Epigenetic Lamarck

Conrad Waddington originated the term epigenetics from the Greek term for "above" or "epi," the genes. He was a fascinating individual. He was probably a polymath genius. He was not a respecter of tradition. When he saw things in the lab that did not follow the rule of NeoDarwinism, he was quick to point out such observations.  One such observation was made in fruit flies, a standard model for studying genetics. He noticed that if the larvae were subjected to heat, the veins in the developed fly wings would show a different pattern. After several generations, these changes could become permanent. He realized this was far too quick for neo-Darwinian changes. He concluded there must be something going on top of the genes, ergo epigenetics. Other scientists of this field called evo-devo (evolution-development) realized the same thing. However, the main drivers of evolutionary theory were the population geneticists, and they dismissed his findings." Wit

The word "adaptation'' was used 36 times by Darwin in his book, Origin of the Species. This quote is the closest Darwin came to a full definition: "The structure of each part of each species, for whatever purpose it may serve, is the sum of many inherited changes through which the species has passed during its successive adaptations to changed habits and conditions of life."- Origin of the Species. Darwin's "adaptation" is intimately intertwined with the terms "natural selection" and "survival of the fittest."  Darwin's view of evolution was that organisms would slowly "morph" into a new organism by the process of adaptation. This was, however, disproven by Gregor Mendel's work which caused a crisis amongst Darwinists in the early nineteen hundreds. Mendel showed "genetic" traits that we're "particulate" and that they did not "morph" into each other instead remained

"This preservation of favorable individual differences and variations, and the destruction of those which are injurious, I have called Natural Selection or the Survival of the Fittest."-Origin of the Species, Darwin. Darwin used the "term" natural selection over 300 times in the origin of the species. Today evolution is often referred to as neo-Darwinism or the modern synthesis. It proposes that the DNA mutates randomly, causing a more "fit" phenotype or organism. Natural selection "acts" on this form, thereby preserving that mutation in the genes or genotype. Fisher was one of the fathers of neo-Darwinism which combined the rediscovered field of genetics by Darwin's contemporary Gregory Mendel. It was one hundred years after Darwin proposed natural selection that Fischer discussed the genetic basis of natural selection. He says: "The genetical theory of natural selection" Fisher 1958" This has had the unfortunate c

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"Population genetics is a field of biology that studies the genetic composition of biological populations and the changes in genetic composition that result from the operation of various factors, including natural selection." Population genetics is intimately bound up with the study of evolution and natural selection and is regarded as the theoretical cornerstone of modern Darwinism." From the early 1920s to a hundred years later, populational genetics has been a Cornerstone of evolutionary thinking. It was the basis of neo-Darwinism, aka the modern synthesis. From this, the "gene-centric" point of view was formed. When combined with the "central dogma theory" of Francis Crick in the early 1960s, it became even more codified. Due to a quasi-religious following of this theory, many areas of contrasting studies were downplayed until the last two decades when the field of epigenetics was discovered. The central dogma assumed that the DNA went

Neo-Darwinism depends upon "random" mutations to make a new phenotype (form).  SNP or Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms are the primary mutations neo-Darwinism relies on. They are point mutations that cause a single nucleotide change, of which there are four, A, T, C, and G. (above). These mutations, in theory, make new phenotypes for natural selection to operate thus fixing this mutation in the genome. These authors recognize that there is such a small number of them that they do not explain human evolution or disease. If SNP's don't account for disease (a different phenotype), how do they cause a distinct evolutionary phenotype? They suggest there are other factors at play. As we will discover, these factors are epigenetic ones.  The author's state: (2002-pre-epigenetics) "SNP alleles in human disease and evolution" "In two randomly selected human genomes, 99.9% of the DNA sequence is identical. The remaining 0.1% of DNA cont

The Human Genome Project (HGP) was arguably the most significant scientific failure of United States history.  It was a 13-year project costing three billion dollars, and it yielded little information. Francis Collins, a theistic evolutionist, headed up the project.  As an evolutionist, he was committed to modern synthesis. A vital component of this is Francis Crick's "central dogma."  The central dogma only looks at protein-coding DNA because, according to evolutionary theory, these are the proteins for which Darwins natural selection act.  Less than 2% of the human DNA is made up of these protein-coding genes. The other 98% does not code for protein.  For this reason, evolutionists labeled this as " junk DNA." Therefore the HGP ignored 98% of the DNA based on evolutionary thinking. Richard Dawkins popularized this as selfish DNA, which "hung around" for reasons of its own. He's on record saying that this junk DNA is the most potent ar

Polyphenism is the phenomenon where two or more distinct phenotypes (forms) are produced by the same genotype (genes). There are several types of polyphenism in animals, from having sex determined by the environment to the castes of honey bees and other social insects . Evolution today is also known as the modern synthesis AKA NeoDarwinism. It combines Darwin's "natural selection" with the study of population genetics. It states that "random" mutations occur in the DNA changing the genome that causes the creation of a new phenotype (form) to occur. This is acted upon by "natural selection" to fix the mutations in the genotype (all the genes).  Polyphenism occurs without a change in the genotype. But how then can there be more than one phenotypes arising from the one genotype? From Darwin through the modern synthesis up till approximately 15 years ago this remained a mystery. Epigenetics however is changing all this. By regulating a "si

Darwin started his Origin of Species with chapter 1 - "the variation of domestication".  Dog domestication figured prominently in this chapter. Darwin used this model to develope his signature "natural selection". In the 1900's the modern synthesis incorporated natural selection and population genetics with the study of alleles (genes) with random mutations to explain evolution. This gene-centric point of view has unfortunately led neo-Darwinists down the wrong path. They did not realize other factors were sitting on top of genes (epigenetics) that cause the expression of the organism into different phenotypes (forms). Their strong commitment to this view caused them to ignore such pioneers as Barbara  McClintock and Conrad Waddington as well as other information coming out of the Botanical fields. Theirs was a quasi-religious commitment to Darwin. Jean-Baptist Lamarck lived 50 years before Darwin and proposed the organisms had "agency" and

Phenotypic plasticity (PP) refers to changes in an organism's behavior, morphology, and physiology in response to a unique environment.  It's been known since the beginning of mankind that plants would act differently depending on where you place them.  But how does this fit in with the modern theory of evolution i.e. neo-Darwinism? Under neo-Darwinism there must first be a mutation that changes the genotype which then is naturally selected to form a new phenotype. Phenotypic plasticity occurs almost immediately. How can this be accounted for by gradual mutations with natural selection? I decided to do a journal search on phenotypic plasticity starting in the last century and moving up to the current date. As you'll notice as time goes on scientists drop neo-Darwinism as an explanation of phenotypic plasticity to the new field of epigenetics. The man that first discusses phenotypic plasticity was A.D. Bradshaw in 1965. He says: "Phenotypic plasticity is und

Adaptive Radiation is defined as, "the diversification of a group of organisms into forms filling different ecological niches." The term originated in the early 1900's. Darwin's Finches was the most popular use of the term as the Galapagos islands fit the concept of "ecological niches". It's been an area of difficulty for NeoDarwinism due to the speed of it's occurrence as Darwn called for slow decent with modification.  As well as the paucity of genetic variance in the subjects studied. Recall Neodarwinism requires genetic mutations and natural selection ergo a different genotype. These authors decided to take a different track to see if Lamarckian epigenetics could explain this phenomena in invasive species of plants. Recall epigenetics works to control the genes without changing the DNA sequence. They begin: "As successful invasive species sometimes are suspected to rapidly adjust to their new environments in spite of very low gen