Evolutionary artifact

Richard Dawkins writes in River out of Eden about research showing ‘how the first living photocell came into being by step-by-step modification of an earlier, more general-purpose cell.’

He speaks about skin as tissue, as is the lining of the intestine, muscle and liver. Like the rest of our physiology ‘tissues can change in various ways under the influence of random mutation. Sheets of tissue can become larger or smaller in area. They can become thicker or thinner. In the special case of transparent tissues like lens tissue, they can change the refractive index (the light-bending power) of local parts of the tissue.’ [New York, Basic Books, 1995, pp.77-83]

The beginning of the human eye likely evolved from the ever-thinning skin membrane of an underwater being. J. Craig Venter, who voyaged the world like Charles Darwin did in The Beagle about 150 years ago, was surprised to find so many underwater beings having light-sensitive membranes.

Our salty tears are a reminder of an oceanic origin now long gone. The first animals with anything resembling an eye lived about 550 million years ago and that it would have taken about 364,000 years, not terribly long in evolutionary terms, for a camera-like eye as we have to have evolved from a light-sensitive patch or membrane. Many animal species see with their ears – like dolphins and bats - observes Diane Ackerman in her Natural History of the Senses – ‘but for us the world becomes most densely informative, most luscious, when we take it in through our eyes. It may be', she speculates with literary license ‘that abstract thinking evolved from our eyes’ elaborate struggle to make sense of what they saw.’[New York, Vintage, 1995, p.230].

Changing climate, changing behaviour

We could say that climate is the average state of the weather; unlike weather it is fairly stable. It is by no means a modern thing - changes in global climate are natural and expected and have continued throughout the entire history of the Earth.

Climate change refers to the cyclical variations over time of the Earth’s atmosphere as well as its land surface, oceans and polar caps. Changes are measured over time scales ranging from seasons to millions of years. Indicators such as ice cores and tree rings reveal that the earth’s climate has in fact gone through dramatic hot and cold periods every 1,500 years or so. Changes have primarily been the result of events linked to the Earth’s geology, atmosphere, solar intensity and slight variations in its orbit.

BT Corn: future or fear?

It doesn’t take much to see that the public discussion over the genetic modification of food within Europe has gone considerably astray. Scientists often lament the lack of scientific input (and may reflect on why there is so little), while civil society groups lament the lack of public voice and the restrictions on the current debate. The issue has become so sensitive that the slightest hint of agreement or disagreement with a particular form of biotechnology brings forth a barrage of media and political criticism (and support) quite out of proportion to any specific research or proposed introduction of new technology. Instead of sensitive debate about complex risks (not only bio-risks, but also socio-economic risks), we have two camps at war. I have little doubt - from the short period of time that I have been researching into the African biotechnology debate - this warring scenario is already spreading fast across the African continent. In this blog I will argue that one way out of this now polarised situation is to a step back, reflect upon our conceptualisation of the gene itself, and then re-launch the debate without recourse to deterministic views of genetics.