435 research outputs found
Configuration of Stable Evolutionary Strategy of Homo Sapiens and Evolutionary Risks of Technological Civilization (the Conceptual Model Essay)
Stable evolutionary strategy of Homo sapiens (SESH) is built in accordance with the modular
and hierarchical principle and consists of the same type of self-replicating elements, i.e. is a system
of systems. On the top level of the organization of SESH is the superposition of genetic, social,
cultural and techno-rationalistic complexes. The components of this triad differ in the mechanism
of cycles of generation - replication - transmission - fixing/elimination of adoptively relevant
information. This mechanism is implemented either in accordance with the Darwin-Weismann
modus, or according to the Lamarck modus, the difference between them is clear from the title.
The integral attribute of the system of systems including ESSH is the production of evolutionary
risks. The sources of evolutionary risk for stable adaptive strategy of Homo sapiens are the
imbalance of (1) the intra-genomic co-evolution (intragenomic conflicts); (2) the gene-cultural co-
evolution; (3) the inter-cultural co-evolution; (4) techno-humanitarian balance; (5) inter-
technological conflicts (technological traps). At least phenomenologically the components of the
evolutionary risk are reversible, but in the aggregate they are in potentio irreversible destructive
ones for bio-social, and cultural self-identity of Homo sapiens. When the actual evolution is the
subject of a rationalist control and/or manipulation, the magnitude of the 4th and 5th components
of the evolutionary risk reaches the level of existential significance
The emergence and development of behavioral individuality in clonal fish
Behavioral individuality is a ubiquitous phenomenon in animal populations, yet the origins and developmental trajectories of individuality, especially very early in life, are still a black box. Using a high-resolution tracking system, we mapped the behavioral trajectories of genetically identical fish (Poecilia formosa), separated immediately after birth into identical environments, over the first 10 weeks of their life at 3 s resolution. We find that (i) strong behavioral individuality is present at the very first day after birth, (ii) behavioral differences at day 1 of life predict behavior up to at least 10 weeks later, and (iii) patterns of individuality strengthen gradually over developmental time. Our results establish a null model for how behavioral individuality can develop in the absence of genetic and environmental variation and provide experimental evidence that later-in-life individuality can be strongly shaped by factors predating birth like maternal provisioning, epigenetics and pre-birth developmental stochasticity
Baldwinian accounts of language evolution
Since Hinton & Nowlan published their seminal paper (Hinton & Nowlan 1987), the
neglected evolutionary process of the Baldwin effect has been widely acknowledged.
Especially in the field of language evolution, the Baldwin effect (Baldwin 1896d,
Simpson 1953) has been expected to salvage the long-lasting deadlocked situation of
modern linguistics: i.e., it may shed light on the relationship between environment
and innateness in the formation of language.However, as intense research of this evolutionary theory goes on, certain robust
difficulties have become apparent. One example is genotype-phenotype correlation.
By computer simulations, both Yamauchi (1999, 2001) and Mayley (19966) show
that for the Baldwin effect to work legitimately, correlation between genotypes and
phenotypes is the most essential underpinning. This is due to the fact that this type
of the Baldwin effect adopts as its core mechanism Waddington's (1975) "genetic
assimilation". In this mechanism, phenocopies have to be genetically closer to the
innately predisposed genotype. Unfortunately this is an overly naiive assumption
for the theory of language evolution. As a highly complex cognitive ability, the
possibility that this type of genotype-phenotype correlation exists in the domain of
linguistic ability is vanishingly small.In this thesis, we develop a new type of mechanism, called "Baldwinian Niche
Construction (BNC), that has a rich explanatory power and can potentially over¬
come this bewildering problem of the Baldwin effect. BNC is based on the theory
of niche construction that has been developed by Odling-Smee et al. (2003). The
incorporation of the theory into the Baldwin effect was first suggested by Deacon
(1997) and briefly introduced by Godfrey-Smith (2003). However, its formulation
is yet incomplete.In the thesis, first, we review the studies of the Baldwin effect in both biology
and the study of language evolution. Then the theory of BNC is more rigorously
developed. Linguistic communication has an intrinsic property that is fundamentally described in the theory of niche construction. This naturally leads us to the
theoretical necessity of BNC in language evolution. By creating a new linguistic
niche, learning discloses a previously hidden genetic variance on which the Baldwin
'canalizing' effect can take place. It requires no genetic modification in a given
genepool. There is even no need that genes responsible for learning occupy the
same loci as genes for the innate linguistic knowledge. These and other aspects of
BNC are presented with some results from computer simulations
Model Organisms in Plant Genetics
Model plants are required for research when targeted plant species are difficult to study or when research material is unavailable. Importantly, knowledge gained from model plants can be generally translated to other related plant species because many key cellular and molecular processes are conserved and regulated by ‘blueprint’ genes inherited from a common ancestor. Model Organisms in Plant Genetics addresses characteristics of model plants such as Arabidopsis, moss, soybean, maize, and cotton, highlighting their advantages and limitations as well as their importance in studies of plant development, plant genome polyploidization, adaptive selection, evolution, and domestication, as well as their importance in crop improvement
English for Strufents of Biological Departments
Структура пособия позволяет выбрать оптимальные способы организации работы для эффективного усвоения материала и аналитической обработки информации.Данное пособие предназначено для студентов I курса биологического факультета университета. В пособии представлены оригинальные тексты и упражнения к ним, способствующие закреплению лексического и грамматического материала
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