Usain Bolt. A “hopeful monster”? A descriptive case study (Usain Bolt. Un "monstruo esperanzado"? Un estudio de caso descriptivo)

Usain Bolt's stunning sportive achievements sparked admiration from around the world and raised the question of the genesis of his sport excellence. In the light of the various theories of evolution, we try to understand whether there are evolutionary grounds for considering Usain Bolt a “hopeful monster”, i.e. a transgressive phenotype beyond the range of parental phenotypes. This hypothesis would call into question the gradualism defended by Darwin and would give room to saltationism by which profound changes can occur in one or a few generations. It seems that the saltational hypothesis is not scientifically adequate to justify Usain Bolt’s sport performance. Not knowing the genetic profile of Usain Bolt and his ancestors, we can hypothesize that his sporting excellence is the result of a given polymorphism or phenotypic changes induced by ecological determinants, among which training and nutrition stand out.We can admit that Usain Bolt is a rare case of developmental plasticity that enables his genome to generate a phenotype associated with a specific competence for sprinting.In the current state of scientific knowledge, there is no way to associate any polymorphism with performance in sporting events related to strength and speed but a challenging field is open for science. Aware of the difficulties in characterizing Usain Bolt, he is undoubtedly the result of an extraordinary combination of genetic and environmental factors. Resumen. Los impresionantes logros deportivos de Usain Bolt despertaron la admiración de todo el mundo y plantearon la cuestión de la génesis de su excelencia deportiva. A la luz de las diversas teorías de la evolución, tratamos de comprender si existen bases evolutivas para considerar a Usain Bolt como un "monstruo esperanzado", es decir, un fenotipo transgresor más allá del rango de fenotipos parentales. Esta hipótesis pondría en tela de juicio el gradualismo defendido por Darwin y daría lugar al saltacionismo mediante el cual pueden ocurrir cambios profundos en una o pocas generaciones. Parece que la hipótesis saltacional no es científicamente adecuada para justificar el rendimiento deportivo de Usain Bolt. Sin conocer el perfil genético de Usain Bolt y sus ancestros, podemos plantear la hipótesis de que su excelencia deportiva es el resultado de un determinado polimorfismo o cambios fenotípicos inducidos por determinantes ecológicos, entre los que destacan el entrenamiento y la nutrición. Podemos admitir que Usain Bolt es un caso raro de plasticidad del desarrollo que permite que su genoma genere un fenotipo asociado con una competencia específica para correr. En el estado actual del conocimiento científico, no hay forma de asociar ningún polimorfismo con el rendimiento en eventos deportivos relacionados con la fuerza y la velocidad, pero hay un campo desafiante para la ciencia. Consciente de las dificultades para caracterizar a Usain Bolt, es sin duda el resultado de una extraordinaria combinación de factores genéticos y ambientales.

Hybridization generates a hopeful monster: a hermaphroditic selfing cichlid

Compared with other phylogenetic groups, self-fertilization (selfing) is exceedingly rare in vertebrates and is known to occur only in one small clade of fishes. Here we report observing one F 1 -hybrid individual that developed into a functional hermaphrodite after crossing two closely-related sexually reproducing species of cichlids. Microsatellite alleles segregated consistent with selfing and Mendelian inheritance and we could rule out different modes of parthenogenesis including automixis. We discuss why selfing is not more commonly observed in vertebrates in nature, and the role of hybridization in the evolution of novel traits.

Hopeful Monsters: A Queer Hope of Evolutionary Difference

This article explores how contemporary literary and visual texts create a scientific imaginary haunted by the work of the discredited evolutionary biologist Richard Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt's theory of the hopeful monster placed that which is different, changing and monstrous at the heart of evolution. The aim of this article is therefore to examine how macromutation (also known as saltational theory) makes manifest an anxiety, but also an exciting potentiality, about the human's interrelational existence with plant, animal, inanimate and technological life. It moves between Goldschmidt's theories of evolution and cultural representations that resonate with his work to suggest that the hopeful monster questions the dehumanisation of and violence towards different others by bringing monstrous difference to the centre of species' survival. The focus here is how Goldschmidt's ideas reverberate in contemporary culture, particularly how these resonances invite a questioning of the supposed threat of difference to imagined individual and national security and unity. Engaging with the Hollywood film series X-Men and Hiromi Goto's collection of short stories Hopeful Monsters, this article explores how these texts make manifest the ontological anxieties of facing (our) monsters, and thus the environmental and socio-political consequences and potentialities of being of, with and next to difference.