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DNA-CENTRIC THINKING. "Discoveries about viruses, most of which do not use DNA but rather RNA as a code script, also highlight the non-centrality of DNA-based code script for living agents." https://lnkd.in/eeiUHXC View in LinkedIn

GENES ARE A PART BUT NOT ALL. "Claims that the ‘book of life’ is written in the genetic programme of the genome are not embracing the whole complexity of living organisms. The concept of genes as a symbolic representation of an organism— a code script—is not the whole story." https://lnkd.in/eeiUHXC View in LinkedIn

FOR THE GREATER GOOD. "By killing itself, the host kills the parasite, thereby reducing the chances that the parasite will infect its kin. Suicidal behavior has been documented in pea aphids...infected with a braconid wasp...When given the opportunity, infected pea aphids are more likely to participate in risky behavior that leads to death by a predator than non-infected aphids. This behavior has been shown to decrease the risk of offspring infection." http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavior-altering_parasites_and_parasitoids View in LinkedIn

CAUSATION LOOPS. "The structural code reigns over the script code. In organisms, the upward (bottom-up) and downward (top-down) causations are inherently intertwined between numerous feedback interactions." https://lnkd.in/eeiUHXC View in LinkedIn

SELF-MEDICATION. "The consumption of natural substances that help an organism combat parasitic infection has been observed in a number of vertebrate and invertebrate species...anting behavior in birds refers to the act of rubbing crushed ants, plants, millipedes or other substances onto feathers and skin to exploit the anti-parasitic properties of these substances." http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavior-altering_parasites_and_parasitoids View in LinkedIn

CHROMOSOME CONTENT. "Proteins and RNAs determine a three-dimensional architecture of the chromatin complex of interphase chromosomes, which then controls DNA expression." https://lnkd.in/eeiUHXC View in LinkedIn

COOPERATION WITH THE PARASITE. "Infected hosts might apply a ‘mafia-like’ strategy where they cooperate with manipulative parasites instead of resisting them, thereby reducing fitness costs associated with manipulation (when cooperation is less costly than resistance)." https://lnkd.in/eMBtiKq View in LinkedIn

Attenborough urges UK to use Brexit to improve wildlife protections View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS two weekends on the parasite-host co-evolution. If evolution is the result of a broad and changing normal distribution curve driven by mutation and other factors, with selection at its edges for the best fit, then it gives credence to the axiom that a million monkeys with typewriters and Aeons of time could end up with a Shakespearean play. View in LinkedIn

CIRCADIAN CLOCK MIMICS. "Insect behaviour is controlled in a 24-h cycle by the circadian system, allowing the organism to respond to rhythmic environmental changes, related to for example light, temperature and food availability. Biernat et al. (2012) showed that a DNA repair protein (PHR2) encoded by the baculovirus Chrysodeixis chalcites nucleopolyhedrovirus can mimic the function of mammalian cryptochromes, essential regulators of the circadian clock." https://lnkd.in/e4DPgex View in LinkedIn