Month: September 2022

PERMANENT HITCHHIKERS. “After they have entered a cell, viruses become part of the genetic information of the host cell, and all of its progeny are forever changed.” https://lnkd.in/guhpmyR View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS the first weekend on the topic of the impact of viruses on the evolution of life. Still considered by many biologists to be just rough pieces of genetic material not worthy of inclusion in the tree of life, there are some who propose a very central role for viruses in the evolution of life. This seems to be a case of not seeing the wood for the trees, bogged down in details, or our mesmerized fixation on the pointing finger, rather than on what it points at. View in LinkedIn

HUMAN CONSEQUENCE? "What does this mean for our own lineage? The primate Y seems to be more stable than the rodent Y. But if it continues to degrade at the same rate, it will disappear in about 4.6 million years." https://lnkd.in/ehjz378 View in LinkedIn

ONGOING Y CHROMOSOME EVOLUTION. "Will it be replaced by some different gene and chromosome? And if so, will this unleash a new round of hominid speciation? We may have to wait another 4.6 million years to find out." https://lnkd.in/ehjz378 View in LinkedIn

OUTLIER CASE. "Some fungi have 13 different sexes and any two can reproduce together. This means that it might be possible for those sexes that don't reproduce often to evolve more slowly." https://lnkd.in/eaQgZwc View in LinkedIn

CRAYFISH CLONES. "Crayfish create a new species of female ‘superclones’. A genetic glitch allowed one female to begin cloning herself, and because these females are larger and more prolific, they started to take over. A new study argues that these clones constitute a new species—one where every individual is genetically identical." https://lnkd.in/epB74fM View in LinkedIn

CRAYFISH FINDING. "The all-female clones were first discovered in 1995 by German pet traders and quickly became a popular addition to home aquariums. Later, they escaped into the wild, where they have become a threat to native crayfish in several places, including Madagascar." https://lnkd.in/epB74fM View in LinkedIn

CRAYFISH THREE CHROMOSOMES. "Genetically, the clones—known as marbled crayfish because of their appearance —are similar to slough crayfish (Procambarus fallax), which are found in Florida and Georgia, except they have three sets of chromosomes instead of the typical two." https://lnkd.in/epB74fM View in LinkedIn

GENETIC DIVIDE. "In the new study, published this month on the bioRxiv preprint server, researchers show that the slough crayfish males can’t fertilize marbled crayfish eggs, a hallmark of a species split, and that the clones contain enough genetic differences to justify designating them a separate species." https://lnkd.in/epB74fM View in LinkedIn

CRAYFISH RAPID SPECIATION. "Generally, new species arise gradually over long periods of time, but the genetic studies indicate that in this case speciation was virtually instantaneous, something that happens in plants but is very rare in animals. And the marbled crayfish is the only one among its 14,000 crustacean relatives able to clone itself." https://lnkd.in/epB74fM View in LinkedIn