Joel Kontinen
In wild guinea pigs, “epigenetic modifications specific to individual environmental factors are passed on to the next generation. The study is published in the scientific journal Genes.”
They taught that natural selection and mutation would do the trick. As Ann Gauger tells us, “DNA is copied into RNA, then RNA is translated into protein. Consequently, proteins cannot exist without DNA. However, DNA cannot exist without proteins either.”
However, epigenetics did the job much easier:
Alexandra Weyrich and her colleagues studied “two groups of male wild guinea pigs. One group was fed a protein-reduced diet for two months, the other group was exposed to an increase in ambient temperature of ten degrees (Celsius) for the same period.”
“Epigenetic modifications can translate environmental changes much faster provided the genome already contains the necessary flexibility for an adequate response. During epigenetic modifications, the genetic code is not altered but specific genes are activated and strengthened or shut down through several chemical processes.”
Mutations cannot cause Darwinian evolution – they arise too slowly. And, as Gauger tells us, natural selection cannot make make us humans from a chimpanzee like forefather.
Source:
Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V (FVB) 2018. New epigenetic study: Guinea pig fathers pass on adaptive responses to environmental changes Phys. org (28 December).
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