Genome complexity: new review of epigenetics studies (Introduction)

by David Turell , Tuesday, May 02, 2017, 17:58 (2551 days ago) @ dhw

dhw: It’s not often that I agree with your comments, but we can shake hands on this one. Although we can’t always draw a clear line between adaptation and innovation (I’m thinking of the transition from water to land), it is misleading to say that these relatively minor adaptations prove how fast evolution can work when the mystery is innovation, which nobody has observed. My own hypothesis of (possibly God-given) inventive intelligence allows for saltation. Your final question of course refers to your theory that humans are the end point. My answer is that I do not for one second believe that the world will be the same in a million, let alone a billion years’ time, and if the end point (prior to the disappearance of Planet Earth) proves to be bacteria, that will also be part of the evolutionary process.

Humans are now doing more than watchi.ng evolution. We are doing active genetic engineering. Will the natural process continue under this kind of assault?

https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/benefits-and-dangers-in-altering-our-evolutionary-tr...

"The paper’s lead author, Ary Hoffman of the University of Melbourne’s Bio21 Institute, says the technology “has enormous potential to control disease, increase agricultural productivity and to improve quality of life, particularly for those living in developing countries”.

"It’s a powerful technology, with the capacity to alter the evolutionary trajectory of species and to warp the web of ecological relations in an unprecedented way.

"With that power comes risk and uncertainty. As the report notes, “no synthetic gene drives have yet been released into wild populations,” so much remains untested.

"The authors nonetheless express confidence the benefits outweigh the risks and have called for further research to be conducted in highly secure laboratories. Multiple containment, reversal and vaccination methods have been devised in the event of an uncontrolled release into wild populations.

"Importantly, any future decisions on release of gene drives would be carried out on a case-by-case basis, taking into account environmental, ecological and evolutionary concerns.

"The academy seems to be taking a cautious approach to getting it right.
As its president, Andrew Holmes, has said, “once gene drives are released into wild populations in other countries, they will inevitably reach Australia”.

"One way or another, genes drives will be reality soon, and we best be prepared."

Comment: The best laid plans of man can and will go awry.