Category: Uncategorized

THE LESSER LONG-EARED TAXONOMIST. "Is it because taxonomists are so independently minded, headstrong, opinionated, long-eared, and quarrelsome they cannot agree on such an important definition?" Despite this, there have been numerous brave attempts to define a species. Only to quickly become outdated by new data. https://lnkd.in/exx_wqw View in LinkedIn

"HYBRIDIZATION in fungi has recently been recognized as a major force in the generation of new fungal plant pathogens. Hybridization also plays an important role in the transfer of genetic material between species." https://lnkd.in/eFwabbr View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE deals with the thorny issue of what is a species. It is a fundamental concept in evolution and biology. Yet it is far from a clear concept. Darwin, in Origin of the Species, carefully avoided defining it. And today, we know that genes are immensely mobile, sloshing around in a vast global genepool, and that evolution is not linear. To make matters infinitely worse, in 2010 synthetic life was created in the laboratory. Oh what a glorious mess! View in LinkedIn

"HYBRID ZONES are regions where individuals from genetically differentiated populations meet and mate, resulting in at least some offspring of mixed ancestry. Patterns of gene flow (introgression) in hybrid zones vary across the genome, allowing assessment of the role of individual genes or genome regions in reproductive isolation." https://lnkd.in/euQDjEc View in LinkedIn

LBS Healthcare Challenge winners. View in LinkedIn

"HYBRIDIZATION between species can lead to introgression of genes from one species to another, providing a potential mechanism for preserving and recombining key traits during evolution." https://lnkd.in/eaRt-9g View in LinkedIn

LBS Healthcare Challenge competition. View in LinkedIn

"MASSIVE GENE FLOW across the world's most potent marine biogeographic barrier." https://lnkd.in/eeMRa2M View in LinkedIn

HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSFER “is far more pervasive and more radical in its consequences than we could have guessed just a decade ago." Earlier this year, Cambridge (UK) scientists, Alistair Crisp and Chiara Boschetti, writing in Genome Biology, identified 145 genes in humans that have crossed the (quite permeable) species “barrier.” Our ABO blood group system appears to have been inherited from bacteria, for example." https://lnkd.in/eTmZGyK View in LinkedIn

TRANSPOSON PROBLEM. "There was a time—just a few decades ago—when scientists believed genes were fixed and evolution was linear. Standard theory of natural selection did not account for the possibility of complex organisms suddenly acquiring genes from other species. But that model began collapsing in the 1970s, when transposons, colloquially known as ‘jumping genes’ were discovered." https://lnkd.in/eTmZGyK View in LinkedIn