Complexity of gene codes (Introduction)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Friday, August 27, 2010, 21:00 (5010 days ago) @ David Turell


> > > This is exactly opposite my point of view. Epigenetics can drive speciation under pressures for adaptation.
> > 
> > Here's the rub; if you're right and epigenetics are the "cause" of speciation, then we should be able to force evolution artificially without need of reproduction or intervening generations. If we can't do this, then the argument must go "Stimulus-->Response-->Filter" where as the response (epigenetics) is only the middle step from stimulus to new species. The cause is clearly the stimulus, and the end result is clearly via natural selection (Filter). Again, via computer science, the filter is the only thing that matters in the end, because we only care about what gets left behind...
> 
> Agreed. But I think it will require direct stimulation of the epigenetic mechanisms. If the organism is threatened, there are probably somewhat slow chemical mediators to turn on the epigenetics, and that may confuse the results of your proposed experiment.
> -This is precisely what I mean by "...should be able to force evolution artificially without need of reproduction or intervening generations."-Where my confusion still lies in interpreting your thinking, is, if we have agreement that Stimulus-->epigenetic response-->Natural Selection is the "correct" model... then I don't see how your thinking is actually different than the current textbook model. This generalized process is exactly what I learned in college only 4 years ago. It is the de facto position I've seen evolutionary biologists (Massimo Pigliucci) use consistently. --> By the way: Cru du Chat? please translate!-It should have been "Cri du chat" which translates to "Crying cat." It's a birth defect cause by... I think it's a deletion of part of an entire chromosome. The resulting baby is severely retarded and when cries, sounds like a howling cat.

--
\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"