Category: Uncategorized

OPTION #2. "The commonly accepted alternative is Neo-Darwinism, which is clearly naturalistic science but ignores much contemporary molecular evidence and invokes a set of unsupported assumptions about the accidental nature of hereditary variation." https://lnkd.in/eWQrjgq View in LinkedIn

CELL CYCLE CHECKPOINTS. "There are checkpoints for numerous aspects of cell reproduction: nutrition, DNA replication, telomere capping, DNA damage, cell growth and size, chromosome alignment on the mitotic spindle, and spindle orientation. Clearly, keeping all the different processes needed for the cell cycle in proper order and ensuring their completion without damage involves constant short-term reading and writing on the genome." http://www.thethirdwayofevolution.com/people/view/james-a-shapiro View in LinkedIn

OPTION #1. "The vast majority of people believe that there are only two alternative ways to explain the origins of biological diversity. One way is Creationism that depends upon intervention by a divine Creator. That is clearly unscientific because it brings an arbitrary supernatural force into the evolution process." https://lnkd.in/eWQrjgq View in LinkedIn

CELL CYCLE CHECKPOINTS. "There are checkpoints for numerous aspects of cell reproduction: nutrition, DNA replication, telomere capping, DNA damage, cell growth and size, chromosome alignment on the mitotic spindle, and spindle orientation. Clearly, keeping all the different processes needed for the cell cycle in proper order and ensuring their completion without damage involves constant short-term reading and writing on the genome." http://www.thethirdwayofevolution.com/people/view/james-a-shapiro View in LinkedIn

SADLY, science is riddled with both old and new examples of innovative --heretical -- ideas that evoked an often vicious outcry from fellow scientists. Think: prions (Stanley Prusiner); think: jumping genes (Barbara McKlintock; think: synthetic life (Craig Venter). Paradigm shifts appear to be as painful today as they were for Copernicus, Kepler and Darwin. But Thomas Kuhn convincingly tells us that scientific progress is a discontinuous and often painful process. https://lnkd.in/et98Sus View in LinkedIn

JUNK DNA IS NOT JUNK. "As we are learning from the ENCODE project data, the vast majority of genomic DNA, including many so-called “non-coding” (nc) segments, participate in biologically specific molecular interactions." An old but important theme. http://www.thethirdwayofevolution.com/people/view/james-a-shapiro View in LinkedIn

IN THE LAST 50 YEARS, we have learned an enormous amount about molecular genetics. Much of what we now know deepens our understanding of the process of evolution. However, synthesizing this vast body of information from numerous silos into a coherent whole is a daunting task. Fortunately, some brave souls have undertaken this task. And by leaving the safety of their foxholes, have become a target of attacks from many sides. View in LinkedIn

SIMPLIFICATIONS. "Two dangerous oversimplifications have been (i) to consider the genome as a mere physical carrier of hypothetical units called “genes” that determine particular cell or organismal traits, and (ii) to think of the genome as a digitally encoded Read-Only Turing tape that feeds instructions to the rest of the cell about individual characters." http://www.thethirdwayofevolution.com/people/view/james-a-shapiro View in LinkedIn

CORE VERSUS PLASTIC GENES. "The conserved core genes show either strong (e.g., myoviruses) or moderate (e.g., siphoviruses) vertical evolution, depending upon the phage family in question. The plastic regions of phage genomes show rampant horizontal gene transfer, accumulating and shuffling cellular and phage genes/ORFs alike, seemingly only limited by the physical constraint of the size of the genome that can be encapsidated." (ORF = Open Reading Frame). http://gbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/2/140.full View in LinkedIn

EARTHWORMS AND PLANT GROWTH. "5 possible pathways through which earthworm can positively affect plant growth: (i) biocontrol of pests and diseases; (ii) stimulation of microbial plant symbionts; (iii) production of plant-growth regulating substances; (iv) soil structure changes; and (v) increased nutrient availability." https://lnkd.in/eBujjqy View in LinkedIn