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DISSOCIATION AT SCALE. "The relationship between genomic complexity and the complexity at various levels of the phenotype, from molecular to organismal, is far from being straightforward as it has become clear already in the pre-genomic era. Comparative genomics reinforced the complex relationships between the different levels of complexity in the most convincing manner by demonstrating the lack of a simple link between genomic and organismal complexities." https://lnkd.in/egqWFZp View in LinkedIn

ALIEN PERSPECTIVE. "If an alien landed on Earth and studied the biology here, it might justifiably conclude that viruses run the planet." Viruses or bacteria. https://lnkd.in/e9h9zTt View in LinkedIn

EQUAL PULL. "Simplification could be an “an equal partner to complexification” in the evolution of eukaryotes." Or perhaps greater than equal. https://lnkd.in/egqWFZp View in LinkedIn

THE REAL BOSS. The Nobel Prize-winning biologist Joshua Lederberg once wrote that the “single biggest threat to man’s continued dominance on this planet is the virus.” One perspective. Another is that they have helped our species in countless ways. https://lnkd.in/e--W3GC View in LinkedIn

GRAND SCHEME. "Quantitatively, the evolution of genomes appears to be dominated by reduction and simplification, punctuated by episodes of complexification." https://lnkd.in/egqWFZp View in LinkedIn

VIRUSES are ancient creatures in the Grey Zone are so simple they were not considered alive until recently. Traditionally, we have wrongly associated them only with diseases, which is actually a minor part of the picture. These remarkable creatures have played a key role in building the genomes of all life forms by their promiscuous RNA and DNA sharing, and shaping the geosphere. View in LinkedIn

MOLECULAR CLOCK. "Reconstructions of genome evolution in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes indicate that the loss of genes and introns typically occurs roughly proportionally to time, thus conforming with a form of genomic molecular clock." https://lnkd.in/egqWFZp View in LinkedIn

QUIZ. "What has a tiny shell, it's invisible to the naked eye, it affects the Earth's climate and causes cancer? It's a virus. Viruses kill half the bacteria in the ocean every day. And they invade a microbe host 10 trillion times a second around the world. Wow." https://lnkd.in/eWe4ADF View in LinkedIn

GENE AND INTRON REDUCTION. "The complex archaeal ancestor and the intron-rich ancestor of eukaryotes. In both cases, evolution in most of the lineages was apparently dominated by extensive loss of genes and introns, respectively." https://lnkd.in/egqWFZp View in LinkedIn

THE DEFENSE. "In an effort to prove the veracity of his discovery, Dr. Stanley redissolved and recrystallized his protein 15 times, after which point it still produced tobacco mosaic virus as powerful as the original sample. The chemical weight of the crystal substance — 17 million times greater than that of the heaviest known protein — gave Dr. Stanley the first clue as to the virus's inherent contradiction." https://lnkd.in/eSUZzUv View in LinkedIn