can be organized in response to cellular and environmental signals.” http://rsfs.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/2/1/55 View in LinkedIn

SNUFF FECUNDITY. "In redback spiders, cannibalized males increase their paternity compared to non-cannibalized males, so it is thought that self-sacrifice evolved due to this reproductive advantage. The fitness benefit provided by this behavior raises intriguing possibilities." View in LinkedIn

ARACHNID SACRIFICE. "Male self-sacrifice”, or apparent male cooperation with female cannibalism, is part of male copulatory behavior in several spider species, and in some insects. One study also reported that males of the spider Argiope aurantia spontaneously die when they copulate." View in LinkedIn

SUICIDE BENEFITS GROUP. "Pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum) that are parasitized by the Braconid wasp Aphidius ervi drop from the host plant, causing their own death. These insects live in groups of close kin, and their death prevents their body from producing parasites that would then attack their siblings. Death therefore increases the individual’s inclusive fitness, or equivalently, increases the fitness of the kin group." View in LinkedIn

PRIMARY UNIT OF SELECTION. "A common theme in all the hypotheses discussed above is that the organism is the primary unit of selection." View in LinkedIn