jimmydasaint

IMHO, the real problem is not with the technology which can solve food shortage problems or with the intentions of the scientists involved, it is with the greed of Biotechnology companies. If you can engineer crops that can grow in conditions of drought or in a nutrient-poor environment but do NOT produce seeds, you have a population of dependent poor farmers who will be forced to pay you annually just to stay alive. I think the ethics of genetic modifications of crops are questionable at the level of the companies and the Governments who use it as a means of social control.

Just to add to the points raised here, this information suggests: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10690412?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=4&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed In other words, mitochondria helped in the evolution of the host cell - Science is wierd!

I was just about to start a new thread on a similar topic, but this one will do! I have been thinking about which came first - the gene or the protein that allowed the gene to be transcribed and translated? I have read something about autocatalytic replication of RNA, but subsequent events become a little hazy. Somebody out there must have a hypothesis...

Rather than starting another thread, can I please add to this interesting discussion, albeit with a slight digression. If a favourable mutation arose to allow high levels of cholesterol in a family without associated cardiac disease, but the family were in an isolated location (e.g. Milan, Italy), how would the gene be spread further than this location? Or does it just spread in that particular small location and stay there?

I find mitochondria fascinating due to their close match to bacteria in terms of protein modifications and loose DNA structure (not packed in chromosomes like human DNA) and plasmids etc... Plants also have chloroplasts which seem bacterial-like in several respects. However, I don't know if I would classify that as an evolutionary event - I would rather treat it as a case of symbiosis with subsequent accommodation.

Good points guys and I loved that Brain in a vat article. However, does the duality of particles and quantum wierdness indicate that humans are in touch with a 'greater' power or a different dimension? I wonder why the human mind would come up with these concepts unless there are real other dimensions. More questions than answers, but the bottom line is: Is quantum physics genuinely wierd or is it a pointer to other worlds we have no concept of?

Thanks for the reply RE. My question came from thoughts on the sheer power of mutation in bacteria and a multicellular organism like a fly and I wondered why they have stayed as they are for so long. You have partially answered ny question by saying that the original community have also survived after natural selection. I am aware of allopatric and sympatric speciation and it makes sense. However, something else comes to mind. If wolves are ancestors of dogs, does it mean that dogs are unable to breed with wolves? Because if the can breed then this is not classical speciation is it?

This is confusing to me because it would suggest that there is a possiblity, a glimpse of a greater reality and that quantum physics and quantum wierdness is tugging at the curtain which separates us from this reality.

This is pure speculation and therefore the topic belongs here. However, I have been having strange experiences recently causing me to believe that we are actually in a Matrix-like manufactured reality. My question would be: How on Eart would you lnow the difference between a Matrix-type reality and our reality constructed by our 5 (or six) senses?

i know , i was just trying to make a point, do you think the bacteria in our bodies, are perhaps evolving? that could be why we find so many new types of bacteria, like all the time. If I understand you correctly, are you saying that the level of mutations are causing new species to arise on human bodies? Is there any evidence for this process? Also, if we look far enough back in the evolutionary tree, I think we may find a common ancestor cell but not necessarily a bacterium. Interesting points though...

Which leaves me with one question which is puzzling. Why does the combined speed of light and another object which hits it not equal the sum of their speeds. I mean, if two cars travelling at 70mph collide, the combined speed is 140mph. Why should it be different for electromagnetic waves?

As you have sussed out, my knowledge of Physics does not extend beyond GCSE or K11. However, does light also slow down at 90 degrees to a surface when it passes straight through? It should do, shouldn't it? Also light does not penetrate down to the bottom of the sea so it presumably is absorbed beforehand.

My Physics knowledge is not good but can someone answer these questions. Space is not a perfect vacuum - does light not slow down in the space dust and gas particles in space? In a piece of glass or water, does the light slow down when it enters at an angle of 90 degrees to the surface of the medium as it does when it enters at an angle? Why is light constant when something approaches or hits it at speed? For example if you travel at 86,000 miles per second why is the effective speed of light not 186,000-86,000 miles per second? Thanks

Thank you for that answer and the video clips are quite informative. The people I have spoken to complain of pains in deeper tissues as well. Will that sort of tissue penetration cause cellular damage by ionising tissues? Also, is it possible to induce a voltage that causes muscle contraction. This is me reaching the edge of my Physics knowledge here.

I hope the Mods don't shift this thread but I don't know where it goes. I saw a TV programme featuring an ex-Marine about the amazing array of weapons and military hardware held by the USA. He mentioned that there was a microwave weapon called the Active Denial System. This is aimed like a laser and can cause extreme pain in targeted individuals. It causes searing heat under the skin and forces pain receptors to give messages to the brain causes the person to move away quickly. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/v-mads.htm However, I have been speaking to people who have experienced pains in internal and external tissues - stomach, chest and legs apparently from other microwave weapons than the ADS. The question is: how would these weapons work in terms of Physics and Biology to cause the given effect which is pain? Any clues? http://xiandos.info/Microwave_weapons

Guys - just a question. If a wolf is mated to a dog, will their be viable offspring which are not sterile? If the answer is yes, can we define the wolf and the dog as different species? Hate to be awkward but I really have to know this.

I thought these were C3 but greening potatoes show an alternative mechanism to the Calvin cycle. However, why not read the handbook : http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0_3XqlcKPpwC&pg=PA368&dq=potato+C3+pathway&ei=TyZBSN6FI4fKjgHyh82IBQ&sig=6xylb0i_5JGxBppu0BXTfQenrVE

I disagree with this. Doesn't natural selection depend on the choice of the correct set of genes with correct mutations to survive in a certain place? For example, a bacterium living in hot springs would be expected to have genes mutated to help them survive in these hot spots. Evolution is entirely driven by the quality of mutations available.

Thanks there e.c. The implication is from your reply, that a genetic change or mutation may change instinctive behaviour. this is quite important. Have you any papers/reviews that back this up?

But they can colonise any area of the world and have a high mutation rate. Why have they not developed into bacterial tissues and organs despite the millions of chances?

I just wondered if instinctive behaviour can be passed on genetically OR is it environmental OR is it a mixture of both? If it is a mixture of both environment and genes passed on from its parent, does it show that gradual accumulation of mutations is not the mechanism for evolution of instinct?

I am relatively new to the Forum so take it easy. However, despite the life cycle of bacteria (20 minutes per cell division in rich medium), bacteria have stayed bacteria over millions of years. They also would have more mutation due to the sheer rate of cell division than animals so why have they stayed bacteria? Also the same with flies.

Bacteriophage that are lytic (destroy the cells on exit after multiplication) can affect bacteria. Moreover, using correct bacteriophage could be used to control the extent of bacterial infection. However, viruses can be also used in a curative way for example in humans, viruses can be used to treat brain cancers: http://www.cancernetwork.com/brain-tumors/article/10165/78548