LUCA latest: Shapiro redux (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, July 08, 2023, 17:28 (502 days ago) @ dhw

https://aeon.co/essays/why-did-darwins-20th-century-followers-get-evolution-so-wrong?ut...

QUOTE: “cells can cut and splice their own DNA molecules, a capability that I call ‘natural genetic engineering’”.

dhw: This autonomy lies at the heart of Shapiro’s whole theory. But he does not tell us how they acquired the ability – he is concerned with the way evolution works, and not with the origin of the mechanisms that make it work. Just like Darwin (whose random mutations he convincingly debunks), he offers a theory which need not offend any religious believer.

QUOTE: “In other words, within a small number of generations, descendants of the initial hybrid constitute a newly evolved species with novel adaptive characters and reproductive isolation.”

dhw: This is a major point in the discussion of the time available for species to evolve. ID-ers like to emphasize how long it would take for random mutations to accumulate into new species. But if we substitute a non-random process by which cells respond to environmental change by engineering their own mutations, it is generations that matter, not years.

QUOTE:“Those obligations include reorienting our studies of adaptive variation towards learning how deeply genome change is integrated with biocognitive sensory responses.”

dhw: Again, this lies at the heart of his theory: cells are cognitive beings which engineer the “adaptive variations” that lead to speciation.

DAVID: Just to remind the reader, all of Shapiro's studies were on the bacterian ability to edit their own DNA. Animals and plants have adaptive abilities, much short of actual speciation. Thanks for adding the new quotes.

dhw: Do you honestly think Shapiro knows nothing about other life forms?

Of course he does, as we all do. He is trying to tell us theoretically speciation acts that way. You and I view Shapiro very differently while we both appreciate his work.