Prior posts have noted the wide diversity of selection factors (well beyond Darwin's original thesis) that are able to influence evolution, or what individuals of a population will survive to procreate and define the nature of the future population... Read More

Prior posts have discussed the interplay between DNA, the various forms of RNA, and proteins regarding gene "expression"; prior posts have also noted the process of methylation of genes [see Wikipedia - Methylation ], which often reflects the... Read More

Prior posts have noted that a) for every 1 human cell there are 10 bacteria in or on our bodies; b) these bacteria are key to the digestion of our food, production of necessary nutrients, and disease prevention; c) the nature of our diet influences the... Read More

Prior posts have noted that gene functioning can be modified by a number of processes, such as methylation. Recently animal tests have found that some of these modifications are passed on to off-spring even though no change is made to the gene itself... Read More

In wrongful death cases and in cases involving permanent injuries that require a life-time to care, it is common for estimates to be made of the "value of the life" or "time needed for care" from actuarial tables that allegedly reflect... Read More

Prior posts have noted that a) for every 1 human cell there are 10 bacteria in or on our bodies; b) these bacteria are key to the digestion of our food, production of necessary nutrients, and disease prevention; c) the nature of our diet influences the... Read More

One of the themes of this blog has been that virtually anything present in the environment can act as a selection factor influencing the course of evolution. A recent study on fish and PCB's and dioxins illustrates this point. Unfortunately for humans... Read More

Prior posts have noted that gene functioning can be modified by a number of processes, such as methylation. Recently animal tests have found that some of these modifications are passed on to off-spring even though no change is made to the gene itself... Read More

Fire ants are a royal pain (literally and figuratively). Chemical pesticides and many other brews have tried to wipe them out, unfortunately without success. They are now colonizing many other countries. But, what is the origin of these new invasions... Read More

Prior posts have noted the wide diversity of selection factors (well beyond Darwin's original thesis) that are able to influence evolution, or what individuals of a population will survive to procreate and define the nature of the future population... Read More

Prior posts have noted that selection factors that influence evolution can be highly variable, and sometimes surprising. It is not the simple "survival of the fitest" postulated by Darwin (who in fairness could not have known about many of the... Read More

Prior posts have discussed the interplay between DNA, the various forms of RNA, and proteins regarding gene "expression"; prior posts have also noted the process of methylation of genes [see Wikipedia - Methylation ], which often reflects the... Read More