http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-07/cumc-ssh071614.php
A new direction in evolution research. If so, it could make Creationists heads explode.
metatron
More Research On Acquired Characteristics/Evolution
by metatron 3 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
cofty
Epigenetics is fascinating but also much misunderstood.
It is NOT Lamarkianism!
"The Epigenetics Revolution" by Nessa Carey is a good introduction.
-
Apognophos
Interesting findings. The most puzzling part for me was the mention of a study with rats; I don't know why a high-fat diet would cause a rat's children to be fatter. Certainly this kind of mechanism might help explain the perpetuation of disadvantaged traits in lower-class humans, if it can be demonstrated to hold true for humans (I actually thought I'd heard already somewhere that human parents' diets affect their children genetically).
Anyway, I don't see this study's results being a problem for creationists. They'll simply say that small RNA changes are another small-scale, temporary adaptation that God allows his creatures to make for survival. They still will fall back on "these changes can't make a new animal, though", which in this case may even be true.
-
adjusted knowledge
Epigenetics is fascinating but also much misunderstood.
It is NOT Lamarkianism!
"The Epigenetics Revolution" by Nessa Carey is a good introduction.
Thanks for the suggestion. It does sounds similar to what Lamarck proposed. I often thought there was credence to what he suggested and was not always in conflict with dwarwinism. I have not studied evolution in any great detail, though abiogenesis is a topic I enjoy reading up on. Most of my biology studies concentrated for the health profession but does give me a good foundation to have a deeper understanding on these topics.
There was a recent study on metabolism of inorganic molecules. The chemistry looked similar to the Kreb cycle from what I saw of the paper but not quite as complex. But the neat thing is unlike celluar respiration needing an enzyme the study showed that the metabolism required metal ions as the catalyst. Though abiogenesis and epigenetics is far away from answering the origin of life, it does give some clearer indications of how logically it could of started and continues to change.