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Scientists Discover Proteins Controlling Evolution

Posted by samzenpus on from the let-the-flamewar-begin dept.

Khemisty writes "Evolutionary changes are supposed to take place gradually and randomly, under pressure from natural selection. But a team of Princeton scientists investigating a group of proteins that help cells burn energy stumbled across evidence that this is not how evolution works. In fact, their discovery could revolutionize the way we understand evolutionary processes. They have evidence that organisms actually have the ability to control their own evolution."

5 of 436 comments (clear)

  1. So... by BerntB · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Life has evolved to be good at evolving? Sounds logical, organisms that increase mutation speed depending on environment should have an advantage.

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    1. Re:So... by beelsebob · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That's right, science never changes after someone "invents" it. As we all know, Newton (who invented gravity -- we all floated around before then), was dead right about the laws of physics, and that Einstein bloke who came along later didn't manage to refine his position, but instead talked utter crap.

  2. Re:Big duh by lysergic.acid · · Score: 5, Insightful

    making fun of a stupid idea isn't bigotry. you can choose not to believe in irrational backward beliefs/myths. if they sound stupid and don't make a whole lot of sense, then how do you expect people to react to them? bigotry is discriminating against people for things they cannot change. for instance, persecuting someone because of their sexual orientation--that is bigotry.

    being intolerant of ignorance, or criticizing/refuting specious beliefs, isn't cruel or unethical. in fact, it's societally beneficial. it's because our society is too tolerant of ignorance and blatant stupidity that the religious right has gained so much power in the U.S., which has allowed the ID movement to gain so much traction, and to cause religion to impede scientific research. it's also the reason why the U.S. is still "debating" on whether global warming is happening while the governments of other countries are already working hard to attenuate climate change.

  3. Re:Big duh by SteveWoz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    One problem is that a lot of people try to hang on the 'scientific' label and follow what they hear, the same as those in a church. Thus those governments working hard to attenuate climate change may be enhancing it, by directing resources in wrong directions. If we really understand global warming enough to believe in our models, they should be able to tell us whether a trillion dollars of effort would affect the global temperature by a tenth of a degree. If not, it's a wasteful effort with no observable impact. Look how a corporation makes important expenditure decisions. How much benefit does a certain expenditure result in. Politics is a fun game but is a lot like religion. We pick a side and follow it, right or wrong.

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  4. Even the very first sentence is WRONG! by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Evolutionary changes are supposed to take place gradually and randomly, under pressure from natural selection."

    WRONG. In fact, this is one of the most common fallacies regarding evolution. It has been known for a very long time now that evolution proceeds in fits and starts... long periods of nothing followed by a burst of changes. This is known as "punctuated equilibrium", and is generally accepted as the standard evolutionary model.

    I almost did not even read the linked article... since the beginning of it seems to be saying that evolution works exactly the way we have long known it to work.

    There are actually some interesting things, there, though. On the other hand, the person who wrote the article obviously does not understand it.