153 sats \ 8 replies \ @bitcoingraffiti 29 Jul 2022 \ on: I am Alan Plus, founder of Lightning Network Plus, AMA! bitcoin
Tell me something about evolutionary biology!
The most surprising fact that you can use during your daily meditation is that all life on Earth is related. You're quite literally a cousin with the tree in your garden, but also with the roach in your pantry, and your dog in your living room. Some life forms are very distant cousins, but we still all had a common ancestor millions of generations ago.
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everybody knows that. i'm a bioinformatician. try again!
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Ok, trying one level up. You may know this too, but most people don't realise that we (the human body) are "just" a fantastic vessel for our genes to survive and travel into the future. Our DNA self programs through evolution to create ever better spaceships (animal bodies). Our genes are the pilots, despite how we feel about ourselves.
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Thank you.
"Our DNA self programs" would require some explanation.
DNA polymerase makes mistakes on purpose to allow for variation.
I would say the DNA that is here today, has survived.
All the other possibilities have died.
Let me give one back.
Did you know that DNA is not a blank slate?
It is epigenetically controlled.
So it can inherit 'experiences' from the mother and father.
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Great correction!
Yes, I knew that and it's a fascinating fact. Thanks for bringing it up.
It's amazing that for example kids of parents who survived war and famine would actually through epigenetics "prepare" their kids for similar conditions on a genetic level so they are more likely to survive similar conditions.
Animal breeders can experience this. For example, pups of dogs who have lived on the streets will be more timid and fearful of strangers, while pups from parents who lived in loving homes can easily make friends with humans.
The implication is that when you pick a mate to have kids with, do consider their life experiences, because they will directly reflect on your children.
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That's a great way to explain the importance of epigenetic inheritance!
To add on to this thread, certain types of immune cells purposefully make use of a DNA polymerase that makes mistakes at a HIGHER rate than average. This allows for greater variation among immune cells, allowing the organism to potentially survive better in hostile environments.
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Yes.
If I recall well. This is why HIV and cancer are hard to target with medicine.
Because they have a higher mutation rate than the immune system.
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Yes.
This happened in the north of the Netherlands during the hunger winter of 44-45.
The babies who were born in this winter had children with eating disorders.
It shows how important this epigenetic programming is. (and shitty)
Did you know that viruses have off-frame encoding?
Genetic material is encoded in codons of length 3.
Some viruses are so efficient that they read off at +1 and +2
Frame reading skips produce functional proteins. Crazy.
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