New Epigenetics Study: Male Guinea Pigs Pass on Adoptive Responses to Environmental Changes

Guinea pig. Image courtesy of Laniik, public domain.




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).

Epigenetics Fuels Adaptation in Darwin’s Finches

Small ground finch (Geospiza fuliginosa). Image courtesy of Putneymark, CC BY-SA 2.0.




Joel Kontinen

Darwin’s finches should definitely be included in the list of arguments evolutionists should not use.

The tiny changes in beak size are not due to mutations and natural selection.

While they are featured in many Darwinian stories, facts do not support such storytelling.

New research suggests that the changes are due to epigenetics.

As a report posted on GenomeWeb puts it, “epigenetic variation between urban and rural populations of Darwin's finches … could underlie their adaptation to a new environment.”

The article goes on to say:

“The Galápagos Islands only recently underwent urbanization, leading the researchers to wonder how organisms there are coping with speedy environmental change. By examining populations of two species of Darwin's finches, researchers from Washington State University and the University of Utah uncovered morphological differences between urban and rural populations of Geospiza fortis as well as epigenetic differences between urban and rural populations of G. fortis and G. fuliginosa. However, as they reported in BMC Evolutionary Biology last night, they found little genetic variation.”

They did not find much morphological change in the birds.

“But when the researchers compared DNA methylation patterns — generated using methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) sequencing — they did find differences between rural and urban populations in both species.

The genes associated with the differentially methylated regions the researchers identified were typically involved in metabolism, cell signaling, and transcription, though they also differed by species. In particular, they noted that some differentially methylated regions were associated with genes in BMP/TGF-beta pathway. BMP4 expression, they added, has previously been linked to beak shape in Geospiza.”

Earlier research has also discovered that epigenetic factors help organisms to adapt to their environment.

Source:

GenomeWeb. 2017. Epigenetic Differences Found Between Urban, Rural Populations of Darwin's Finches. (24 August).

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Humans Are Still Evolving, New Study Claims

Reconstruction of Homo habilis. Many paleoanthropologists now believe that this species doesn’t even exist. Image courtesy of Lillyundfreya, CC BY-SA 2.5.





Joel Kontinen

Evolutionists seem to have a hard time pondering whether or not we are still evolving.

Last year, research suggested that human evolution has not stopped.

Now, Joseph Pickrell at Columbia University in New York and colleagues published a paper in PLoS Biology, suggesting that we are indeed evolving, albeit slowly.

How did they discover this?

They found that a variant, of the gene CHRNA3, which is often associated with heavy smoking, has become rarer.

An article in New Scientist also mentions that a variant of the gene ApoE4 that is “known to increase the risk of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, as well as cardiovascular disease, may also be getting rarer.”

So, it seems that researchers have noticed some tiny changes in human gene variants. But it is still a long way to Tipperary (or anywhere else).

There are better explanations for why people smoke less (or not at all) or have become less prone to Alzheimer’s: epigenetic changes resulting from leading a healthier lifestyle (i.e., more exercise and a wholesome diet).

Source:

Le Page, Michael. 2017. Alzheimer’s and smoking genes suggest we’re still evolving. New Scientist (5 September).

Epigenetics: The Non-Darwinian Development of the Fruit Fly

Fruit fly development does not follow Darwinian thinking. Image courtesy of André Karwath, CC BY-SA 2.5.





Joel Kontinen

Epigenetics is a big hurdle for orthodox Darwinism, in which random mutations and natural selection are supposed to run the show.

But often they don’t.

Darwinian mechanisms cannot improve the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) that is full of amazing technology.

New research suggests that epigenetics trumps Darwinian processes.

According to research highlights article in Nature:

“Environmental factors can modify the activity of genes in adult organisms without changing the underlying DNA sequences, but if and how these ‘epigenetic’ changes are passed between generations is not well understood.

Nicola Iovino at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg, Germany, and his colleagues investigated the inheritance of epigenetic modifications through proteins that DNA wraps around, known as histones.

They created fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) embryos lacking the enzyme Enhancer of zeste — one of a set of proteins that alters histone H3 by attaching methyl groups to create an epigenetic mark called H3K27me3.

Manipulated embryos showed similar levels of H3K27me3 at fertilization to those in unmanipulated ones at the same stage, confirming that both groups had inherited the modification from their mothers. But embryos lacking Enhancer of zeste could not propagate H3K27me3 during early cell divisions. They showed abnormal development and died before reaching adulthood. The authors suggest that inheriting H3K27me3 helps flies to regulate the timing and location of gene expression during early development.”

Darwin had next to nothing to do with this scenario. So, perhaps it’s high time to say good bye to his outdated thinking.

Source:

Nature Research Highlights. 2017. Epigenetics aids fly development (14 July).

More Evidence of Intelligent Design in Our Brains: Cells Repair Damaged Axons

Axons. Image courtesy of Quasar Jarosz, Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).




Joel Kontinen

The more researchers look at the brain, the more complex – and amazing – it looks. Gone are the days when they spoke about things like humans having a lizard brain, and so on.

It seems that epigenetics and gene switches run the show. A recent report on axon repair states:

“After the human genome was deciphered, epigenetics — the study of gene regulation — has moved to the forefront with the realization that genes don't matter much until they are switched on, and that genetic switches are the fundamental reason why a skin cell doesn't look like a nerve cell, and a nerve cells functions differently than a white blood cell.”

The article discusses the function of Schwann cells that play a major role in repairing damaged axons. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison “have found a switch that redirects helper cells in the peripheral nervous system into ‘repair’ mode, a form that restores damaged axons.”

The cells seem to know when repairs are needed and how to carry them out:

“In the repair mode, but not in the normal one, Schwann cells start cleaning house, helping to dissolve myelin, which is essential for proper functioning but ironically deters regeneration after injury. ‘If you invite Schwann cells to a party,’ says [Prof. John] Svaren, ‘they will clean up the bottles and wash your dishes before they leave the house.’

John Svaren, a professor of comparative biosciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is the lead author of a paper the research group published in The Journal of Neuroscience.

The research reminds us that the information programmed into our cells does things that Darwinian mechanisms never could.

Source:

University of Wisconsin-Madison. 2016. Researchers find switch that helps restore damaged axons. News Medical.net (16 September).

Environment Trumps Mutations in Madagascar Carp

Cyprinus carpio. Image courtesy of Alexander Francis Lydon, public domain.




Joel Kontinen

If Darwinists insist on describing the changes occurring in the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) as evolution, then it certainly is not of the Darwinian variety.

In Medieval Europe monks selectively bred carp that had fewer scales so the fish would be easier to prepare and cook.

While monks might not have been too fond of scales, fish need them as they protect them from parasites.

Some of these so-called mirrow carp were eventually set free in Madagascar in 1912.

A paper published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B shows that while the carp had a loss-of-function mutation resulting in “reduced scale cover”, they are now mostly covered with scales.

It seems that the environment helped them to regain something they once had. Nothing new is introduced; no evolution is occurring.

Thus, environmental factors trump mutations.

There was a time when most Darwinists believed random mutations and natural selection ran the show.

Now, they’re not too sure. Things like epigenetics and quality control in cells are prompting some prominent scientists to discard old orthodoxy.

No wonder the Royal Society is arranging a conference that will take a critical look at neo-Darwinism.

Source:

Panko, Ben. 2016. Carp undergo ‘reverse evolution’ to get their scales back. Science (23 August).

Thank Evolution for Our Finely Tuned Internal Clock?

Does evolution make us – and dogs – drowsy in the early afternoon?



Joel Kontinen

In a report on the pros and mostly cons of the Spanish siesta, the BBC invokes evolution as the ultimate explanation: “Millions of years of evolution have given our bodies a finely-tuned internal clock.”

This is not an isolated incident. Evolution is often used as an explanation for almost anything.

In Darwinian thinking, natural selection is almost a miracle worker. The facts speak an entirely different language, however.

The late Philip S. Skell, a member of the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and Emeritus Evan Pugh Professor at Pennsylvania State University, was sceptical of Darwinian explanations. Writing in The Scientist, he lamented how natural selection was used to explain practically anything:

”Natural selection makes humans self-centered and aggressive – except when it makes them altruistic and peaceable. Or natural selection produces virile men who eagerly spread their seed – except when it prefers men who are faithful protectors and providers. When an explanation is so supple that it can explain any behavior, it is difficult to test it experimentally, much less use it as a catalyst for scientific discovery.”

Mutations have not fared any better. They mostly destroy and eliminate.

In 2013, the journal Experimental Physiology published a paper by Dennis Noble, a Professor Emeritus of Oxford University, entitled Rocking the Foundations of Evolutionary Biology. He basically said that Neo-Darwinism was wrong: “All the central assumptions of the Modern Synthesis (often also called Neo-Darwinism) have been disproved.”

There’s more. Epigenetics is a big challenge for Darwinian orthodoxy.

And soft tissue in dinosaurs and marine reptiles as well as radiocarbon in dinosaur bone challenge the millions-of-years mantra.

When it comes to our internal clock, the Darwinian dimension seems to be totally superfluous – it’s merely another just so story that has nothing to do with true science.

Source:

BBC Magazine. 2016. The end of the Spanish siesta? (9 April).









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Epigenetics: Big Challenge for Orthodox Darwinism

Guinea pigs don’t bother much about Darwinism. Image courtesy of Laniik, public domain.



Joel Kontinen

For decades, evolutionists attempted to explain virtually everything in the animal kingdom as a result of natural selection acting on random mutations.

Recently, however, both mutations and natural selection have received some heavy flak for failing to correspond to reality. First, natural selection is not that powerful. It merely eliminates undesired traits. Second, mutations are not that random, and they cause animals to loose genetic information, leading, for instance, to blindness.

Then there’s epigenetics.

New research published in the journal Molecular Ecology suggests that guinea pigs can adapt to raising temperatures by adjusting their DNA. According to an article published in New Scientist:

“Hot stuff. For the first time, wild mammals have been seen responding to higher temperatures by altering chemical structures on their DNA. These epigenetic changes may adjust the activity of specific genes, and some are passed on to offspring.”

Alexandra Weyrich of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, Germany, explains:

“Evolution by genetic mutation and natural selection can be slow. But epigenetic changes that affect how genes are expressed, such as attaching methyl molecules onto DNA, are much faster and more flexible. Experiments in a type of brine shrimp and the plant Arabidopsis thaliana have shown that such heat-induced epigenetic responses can even be inherited by the next generation.”

So, while she seems to buy into the Darwinian worldview, at least to some extent, the research she published with her colleagues is anything but neo-Darwinian.

They studied South American guinea pigs. Their results seemed to indicate that at least these animals could adapt to a warmer climate. The guinea pigs showed “significantly altered methylation in at least 10 genes that seem to be linked to regulating body temperature.”

Their DNA did not change. It is not known whether the changes are inheritable, but the research nonetheless suggests that whereas the key players in Darwinian evolution, i.e. natural selection and mutations, fail to work, epigenetics runs the show.

It sounds a lot like a designed feature that was programmed into the guinea pigs from the beginning, to help them cope in different kinds of environments.

Source:

Sarchet, Penny. 2016. Guinea pigs beat climate change by tweaking their own DNA. New Scientist (6 January).