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FRAGMENT FROM NATURE for this and next weekend is a meditation on the human face, and why the Mona Lisa smile has such cultural appeal. Anatomists are a rare and extraordinary group of scientists who ponder this apparently arcane subject and keep coming up with new observations, usually through comparative anatomy. Such is the case with the nuanced expressions of the human face. https://lnkd.in/dD5FBrY View in LinkedIn

CLONAL FISSION. “Prokaryotes, like multi-cellular eukaryotes, exhibit transmission genetics in receiving genes transmitted from a parental cell at the moment of cell division. Because this involves the simple replication of the existing genetic material, from the perspective of multi-cellular eukaryotes biology it would seem that prokaryotes should possess very little genetic variability.” https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0180-8 View in LinkedIn

MENDELIAN GENE FLOW. “Following the rediscovery of Mendel’s work, the study of these processes came to be known as transmission genetics, thereby linguistically capturing the implicit notion that, barring rare mutation, a new individual acquires new genetic material only through the active transmission of that material across generations (of individuals) via the cellular processes of meiosis, gametogenesis, and fertilization.” https://lnkd.in/ewnQ9Vg View in LinkedIn

VERTICAL INHERITANCE. “In classical multi-cellular eukaryotes biology, organisms acquire new hereditary material precisely once, when genetic material is transmitted from parent to progeny during the formation of the zygote. This produces a genetically novel cell that will form the clonal basis for the new Weismannian individual to come.” https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0180-8 View in LinkedIn

SUBTLE EXPRESSIONS. “Functioning of the modiolus is complex, as its position may change many times in a minute to allow the orbicularis oris muscle to take any position and do any movement as if it was inserted on bone. With its complex physiology, the modiolus is of critical importance in the subtle expressions of the lips and must be preserved or reconstructed when performing repair of full-thickness tissue defects of lips.” http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/10783511 View in LinkedIn

JAPANESE SEAWEED DIGESTION. “Humans in Japan possess gut microbiomes that are similar to those found in North Americans, where “similar” means “possessing the same species composition, as measured by rRNA analysis.” However, unlike North American gut microbiomes, Japanese gut microbiomes can digest seaweed because of genes acquired through horizontal gene transfer from a marine microbe ( Zobellia galactanivorans ) that provide porphyranases, agarases and associated proteins useful in the digestion of porphyran from marine red algae.” (Hugely important finding). https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0180-8 View in LinkedIn

CONVERGENCE. “Embryologically, muscles that form the modiolus derive from a cellular concentration in the region of the second branchial arch. It is then logical to see these muscles converge to the corner of the mouth to form the modiolus, as they emerge from a common area.” http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/10783511 View in LinkedIn

GUT MICROBIOME AND DIETARY EXCHANGES. “Also, horizontal gene transfer between dietary bacteria and gut microbes can lead to the acquisition of new dietary capabilities by their hosts without requiring a change in the “species” composition of the gut microbiome.” (Another biggie). https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0180-8 View in LinkedIn

ENDLESS OPPORTUNITY. “Prokaryotic acquisition genetics provides virtually unlimited opportunities for genetic variance.” https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0180-8 View in LinkedIn

UNIQUE NOVELTY. “Prokaryotes do not generate genetic variability through transmission genetics, but they acquire genetic novelty through acquisition genetics—the acquisition of genes directly from the environment via mechanisms not involving reproduction. Routine acquisition genetics, uncoupled from reproduction, simply does not occur among multi-cellular eukaryotes.” https://lnkd.in/ewnQ9Vg View in LinkedIn