Month: September 2022

LUIS P. VILLARREAL. "In the last decade metagenomic assessments have led us to realize that viruses are the dominate biological entities of the biosphere and are the most numerous, diverse and dynamic genetic agents on Earth. Although viruses have long been dismissed from the Tree of Life a simply destructive and selfish extra-genomic genetic parasites, comparative genomics now makes it clear that viral colonization distinguishes all domains of life." https://lnkd.in/enQH9Fn View in LinkedIn

LYNN MARGULIS. "Called "Science's Unruly Earth Mother", a "vindicated heretic", or a scientific "rebel", Margulis was a strong critic of neo-Darwinism. Her position sparked lifelong debate with leading neo-Darwinian biologists, including Richard Dawkins, George C. Williams, and John Maynard Smith." She was married to astronomer Carl Sagan. https://lnkd.in/et3gdfj View in LinkedIn

KEY FIRST DISTINCTION. "Natural genome editors differentiate between self and non-self. How did prebiotic chemistry start life?" https://lnkd.in/eg6uePF View in LinkedIn

CODES NEED ACTIVE AGENTS. "The variety of RNA agents that share the competence to act on nucleic acid sequences by several techniques (de novo generation, ligation/degradation, insertion/deletion, silencing, amplification, epigenetic markings, etc.) is coherent with the general assumption that no natural code codes itself but needs some competent agents that act on this code." https://lnkd.in/eg6uePF View in LinkedIn

GENOME EDITING IS IMPORTANT. "There is growing evidence that natural genome-editing competences of viruses are essential for the evolution of the eukaryotic nucleus, the adaptive immune system and the placental mammals." https://lnkd.in/e-pJFM6 View in LinkedIn

NO GRADUAL MUTATION. "I would certainly go along with the view that gradual mutation followed by selection has not, as a matter of fact, been demonstrated to be necessarily a cause of speciation." (Professor Denis Nobel). https://lnkd.in/eSeZ5Qq View in LinkedIn

RNA AGENTS AND VIRUSES. "It seems plausible now that if we look at the abundance of regulatory RNAs and persistent viruses in host genomes, we will find more and more evidence that the key players that edit the genetic codes of host genomes are consortia of RNA agents and viruses that drive evolutionary novelty and regulation of cellular processes in all steps of development." https://lnkd.in/eUYvi8e View in LinkedIn

OLD REDUCTIONISM. "For at least 4 decades, it was common use in molecular biology to investigate the physical chemical properties of nucleic acid sequence molecules. The essential assumptions were that natural laws determine statistical fluctuations in the molecular sequence order and errors in cellular genetic replications lead to variants in DNA sequences that are the object of selection processes." https://lnkd.in/eUYvi8e View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues from last weekend with the subject of carnivorous plants. Their genetics are interesting because they are quite different from other plants. Their electrophysiology opened the door to other similar studies in plants. The ultrasound aspects of these plants underscore the pure complex adaptation that plants are capable of. Curiosities of nature. View in LinkedIn

REPURPOSING OLD MACHINERY. "Many biologists suspect ancestors of carnivorous plants evolved by adapting mechanisms normally used to detect and defend against herbivores. Experiments showed that the flytrap digests its prey with the same kind digestive enzymes that other plants use to ward off insects. A few hours after catching prey, the flytrap turns on another set of familiar genes to absorb nutrients; many of these genes are expressed in the roots of other plants." https://lnkd.in/epbzadB View in LinkedIn