Slashdot Mirror
The Chicken May Have Come Before the Egg
Muondecay writes "The age old question of which came first, the chicken or the egg, has been tentatively answered. The verdict? The chicken, or rather a key protein needed to form the shell of the egg. The protein, called ovocledidin-17, was known to be involved in binding calcite molecules that formed the shells, but the mechanism behind this was unclear until now. The protein acts as a molecular machine, binding to nanoparticles of calcite and guiding them to begin self-assembly of the shell. This gives tremendous insight for developing methods of nano-scale self-assembly based on natural processes, as well as settling heated cocktail party arguments everywhere."
You haven't got the memo about epigenetics and RNA yet, huh? Sorry, you're actually incorrect. Some of how you experience life does in fact get passed along to your offspring... well, it does if you're one of those few lucky Slashdotters to wean yourself off of here and WoW and escape Mom's basement and find a woman with low standards and all that.
Ask and ye shall receive, from an Evolutionary Biologist, no less: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/07/chickens_eggs_this_is_no_way_t.php
(PS, the research says not what the article promotes)