David's theory of evolution: James A. Shapiro's view (Evolution)

by David Turell , Monday, January 27, 2020, 18:23 (1760 days ago) @ dhw

QUOTE: “This is a radical departure from development as a preprogrammed set of rules that run like clockwork…"

DAVID: We know organisms reproduce exact copies unless there are major mutations. It may look chaotic in the new discoveries because it surprises the Darwinian folks, and yet really be preprogrammed to a large degree.[…]

dhw: It is the small degree that interests me. For instance, how did the systems originate in the first place (you say preprogrammed or dabbled by God, Shapiro says “natural genetic engineering”), and how do they put themselves right when the smooth automaticity goes wrong? God reprogrammes or dabbles them again, or autonomous intelligence again comes into play?

DAVID: Obvious: The germ cells may have some epigenetic ability to make minor modifications as necessary.

dhw: If this is an answer to my question, then the cells have the autonomous ability to correct any errors, i.e. to reorganize themselves, and so it is not unreasonable to suggest that they may also have the autonomous ability to organize themselves into new structures. Not proven – just a theory. If your statement is not an answer to my question, then please answer my question.

Your answer to my answer presents your Shapiro theory. We still have no proof the germ cells, themselves, can do this, but that is where the changes in DNA must occur.

Under “early embryology” and “cellular motors”:

QUOTES with David’s bolds: "teneurin and its partner proteins are known to establish these important cell contacts in the brain. Teneurin is also an evolutionary very old protein, with related proteins found in diverse organisms ranging from bacteria to worms, fruit flies and vertebrates. However, the role of these proteins during brain development, when neurons are not yet forming synapses, remained unknown.

"The same proteins thus lead to completely different reactions—depending on their location on the cell,"

DAVID: Note my bold. The proteins have different reactions depending upon their positions. That reeks of a special design function for these protein molecules. Not by chance but certainly by God's design. The ancient role of teneurin is not surprising, as the process of evolution, as designed, builds upon the past developments.

dhw: Isn’t it interesting that these different reactions and interactions go all the way back to bacteria. It makes you wonder whether even single-celled organisms don’t have some kind of equivalent to the brain, doesn’t it, especially when you consider how intelligent they seem to be?

No, all it shows is that God planned in advance for the future of evolution. Bacteria had to have these abilities to live on their own with automatic responses to challenges.

QUOTE: Fundamentally, molecular motors […] have different functions depending on their task. However, because they are so small, the exact mechanisms on how these molecules coordinate with each other is poorly understood.

DAVID: These motors produce directed results. The reactions do not depend on chance diffusion in cellular fluids. But delivery by design means the cells produce their products in a very organized fashion. Not by chance.

dhw: How do they coordinate, and what directs the motors in the first place? And how do the cells produce their own products in a very organized fashion? Some scientists think it’s all organized by the equivalent of a brain within the cell, but at the moment it is indeed “poorly understood”. Let’s keep an open mind, shall we?

The cells' 'brain' is in the genome filled with instructional information to run the processes.