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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

GENE OWNERSHIP. "Where Dawkins talks of selfish genes, Noble talks of prisoner genes. Where Dawkins writes of genes: "They are in you and me; they created us, body and mind; and their preservation is the ultimate rationale for our existence", Noble writes: "They are in you and me; we are the system that allows their code to be read; and their preservation is totally dependent on the joy we experience in reproducing ourselves (our joy, not theirs!). We are the ultimate rationale for their existence." https://lnkd.in/eZTtZJ3 View in LinkedIn

GENE-CENTRIC INITIATOR. "Ever since Richard Dawkins published The Selfish Gene in 1976, the notion of genetic determinism - the idea that our lives are controlled by our genes - has become one of the central tenets of much scientific understanding." https://lnkd.in/eZTtZJ3 View in LinkedIn

FALSE SIMPLIFICATIONS. "We must recognize that cells possess a cybernetic capacity beyond our ability to imitate. Therefore, it should not surprise us when we discover extremely dense and interconnected control architectures at all levels. Simplifying assumptions about cell informatics can be more misleading than helpful in understanding the basic principles of biological function." https://lnkd.in/eFS9cuj View in LinkedIn

CELLULAR COMPLEXITY. "Depending upon the energy source and other circumstances, these indescribably complex entities can reproduce themselves with great reliability at times as short as 10–20 minutes. Each reproductive cell cycle involves literally hundreds of millions of biochemical and biomechanical events." http://www.thethirdwayofevolution.com/people/view/james-a-shapiro View in LinkedIn

UNLIKELY BUNDLES OF STUFF. "It is essential for scientists to keep in mind the astonishing reliability and complexity of living cells. Even the smallest cells contain millions of different molecules combined into an integrated set of densely packed and continuously changing macromolecular structures." http://www.thethirdwayofevolution.com/people/view/james-a-shapiro View in LinkedIn

GENOME VARIATION. "As we begin the second decade of the 21st century, accumulating empirical evidence has thus shifted the perspective on genome variation to that of an active inscription process changing the information passed on to future generations." http://www.thethirdwayofevolution.com/people/view/james-a-shapiro View in LinkedIn

ADVANCES IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. "In the past 60 years, since the structure of DNA was elucidated, molecular biologists have studied the basic mechanisms of long-term genome change. They have discovered a wide array of proofreading and damage repair biochemical systems that remove copying errors and correct DNA damage. At the same time, they have revealed an amazing and wholly unanticipated array of cellular and molecular systems that operate to generate genome variability, both temporary and structural." https://lnkd.in/eFS9cuj View in LinkedIn

THE MODERN SYNTHESIS. "Ever since the formulation of the neo-Darwinist Modern Synthesis evolutionary theory in the 1930s and 1940s, it has been an article of faith that hereditary variation results from stochastic copying errors and unavoidable damage to the genome. In this perspective, the genome is a “read-only memory” (ROM) data storage system passed on from one generation to the next." https://lnkd.in/eFS9cuj View in LinkedIn

CHARLES DARWIN singlehandedly elevated the prominence of the humble earthworm by his considerable powers of observation and experimentation over many decades. Since his publication on the sole subject of earthworms, serious study has been stimulated. A long-time favorite of mine. View in LinkedIn