New coyote-wolf hybrid sees explosion in numbers http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/coywolf-new-coyote-wolf-hybrid-sees-explosion-in-numbers-a6717151.html
>In one of the great success stories of interspecies animal breeding, the coyote-wolf hybrid ‘coywolf’ can now count its numbers in the millions. >amazing contemporary evolution story that’s happening right underneath our nose >Some dispute whether the coywolf is genetically different enough to be considered its own species but Jonathan Way from the National Park Service says that there’s enough morphological and genetic divergence that it should be placed in a class of its own.
species as understood by geneticists, phylogenists, and most active biologists that understand evolution and speciation (creationism is a belief held by some doctors who are a type of biologist) and accept it
population that is closely related genetically and interbreeds regularly
closely related varies by species and size of population
a slow reproducing species like humans may be the same species for centuries and millennia of complete separation
bacteria can speciate in a few months under the right selective pressures ie an abundant but radically different food source which would take many new genes to be efficient at and a hybrid that digests two wildly different foods would reproduce too slowly
while a species like rabbits or squirrels that loses most offspring before they breed twice may speciate relatively quickly when separated geographically by obstacle or distance into different climates
"clines" Cline is a word used for a successful and populous species that has a large range compared to its movement and the territory of individual groups
depending on time since original expansion and interbreeding this can lead to complete separation and eventual speciation… or it could mean a stable population with gene flow never really separating- can't call the center populations hybrids because it started as one species that never broke contact
there are many ways speciation begins but not all of them are final - much to the torment of autistic evolutionists because if this example happened long ago there might be no genetic sign and often there won't be enough fossils to hint at it either
A species expands in numbers and begins speciation one way or another, climates shift and the distant relatives that can be distinctly identified start breeding again and form a hybrid - climate continues to become unfavorable to the parents and the hybrids and together with local extinctions or extirpations…
only one small and interbreeding population remains - possibly surviving and expanding again but as one homogenized species
TLDR interbreeding does not mean the same species pic related
Ethicists approve ‘3 parent’ embryos to stop diseases, but congressional ban remains
An elite panel of scientists and bioethicists offered guarded approval Wednesday of a novel form of genetic engineering that could prevent congenital diseases but would result in babies with genetic material from three parents.
The committee, which was convened last year at the request of the Food and Drug Administration, concluded that it is ethically permissible to “go forward, but with caution” with mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRT), said the chairman, Jeffrey Kahn, a bioethicist at Johns Hopkins University.
But the advisory panel’s conclusions have slammed into a congressional ban: The omnibus fiscal 2016 budget bill passed by Congress late last year contained language prohibiting the government from using any funds to handle applications for experiments that genetically alter human embryos.
Thus the green light from the scientists and ethicists won't translate anytime soon into clinical applications that could potentially help families that want healthy babies, said Shoukhrat Mitalipov, a pioneer of the new technique at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Ore.
“It seems like the FDA is disabled in this case by Congress," Mitalipov said. “At this point we’re still not clear how to proceed."
The FDA released a statement Wednesday saying it will carefully review the report from the advisory committee, but added that the congressional ban prohibits the agency from reviewing applications "in which a human embryo is intentionally created or modified to include a heritable genetic modification. As such, human subject research utilizing genetic modification of embryos for the prevention of transmission of mitochondrial disease cannot be performed in the United States in FY 2016."
MRT should be used rarely, with extreme care and with abundant government oversight, and it initially should be applied only to male embryos, the advisory panel said.
The report comes at a time of dazzling advances in genetic engineering and a commensurate struggle to understand the ethics of “playing God,” a phrase uttered twice Wednesday by committee member R. Alta Charo, a professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin.
Two months ago, scientists from around the globe gathered in the same building to hash out guidelines for the use of another revolutionary technique, known as CRISPR, which can be used to efficiently edit nuclear DNA genes. Earlier this week,
British officials approved publicly funded research that will use CRISPR to study the development of early-stage human embryos, but the embryos will not be implanted in women.
The FDA last year asked the Institute of Medicine, now part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, to review the ethical implications of MRT because it would result in what has been loosely referred to as “three-parent babies.” British officials have already approved investigatory experiments involving the technique.
[One year ago, the UK voted yes on 'three-parent' babies]
Nuclear DNA is by far the more significant form of genetic material for determining most human characteristics. As the committee put it, “While mtDNA plays a central role in genetic ancestry, traits that are carried in nDNA are those that in the public understanding constitute the core of genetic relatedness in terms of physical and behavioral characteristics as well as most forms of disease.”
As a result, modifying mtDNA “is meaningfully different.”
But panel members said that they took the philosophical issues seriously, noting that someone with genetic material from two different maternal bloodlines would potentially have to wrestle with questions about identity, kinship and ancestry.
They also countenanced the possibility that people would want to use this new technique to create babies that are enhanced in some way intellectually or physically. They said that is not a major concern at the moment because the feasibility of such enhancements remains speculative.
RACE DOES NOT EXIST
" But ancestry based on genes does "
Nationalism and what it means to you
Many arguments quickly devolve into arguments with jews about what is white and what mixedbloods will do in the coming racewar.
Nationalism comes in two overlapping flavours.
One is genetic and this results in similar behaviors and desires and allows for common goals despite low communication. If you had a twin, they could probably read your mind better than a lifetime spouse.
The other is cultural and this requires strong values to be the foundation of the culture. It is often closely tied to a geographic region which is preferred by most people in the nation and thus defended as if it were part of the bodies of the people.
The reason these two can not be entirely separated and must overlap is simply because similar people will result in similar views most of the time. There are components to this; such as the fact that culture (predisposition to actions, behaviors, beliefs) is genetic, understanding of your people despite any language barriers requires you have similar desires and ways of dealing with prolems, and a united front is over time always more successful than a diverse front.
Now a white nationalist is not a different kind of nationalist or someone that thinks all white people are a nation. A finger is not a hand, a nation is a subgroup of race and it does not mean race.
A white nationalist in America is going to believe in cultural nationalism and an overarching American nation. Most white nationalists also believe that the European race requires voluntary federation between the nations. A white nationalist despises the multicultural EU which actually hates Europeans as can be seen by the response to the flood of migrants.
So you are neither hwhite (European by blood) nor do you care for many of the European values, what does nationalism mean to you? The answers to this will vary because there are so many different types of people in the world that are not European. Here we will do a brief overview of the races and of certain types of mixbloods. Remember that all mixbloods can be misidentified by different groups so you run different risks depending on where you are.
If you are Asian and have lived in Asia for even part of your life you know nationalism binds you to your culture and to marrying your kind if you want approval of your parents and your community. Nationalism has not been shamed in most Asian nations yet and has had philosophies based on tribalism/nationalism for hundreds and thousands of years.
If you are African and have lived in Africa for even a part of your life you know that despite the various civil wars people know their own kind and there are many distinctions between the different nations of Africa. Nationalism has not had a strong chance to develop autonomously here due to various proxy wars of the past several hundred years.
If you are a native american then you have probably lived in the americas for your whole life and know that those tribes that do not maintain their traditions end up marrying out and losing identity over time. Nationalism is the only way you remain distinct instead of breeding more mixblood kids.
Mixbloods:
continued…
Careful what you read
We know for a fact that oxidative stress is linked to increased tumour growth.
Now researchers are saying not to take antioxidants!
Why? Well because cancer cells will benefit more than normal cells!
Uh… should we not eat or stop breathing because cancer cells might use oxygen and glucose better than most normal cells? Of course not.
Be wary of this type of advice that goes against all reason.
The study itself is interesting because many types of growth factors were studied for specfic effects. So have a read and make your own conclusions.
Speciation in action
Are organisms able to adapt and thrive despite rapid climate changes?
Marine organisms living in acidified waters exhibit a tendency to nurture their offspring to a greater extent than those in more regular conditions.
Researchers at Plymouth University have found that polychaete worms located around volcanic vents in the Mediterranean grow and develop their eggs within the protection of the family unit - in contrast to closely-related species that release them into the water column to fend for themselves.
The scientists say the findings could provide an important insight into how organisms might adjust to increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the sea - and the ramifications that might have for future biodiversity.
> "One of the most interesting annelid worms here typically grows to around 3cm in length and is found on the seafloor. It was previously thought that their breeding is triggered by a full moon, when they swim up to the surface and release - or 'broadcast' - their eggs.
>But our studies at the CO2 vents off Ischia have found something very different: those species living near the volcanic vents, in waters rich in carbon dioxide, seem to have adapted to the harsher conditions by brooding their offspring."
The team found that 12 of the 13 species that had colonized the vent area exhibited brooding characteristics, most notably producing fewer and larger eggs that were usually retained within some form of protective sac. Ten of those species were in higher abundance around the vents than in the ambient areas surrounding them - some by a ratio as high as nine-to-one.
The observation that brooding worms dominated the CO2 vent areas, and existing evidence of physiological and genetic adaptation in vent-inhabiting species, prompted the researchers to take immature adult Platynereis dumerilii specimens and attempt to cross breed them in the laboratory. A male - taken from the ambient control area - and a female - from the vent zone - almost immediately began to breed. But instead of the typical broadcast pattern, the eggs produced were five times larger than the average and were laid in a complex tube structure or brooding pouch.
When genetic analysis was conducted, it became clear that worms from inside the CO2 vents were from a sibling species of Platynereis massiliensis, one that has diverged from Platynereis dumerilii in the recent past - confirming that all of the polychaete species are brooders of some sort.
It is known that there had to be some migrations back into Africa due to the genetics recovered from northern africa prior to the islam.
Now there is even more evidence showing this departures and returns.
This so-called Mota genome is the first sequenced from African skeletal remains, which are less hospitable to DNA molecules due to the warm climate. “Africa is going to be a difficult place for having ancient genomes—especially high quality genomes,” Carles LaLueza-Fox, a paleogeneticist at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Barcelona, Spain, who was not involved with the study, told Nature.
An international team published the ancient genome last week (October 8) in Science.The researchers compared Mota’s DNA sequence with modern African genomes and ancient Eurasian DNA, finding evidence to suggest that the man’s genetic material most closely aligns with DNA from modern Ethiopian highlanders of the Ari tribe. Mota and modern Ari genomes bear marks of ancestors likely moved from the Near East into Europe about 9,000 years ago.
“By having these high coverage genomes, we can start seeing a lot of information about what happened,” study coauthor Ron Pinhasi from University College Dublin, Ireland, told New Scientist. “It is the right direction but we need more.”
Rhagoletis and 3 wasps speciation
The concept that biodiversity feeds upon itself is an old idea, but it's difficult to prove because it requires biologists to simultaneously catch several species red-handed just as they are becoming new species. Now biologists have proof.
'"Our study addresses one of the central questions in biology: How do new forms of life originate?"'
Rhagoletis is in the act of evolving into two species. The change is driven by differently timed fruiting cycles between apple trees, which some Rhagoletis prefer, and the North American hawthorn, the native fruit where Rhagoletis have traditionally laid their eggs.
Analyses showed that all three wasp species were also in the process of diverging into two distinct species, both genetically and with respect to host-associated physiology and behavior.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151029185553.htm
TL; DR: A species of fruit fly is in process of speciation (forming a new species) and 3 other parasitoid wasps were found to enter speciation process in response.
Anonymous 10/30/15 (F
Genetic Engineering to cure climate change causes
The year is 2060. The United States Senate is sponsored by ExxonMobilShellCorp and the executive throne is still occupied by CEO Trump, our 114-year-old dictator with the youthful vigor of a lion cub thanks to a full head transplant and GMO anti-aging serums. Times are dark in these United States circa 2060: Despite decades of warning, humanity has completely failed to curb carbon emissions, the White House is now ocean-front, and MTV still doesn’t play music videos. In a last-ditch effort to save the world from ourselves, we’ve resorted to something that was previously both illegal and impossible: human engineering.
At least, this is the world as imagined by S. Matthew Liao, a bioethicist who in 2012 published a paper on a “new kind of solution to climate change, what we call human engineering, which involves biomedical modifications of humans so that they can mitigate and/or adapt to climate change,” according to the abstract.
In other words, he’s talking about fucking with our bodies so we stop fucking with the planet.
http://grist.org/living/can-we-cope-with-climate-change-by-genetically-engineering-people/
While the majority—49%—were opposed to genetic engineering of babies, 41% remained in favor, with 10% undecided.
Scientists, philosophers and science fiction authors have been discussing designer babies since the 1930s. However, the issues they have been discussing have remained theoretical because of the difficulty in getting genes to do what they want. The new technology of genome editing, known as CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats), which makes possible precise modifications of the genetics of organisms, changes things dramatically. Genetic modification of humans now looks all too possible.
Researchers and corporations are rushing to investigate — and hopefully exploit — the potential of this new technology to modify human beings genetically.
Of course, the flipside of that is that less ethical scientists might already be doing this basic research anyway. The tools are there and relatively easy to use; all that we can really do is decide how we want to use them.
http://uproxx.com/gammasquad/2015/09/embryos-genetic-engineering/
using cognitive enhancement to decrease the number of babies each person has
perhaps decrease someone’s testosterone. But those hormones have all kinds of effects, and can change people in really profound ways beyond making them a little more amenable to negotiating.
http://gizmodo.com/meanwhile-in-the-future-to-stop-climate-change-we-mus-1733583113
DARPA, the research branch of the Department of Defense, awarded a $32 million contract to the Broad Institute at MIT this week to research genetic engineering with “medical, industrial, and agricultural applications” that are too expensive for private industries.
DARPA’s interest in genetic engineering dates back at least to 2010, when it budgeted $6 million for BioDesign, which aimed to eliminate “the randomness of natural evolutionary advancement.” Imagined products included cells that could live forever and bacteria that could be killed off instantaneously.
In 2014, research funded by DARPA produced genetically modified blood cells that could deliver various toxin-neutralizing antibodies, which soldiers could receive through a blood transfusion, which might trigger fewer autoimmune responses than other forms of drug delivery.
The new DARPA contract is geared towards more general research, with work aimed at expediting and streamlining the methods by which scientists sequence and analyze genomes instead of finding specific solutions.
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New Genes Expressed Early: Human Brain
New Genes Are Expressed in the Early Developing Human Brain
>Previous analyses of the molecular evolution of the human brain did not find consistent evidence of rapid evolution in the protein-coding genes expressed in the adult human brain [8]–[9]. Faster evolution in the human lineage was not observed at the gene expression level either [2].
>However, we noticed that all these analyses were based on the adult brain, just one stage of brain development. It is thus understandable that they were inconclusive as to the understanding of the genetic basis for the evolution of how the brain develops.
>Our analyses revealed an unexpected pattern: the expression patterns and protein sequences of new genes appear to contribute to the early (fetal and infant) brain development of humans.
>This pattern supports the argument that genes formed by duplication and by de novo origination could escape pleiotropic constraints [42]. On the other hand, the enrichment of transcription factors in human young genes also suggests the important role of regulation in the development of the human brain [1],[4]–[6].
>Our results show that regulatory evolution can occur in both cis [5] and trans, in the protein sequence of transcription factors [32],[43], and in the creation of new transcription factors through gene duplication. From this aspect, fine-tuning of gene regulation by human-specific genes [44] might underlie many human-specific characteristics and behaviors.
>However, we also observed that young genes were associated with diverse functions, ranging from nuclear pore proteins to ribosomal proteins (Table 1).
>In fact, the striking correspondence of the origination times of the neocortex and PFC with the ages of new genes suggests the functional association of these young genes with the development of these expanding brain structures. Specifically, new genes began to be recruited into neocortex or PFC after their morphological origination (Figure 5B, 5C).
>The recruitment of young genes into the early developmental stages of neocortex, regardless of the various processes which created these genes (Figures 3, S6), and their accelerated sequence evolution (Figures 4, S6; Tables 2, S8) suggest that the young genes may have evolved new functions as a consequence of positive selection for novel functions in the newly evolved brain structures.
>Compared to the early developing brain, the adult brain does not show an increased recruitment of young genes in the primate-specific lineage (Figure S2).
>Additional expressional data confirmed that young genes were less frequently upregulated in adult neocortex (Figure 2). This result is consistent with a previous study [3] arguing that novel aspects of the human brain are usually manifested in the early development.
>Thus, the expansion of DUF1220 family expressed in adult brain [20] might be an interesting exception, rather than a rule.
Different humans = Different levels of these genes?