Proteins Controlling Evolution Discovered

Evolutionary changes are supposed to take place gradually and randomly, under pressure from natural selection. But a team of Princeton scientists investigating a group of proteins that help cells burn energy stumbled across evidence that this is not how evolution works. In fact, their discovery could revolutionize the way we understand evolutionary processes. They have evidence that organisms actually have the ability to control their own evolution.

Let's get a few possible misconceptions out of the way first. The Princeton group, composed of researchers Raj Chakrabarti, Herschel Rabitz, Stacey Springs and George McLendon, haven't proven that intelligent design is a valid scientific theory. Nor are they claiming that DNA is making a set of conscious decisions about growing extra legs or wings (though that would admittedly be cool).

What they are saying is that evolution is not entirely random, as Darwin believed. The researchers were tinkering with a set of proteins forming the electron transport chain, a system that regulates energy use in cells. They discovered that the proteins were correcting any imbalance imposed on them through artificial mutations, constantly restoring the chain to working order. A mathematical analysis revealed that these proteins seem to make these minute corrections all the time, steering organisms toward evolutionary changes that make the creature fitter.

Said Chakrabarti:

The discovery answers an age-old question that has puzzled biologists since the time of Darwin: How can organisms be so exquisitely complex, if evolution is completely random, operating like a 'blind watchmaker'? Our new theory extends Darwin's model, demonstrating how organisms can subtly direct aspects of their own evolution to create order out of randomness.

Their work seems to confirm ideas held by Darwin's colleague Alfred Wallace, who co-discovered the theory of evolution. Wallace believed that life forms undergoing natural selection could adjust their evolutionary course "exactly like that of the centrifugal governor of the steam engine, which checks and corrects any irregularities almost before they become evident." In other words: Wallace believed that organisms had a kind of evolutionary feedback control mechanism.

Added Rabitz:


What we have found is that certain kinds of biological structures exist that are able to steer the process of evolution toward improved fitness. The data just jumps off the page and implies we all have this wonderful piece of machinery inside that's responding optimally to evolutionary pressure.

The researchers put together a paper recently published in Physical Review Letters, which suggests that control theory could help explain evolution. This is likely to spark a lot of debate. But Chakrabarti says their ideas fit neatly within theories of evolution:

Biological change is always driven by random mutation and selection, but at certain pivotal junctures in evolutionary history, such random processes can create structures capable of steering subsequent evolution toward greater sophistication and complexity.

Biological change is always driven by random mutation and selection, but at certain pivotal junctures in evolutionary history, such random processes can create structures capable of steering subsequent evolution toward greater sophistication and complexity.

In other words, organisms are evolving ways to evolve better.

Link?

>>2

http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S22/60/95O56/index.xml?section=topstories

Well, that's how I always figured evolution worked anyways.

This line set off some red flags for me:

"The discovery answers an age-old question that has puzzled biologists since the time of Darwin: How can organisms be so exquisitely complex, if evolution is completely random, operating like a 'blind watchmaker'?"

It reeks of bullshit.

The "blind watchmaker" bit comes from Richard Dawkins who was refuting some fallacious "arguments from design" from the Creation camp. This quote seems to present those fallacious arguments as somehow valid or even relevant. They are neither. Biologists haven't been puzzled by complexity, as Evolution has explained it adequately for more than a century. In fact, Darwin himself laid down the general ideas of naturally arising complexity. Since the rise of modern genetics and biochemistry in the first half of the 20th century, we've put a very solid lid on the issue at large. We understand the phenomenon very well, thank you. The only problem here is the willfully ignorant, delusional ID retards who refuse to educate themselves in the slightest and instead spew the same tired bullshit claims over and over.

Now I've worked myself into a deep suspicion. Maybe I'll try looking at it in depth this weekend when I have more than a couple short hours of free time (as in, I should be sleeping right now).

Now now, discoveries are the one thing, what follows after it is more important!

I wish for a technology (real gene-therapies) for improving onself, not only if you have some "illness".

Actually , the standard would be set so, that the people now, would be defined ill :)

>>5
Not only that, but the notion that evolution is a trend towards greater sophistication and complexity is also not something any credible biologist would claim.

the only thing that makes complexity more likely is more time for it to happen to come to be, and even then it doesn't necessarily come to be in any given finite time, such as a run of 20 heads when flipping coins

My proteins control evolution, if you know what I mean

>>9
Are you implying that you fill the vaginal canal with the seed of your loins, and in doing so, generate recombinant phenotypes in your offspring?

Yes, actually

So our metabolism uses mutation as a feedback mechanism.  What does this say about the rest of the organism?  Not much, other than pointing out a topic for future research.

>>5
The Princeton group, composed of researchers Raj Chakrabarti, Herschel Rabitz, Stacey Springs and George McLendon, haven't proven that intelligent design is a valid scientific theory.
Should be enough to sound off the alarm bells.

>>12
5 here. Sorry, I thought is was assumed by default here that the OP would be a retarded sack of shit and/or troll. My bad. :)

Because they're Jewish?

At first when i read this it sounded like it was saying they found proteins that had developed with the capability to repair errors in either proteins transcribed or perhaps even genetic material itself.

As i read on it seems as though either I have severely misunderstood it or there are issues with this article.

There is no need for this added mechanism, and though i admit this alone need not generate any suspicion, when you take into account parts of the article, especially those that seem to 'relegate' evolution to simply a random process, some of this starts to sound nonsensical.

The truth is, even something that occurs by chance, over enough time and individuals, when you do the actuary tables you find it becomes almost a statistical certainty that any particular gene will undergo mutation. And we also see that there is no structure relatively complex in organization in which it absolutely cannot be seen that a past transitional form would have not conferred any benefit to our ancestors which possessed it.

So, to anyone with a comprehensive understanding of evolution via natural selection, even the increase in perceived complexity becomes a fully logical probable outcome, and not something that goes unexplained by our current understanding of evolution.

Unless I misunderstood this (which is very possible) one thing especially stands out as odd about the explanation (or lack there of) is specifically how this mechanism functions. Something has to be providing the mitochondria in which this process is occurring with information as to the specific nature of the changes necessary to confer any survivability benefit to the organism in question, otherwise these changes will probably just tend to be detrimental if it goes by any hit-or-miss process.

I hope it won't stop with the research thingy....

This was the first step. To make use of it is the biggest achievement.

MUHAHAHAHHA