Darwin’s legacy II: why biology is not physics, or why it has taken a century to see the dependence of genes on the environment

Genes and environment make the organism. Darwin stood firm in his denial of any direct role of environment in the modification of heredity. His theory of evolution heralded two debates: one about the importance and adequacy of natural selection as the main mechanism of evolution, and the other about the role of genes versus environment in the modification of phenotype and evolution. Here, I provide an overview of the second debate and show that the reasons for the gene versus environment battle were twofold: first, there was confusion about the role of environment in modifying the inheritance of a trait versus the evolution of that trait, and second, there was misunderstanding about the meaning of environment and its interaction with genes in the production of phenotypes. It took nearly a century to see that environment does not directly affect the inheritance of a phenotype (i.e., its heredity), but it is nevertheless the primary mover of phenotypic evolution. Effects of genes and environment are not separate but interdependent. One cannot separate the effect of genes from that of environment, or nature from nurture. To answer the question posed in the title, it is partly because the 20th century has been a century of unending progress in genetics. But also because unlike physics, biology is not colorblind; progress in biology has often been delayed beyond the Kuhnian paradigm change due to built-in interest in negating the influence of environment. Those who are against evolution, of course, cannot be expected to understand the role of environment in evolution. Those for it, many biologists included, believing in the supremacy of genes empowers them by giving adaptation a solely gene-directed (self-driven) “teleological” interpretation.

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О двух ойратских списках «Наказа Манджушри» из коллекции Н. Д. Кичикова (по материалам Кетченеровского краеведческого музея)

BULLETIN OF THE KALMYK INSTITUTE FOR HUMANITIES OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ◽

10.22162/2619-0990-2021-54-2-347-363 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 347-363

Author(s):

Delyash N. Muzraevа ◽

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

20Th Century ◽

Local History ◽

The Other ◽

Religious Texts ◽

Buddhist Monk ◽

Monastic Community ◽

History Of

Introduction. The written heritage of Kalmyk Buddhist priests, their daily practices, liturgical repertoire still remain a poorly studied page in the history of Buddhism among Mongolic peoples in the 20th century. The survived collections, clusters of religious texts prove instrumental in revealing most interesting aspects of their activities, efforts aimed at preservation of Buddhist teachings, their popularization and dissemination among believers. Goals. The paper examines two Oirat copies of the Precepts of the Omniscient [Manjushri] from N. D. Kichikov’s collection, transliterates and translates the original texts, provides a comparative analysis, and notes differences therein that had resulted from the scribe’s work, thereby introducing the narratives into scientific circulation. Materials. The article describes two Oirat manuscripts bound in the form of a notebook and contained in different bundles/collections of Buddhist religious texts stored at Ketchenery Museum of Local History and Lore. As is known, the collection is largely compiled from texts that belonged to the famous Kalmyk Buddhist monk Namka (N. D. Kichikov). Results. The analysis of the two Oirat texts with identical titles — Precepts of the Omniscient [Manjushri] — shows that their contents coincide generally but both the texts contain fragmented omissions (separate words, one or several sentences) that are present in the other. At the same time, when omitting fragments of the text addressed to the monastic community, the scribe was obviously guided by that those would be superfluous for the laity. Thus, our comparative analysis of the two manuscript copies demonstrates the sometimes dramatic role of the scribe in transmitting Buddhist teachings.

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“Data for the Problem of Evolution in Man. V. On the Correlation between Duration of Life and the Number of Offspring”

Journal of the Institute of Actuaries ◽

10.1017/s0020268100007150 ◽

1901 ◽

Vol 35 (6) ◽

pp. 458-479

Author(s):

M. Beeton ◽

G. U. Yule ◽

Karl Pearson

Keyword(s):

Natural Selection ◽

Breeding Season ◽

The Other ◽

Similar Statement ◽

Men And Women ◽

Darwinian Theory ◽

Theory Of Evolution ◽

Biennial Plants ◽

Long Life ◽

Breeding Seasons

According to the Darwinian theory of evolution the members of a community less fitted to their environment are removed by death. But this process of natural selection would not permanently modify a race, if the members thus removed were able before death to propagate their species in average numbers. It then becomes an important question to ascertain how far duration of life is related to fertility. In the case of many insects death can interfere only with their single chance of offspring; they live or not for their one breeding season only. A similar statement holds good with regard to annual and biennial plants. In such cases there might still be a correlation between duration of life and fertility, but it would be of the indirect character, which we actually find in the case of men and women living beyond sixty years of age—a long life means better physique and better physique increased fertility. On the other hand, there is a direct correlation of fertility and duration of life in the case of those animals which generally survive a number of breeding seasons, and it is this correlation which we had at first in view when investigating the influence of duration of life on fertility in man. The discovery of the indirect factor in the correlation referred to above was therefore a point of much interest. For it seems to show that the physique fittest to survive is really the physique which is in itself (and independently of the duration of life) most fecund.

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RNA polymerase II plays an active role in the formation of gene loops through the Rpb4 subunit

Nucleic Acids Research ◽

10.1093/nar/gkz597 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 47 (17) ◽

pp. 8975-8987 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Paula Allepuz-Fuster ◽

Michael J O’Brien ◽

Noelia González-Polo ◽

Bianca Pereira ◽

Zuzer Dhoondia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rna Polymerase ◽

Rna Polymerase Ii ◽

Essential Role ◽

Transcription Termination ◽

Active Role ◽

The Other ◽

Loop Formation ◽

Direct Role

AbstractGene loops are formed by the interaction of initiation and termination factors occupying the distal ends of a gene during transcription. RNAPII is believed to affect gene looping indirectly owing to its essential role in transcription. The results presented here, however, demonstrate a direct role of RNAPII in gene looping through the Rpb4 subunit. 3C analysis revealed that gene looping is abolished in the rpb4Δ mutant. In contrast to the other looping-defective mutants, rpb4Δ cells do not exhibit a transcription termination defect. RPB4 overexpression, however, rescued the transcription termination and gene looping defect of sua7-1, a mutant of TFIIB. Furthermore, RPB4 overexpression rescued the ssu72-2 gene looping defect, while SSU72 overexpression restored the formation of gene loops in rpb4Δ cells. Interestingly, the interaction of TFIIB with Ssu72 is compromised in rpb4Δ cells. These results suggest that the TFIIB–Ssu72 interaction, which is critical for gene loop formation, is facilitated by Rpb4. We propose that Rpb4 is promoting the transfer of RNAPII from the terminator to the promoter for reinitiation of transcription through TFIIB–Ssu72 mediated gene looping.

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Contributions to the History of Psychology: XCV. Possible Relations between Theories of Evolution and Animal Learning

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1993.73.1.211 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 73 (1) ◽

pp. 211-223 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jesse E. Purdy ◽

Arthur Harriman ◽

Joseph Molitorisz

Keyword(s):

Natural Selection ◽

20Th Century ◽

Learning Theory ◽

World View ◽

A Priori ◽

Learning Theories ◽

Late 19Th Century ◽

Theory Of Evolution ◽

History Of ◽

Theories Of Evolution

It is proposed that the dominance of continuity learning theory as set against noncontinuity learning theory during the middle third of the 20th century rested importantly on its derivation from Darwin's theory of evolution. The kinship is shown in several ways. First, Thorndike and Hull echoed the principle of natural selection in their belief that behaviors underwent gradual modification because acts that were attended steadily by favorable consequences tended to occur with increasing frequency. Second, they denied both nonphysical explanations of behavior and a priori purposes which might guide that behavior. Third, the laws of learning were said to hold for all organisms. It is argued that the continuity approach may have enjoyed success because it was consistent with the Darwinian world view. Had punctualist, rather than gradualist, explanations of evolution come to the fore in the late 19th century, learning theories might have proceeded quite differently with the dominance of noncontinuity approaches.

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Translating “natural selection” in Japanese: from “shizen tōta” to “shizen sentaku”, and back?

Bionomina ◽

10.11646/bionomina.6.1.2 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 26-48 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Taizo KIJIMA ◽

Thierry HOQUET

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Natural Selection ◽

Point Of View ◽

The Other ◽

First Finding ◽

Restriction Policy ◽

History Of ◽

Japanese Translation ◽

Over Time

This paper focuses on terminological issues related to the translation of Darwin’s concept of “natural selection” in Japanese. We analyze the historical fate of the different phrases used as translations, from the first attempts in the late 1870s until recent times. Our first finding is that the first part of the Japanese translations never changed during the period considered: “natural” was constantly rendered by “shizen”. By contrast, the Japanese terms for “selection” have dramatically changed over time. We identify some major breaks in the history of Japanese translations for “natural selection”. From the end of the 1870s to the early 1880s, several translations were suggested in books and periodicals: “shizen kanbatsu”, “shizen tōta”, “tensen”. Katō Hiroyuki adopted “shizen tōta” in 1882 and he undeniably played an important role in spreading this phrase as the standard translation for “natural selection”. The most common Japanese translation of the Origin during the first half of the 20th century (by Oka Asajirō in 1905) also used “shizen tōta”. Adramatic shift occurred after WWII, from “tōta” to “sentaku”. While a linear interpretation could suggest a move from a “bad” translation to a better one, a closer analysis leads to more challenging insights. Especially we stress the role of the kanji restriction policy, which specified which kanji should be taught in schools and thus should be used in textbooks: “tōta” was not included in the list, which may have led to the good fortune of “sentaku” in the 1950–1960s. We think the hypothesis of the influence of Chinese translations is not a plausible one. As to conceptual differences between “shizen tōta” and “sentaku”, they remain unconvincing as both terms could be interpreted as a positive or negative process: there is no clear reason to prefer one term over the other from the strict point of view of their meanings or etymology. Then, turning to the way terms are used, we compare translations of natural selection with translations of artificial or sexual selection. First we turn to the field of thremmatology (breeders): there, “tōta” (sometimes spelled in hiragana instead of kanji) often bore the meaning of culling; since 1917, breeders often used “sentaku” as a translation for “selection”. However, quite surprisingly, breeders used two different terms for selection as a practice (“senbatsu”), and “selection” as in “natural selection” (“shizen sentaku”). Finally, we compare possible translations for “sexual selection” and “matechoice”: here again, there are some good reasons to favour “tōta” over “sentaku” to avoid lexical confusion.

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GLOBALISM OF EVOLUTIONISM

Studia Philosophiae Christianae ◽

10.21697/spch.2020.56.s2.06 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 56 (S2) ◽

pp. 115-136

Author(s):

Bernard Hałaczek

Keyword(s):

Natural Selection ◽

Evolutionary Psychology ◽

20Th Century ◽

19Th Century ◽

Theory Of Evolution ◽

Scientific Disciplines ◽

Mental Abilities ◽

Human Desire ◽

The 19Th Century ◽

Social Behaviours

The phenomenon of globalization, which is well known in the economy, can nowadays be observed also in the area of science. It is based on the fact that more and more scientific disciplines are applying the same explanatory principle, namely the theory of evolution. Therefore, every development, including that of man, according to the pattern of genetic reproduction, takes place on the basis of natural selection. With psychological properties, mental abilities and social behaviours, which are eloquently referred to as “memes”, it is as with genes: only those that are better, stronger, more capable of surviving will survive after accidental changes and only they will be passed on. In short, reproduction regulates and controls human behaviour. Such a way of thinking and explanation can be found today in many publications on sociobiology and evolutionary psychology. Even if they present many new details, they pay tribute to the old human desire to explain everything in a simple way, according to the same scheme. The same expectation towards science was expressed by E. Haeckel in the 19th century and J. Monod in the 20th century. However, when these two biologists explained man as a whole based on the theory of evolution, they admitted that they referred to philosophy, to which contemporary representatives of sociobiology and evolutionary psychology cannot or do not want to confess.

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Normative Konfliktlagen: Eheschließungen mit AusländerInnen in Deutschland als administrative und interkulturelle Herausforderung (ca. 1900–1930)

Administory ◽

10.2478/adhi-2020-0009 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 136-151

Author(s):

Christoph Lorke

Keyword(s):

Social Norms ◽

20Th Century ◽

Weimar Republic ◽

Gender Relations ◽

The Other ◽

German Empire ◽

Intercultural Marriages ◽

The One

Abstract The article deals with the role of the registry office and registrars in the legal implementation of binational or intercultural marriages in the German Empire and the Weimar Republic, from the turn of the 20th century until the 1930s. As the article shows, these marriage applications posed a manifold challenge for the actors involved; on the one hand, in dealing with “strangeness” and, on the other, in the administrative-bureaucratic synchronization of legal and social norms. Above all, the question of gender relations, demographic fears, and eurocentrist as well as racist ideas were ultimately decisive for the perception and handling of such couple constellations and had a massive influence on the scope of action for both the fiancées and the registrars.

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Vesnice jako spontánně vzniklá biocentra a zásobníky biodiverzity v současné české zemědělské krajině

23rd International Colloquium on Regional Sciences ◽

10.5817/cz.muni.p210-9610-2020-70 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Pondělíček ◽

Vladimíra Šilhánková

Keyword(s):

20Th Century ◽

21St Century ◽

Rural Landscape ◽

The Other ◽

Stages Of Development ◽

Treasure Trove ◽

Other Hand ◽

Further Development

Villages and their functions in the landscape have changed significantly, and the 21st century has brought with it a number of problems in the functioning of village settlements and the rural landscape. The aim of the paper is to analyze the role of the current village in the landscape and biodiversity in the landscape and to outline the possibilities of its functioning in this system and its further development. The work is processed mainly by means of the method of terrain and local surveys. The analysis shows that throughout the 20th century the possibilities of animal and plant move in the landscape decreased and diversity in the form of gardens, cemeteries, parks and other green formations was concentrated in settlements and their immediate vicinity. Contemporary villages and smaller towns have already had a relatively stabilized strip of greenery around them, which was created together with ensuring a quality environment (e.g., soundproofing or sun elimination). This, on the other hand, allowed animals that had not been common in settlements to move into villages. To our surprise, the villages become a treasure trove of biodiversity and the preservation of fragments of important habitats from previous stages of development. The care of intra-settlement greenery thus faces a new, as yet unknown, task - how to maintain and further develop this newly created biodiversity.

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Androcentrism of English proverbs and Anti-Proverbs with Gender Components

Journal of language and Education ◽

10.17323/2411-7390-2018-4-2-82-91 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 82-91

Author(s):

Maria Kirsanova

Keyword(s):

Gender Studies ◽

20Th Century ◽

English Language ◽

Semantic Analysis ◽

The Other ◽

Men And Women ◽

Creative Commons ◽

Role Of Women ◽

Changing Role

Since the 20th century with the birth of feminism, gender studies have undergone analysis in many areas of knowledge. Special attention has been paid to the theory of androcentricity in the English language and the deficiency of female images in speech. In this article, the images of men and women presented by English proverbs and anti-proverbs are analyzed. The objective of this research is to find out if proverbs are androcentric and present male mindsets and world views. The other aim is to check whether anti-proverbs reflect the changing role of women in society. To fulfill these purposes, proverbs with gender components (man/woman, wife/husband, he/she etс.) were selected and underwent a semantic analysis. In order to reveal the evolution of the images of men and women we compared the images of men and women illustrated in proverbs with those shown in anti-proverbs with the same gender components. As a result, we came to the conclusion that both proverbs and anti-proverbs are androcentric; however, in anti-proverbs female opinions are more representative when compared to proverbs. To sum up, it is obvious that the role of women is changing and the changes are reflected in the language. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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