The biologically-based origin of the mammalian placenta

Excerpt: “…transposable elements are major forces of evolution and rapid evolution, particularly in the reproductive organs,” said Julie Baker,”

My comment: Transposable elements can be compared in the context of the NIH statement: “…mutations supply the raw material from which new life forms evolve…” The NIH statement loses credibility, as serious scientists continue to conclusively show that “Ecological variation is the raw material by which natural selection can drive evolutionary divergence [1–4].”

I think Julie Baker could take Gunter Wagner’s group’s representation of nutrient-dependent changes in the microRNA/messenger RNA balance and link viral microRNAs to RNA-directed DNA methylation and RNA-mediated changes in DNA via the metabolism of the nutrients to species-specific pheromones.

She knows enough about the RNA-mediated sexual differentiation of cell types to link hormone-organized and hormone activated behavior in mammals from the origins of cell type differences in microbes. See for details our section on molecular epigenetics in From Fertilization to Adult Sexual Behavior. Julie co-authored Endogenous retroviruses function as species-specific enhancer elements in the placenta. Nothing known about the molecular epigenetics of cell type differentiation has ever changed. The metabolism of nutrients to pheromones facilitates the species-specific physiology of reproduction.

Other serious scientists could bring in aspects of what is currently known about how thermodynamic cycles of protein biosynthesis and degradation link nutrient-dependent changes in the microRNA/messenger RNA balance to amino acid substitutions that differentiate all cell types in all individuals of all species. Alternatively, others could skip the reviews of molecular biology and cell type differentiation and jump to what’s known about 1) yeasts: Signaling Crosstalk: Integrating Nutrient Availability and Sex and what’s known about 2) mammals: Feedback loops link odor and pheromone signaling with reproduction

1) “The mechanism by which one signaling pathway regulates a second provides insight into how cells integrate multiple stimuli to produce a coordinated response.”

2) “Indications that GnRH peptide plays an important role in the control of sexual behaviors suggest that pheromone effects on these behaviors might also involve GnRH neurons.”

However, even those who prefer science fiction can find an accurate representation of how human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) and viral microRNAs link ecological variation to ecological adaptation. In Greg Bear’s novels, Darwin’s Radio and  Darwin’s Children, he tells how events lead from an HERV to the evolution of a new human species. His detailed story-line parallels facts that link Guenther Witzany’s works to his conclusions in Life is physics and chemistry and communication and to my conclusions in Nutrient-dependent/pheromone-controlled adaptive evolution: a model.

Kudos to Gunter Wagner’s group for their insightful integration of what is currently known about biologically-based cause and effect, which links the epigenetic landscape to the physical landscape of DNA in species from microbes to man.

For additional information see links from this blog site to RNA-mediated events. The amount of information may overwhelm you. It may also anger those who were taught to believe that mutations somehow led to the evolution of increasing organismal complexity — or linked dinosaurs to the evolution of birds. The take home proclamation from Gunter Wagner’s group is included in the article abstract: “…mammals preserve stages in the transition from egg laying to live birth.”

This takes us from obvious misrepresentations attributed to the fossil record to accurate representations of RNA-mediated amino acid substitutions and changes in the stability of DNA in organized genomes. Simply put, it replaces anything people were taught to believe about the fossil record with evidence of biologically-based cause and effect. The evidence is found in our DNA and in the DNA of every other species that has ever existed. Anyone who is ready to stop believing in pseudoscientific nonsense may also want to see the February issue of Acts & Facts. Nathaniel T. Jeanson updates the knowledge base of serious scientists in Part 5 of his “BioOrigins Project Update.”

The series: “Purpose, Progress, and Promise” shows what a Harvard graduate with a Ph.D. in cell and developmental biology can do with established facts about biologically-based cause and effect. In a single page article that is easy to understand, he tells about “The intense focus the secular community has placed on human genetics… [and why] … the burden of proof has swung away from creationists and now falls on the evolutionary community.”

I refer to the evolutionary community as the evolution industry, but who cares what you call it now that it’s been devalued. Simply put, in Jeanson’s words, “Creationists can now make testable, accurate predictions in the realm of human genetics, and the evolutionary community has failed to produce convincing counter-explanations.” In Theodosius Dobzhansky’s words, his creationist views can be compared to his representations of mutations based on what is now known about the role of nutrient-dependent RNA-mediated cell type differentiation via amino acid substitutions. “…the so-called alpha chains of hemoglobin have identical sequences of amino acids in man and the chimpanzee, but they differ in a single amino acid (out of 141) in the gorilla.” (1973)

More than 4 decades later, Gunter Wagner’s group has removed the role of mutations from any further consideration whatsoever in the context of increasing organismal complexity that is obviously nutrient-dependent and pheromone-controlled by the fixation of amino acid substitutions in species from microbes to man. Note, however that this is more than a decade after Greg Bear detailed the role of HERVs in increasing organismal complexity.

Should serious scientists know more that science fiction writers or science journalists about biologically-based cause and effect? Here’s a journalist’s report on the work by Wagner’s group. Ancient ‘genomic parasites’ spurred evolution of pregnancy in mammals. The portrayal of nutrient-dependent microRNAs, which control mutations, in the context of transposable elements as ‘genomic parasites’ is one that will lead to even more pathology no matter who believes in that nonsense.

Jeanson is a serious scientist, and so am I. Every other serious scientist I know is likely to agree that Gunter Wagner’s group just eliminated nearly all the pseudoscientific nonsense about mutations that has, until now, linked beneficial mutations to evolution despite the fact that mutations have only ever been linked to physiopathology. The pathology arises largely due to ongoing ignorance about how the sun’s biological energy links metabolic networks to genetic networks in health and disease. For example, excess sun exposure can lead to skin cancer. In moderation, sun exposure is a health benefit. I’ve discussed some of that already, and there is plenty more to come.