neurogenic

No understanding of biodiversity

October 12, 2014
James Kohl
Adaptations, Ecology
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No single explanation for biodiversity in Madagascar Excerpt: “The study is part of a larger body of research aimed at identifying the climate, geology and other features of the environment that help bring new species of plants and animals into being in an area, and then sustain once they’re there.” My comment: Like many studies, this one posits that new species automagically arise and are somehow sustained in ecological niches. Excerpt: “What governs the distribution of, say, a particular group of…

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Physics, Chemistry, and Molecular biology (PCMb)

September 29, 2014
James Kohl
Adaptations, Ecology, Pharmacogenomics, Variations
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Physics, Chemistry, and Molecular biology (PCMb) link ecological variation to ecological adaptations via a model of gene-cell-tissue-organ-organ system complexity that I first presented in 1992. After adding gene activation by pheromones, I co-authored a book that linked the pheromone-controlled physiology of reproduction across species from microbes to man: The Scent of Eros: Mysteries of Odor in Human Sexuality (1995/2002) Since then, others have written books that claimed that pheromones evolved: Pheromones and Animal Behaviour (2003/2014) and one claimed that mammals…

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Ecological variation and niche construction: 1, 2, 3

September 27, 2014
James Kohl
Adaptations, Ecology, Human Brain, Pharmacogenomics, Variations
One Comment

Part 1 From its most basic expression in grazing and predatory nematodes with differences in morphological and behavioral phenotypes, neurogenic niche construction is nutrient-dependent and pheromone-controlled. One of these two worms has teeth. It also recognizes self vs other differences and eats other worms. “The patterns of synaptic connections perfectly mirror the fundamental differences in the feeding behaviours of P. pacificus and C. elegans”, Ralf Sommer concludes. Evolutionary theorists concluded and continue to claim that “…without mutation, evolution would not…

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Some neuroscientists think a mutation led to human language development

September 15, 2014
James Kohl
Adaptations, Diseases & Disorders, Ecology
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Neuroscientists identify key role of language gene Excerpt: “Neuroscientists have found that a gene mutation that arose more than half a million years ago may be key to humans’ unique ability to produce and understand speech.” Excerpt: “…the gene that allowed us to speak may have something to do with a special kind of learning, The gene was first identified in a group of family members who had severe difficulties in speaking and understanding speech, and who were found to…

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Evolution: innovations may have non-adaptive origins (sans mutations)

July 15, 2013
James Kohl
Adaptations, Ecology, Human Brain, Neuronal Plasticity
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Q & A: Evolution Makes Do By Chris Palmer Evolutionary biologist Andreas Wagner argues that many evolutionary innovations may have non-adaptive origins. Excerpt: “If exaptations are pervasive, then natural selection—which few doubt is critical for the preservation and spreading of traits—may not be that important for the origin of innovations in life’s history.” See also: Rapid detection of positive selection in genes and genomes through variation clusters Excerpt: “They occur in well-defined domains of a protein’s tertiary structure and show…

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