Search Results for: Jablonka

More dumb claims that environmental epigenetics will completely revise our view of evolution

There’s an interesting new paper out on the genetic basis of eye loss in cave fish, reported in a manuscript in biorxiv (not yet peer reviewed) by Aniket Gore et al. (reference and free download at bottom. ) It’s also summarized by New Scientist in the online article below (click on screenshot to go to article), … Continue reading More dumb claims that environmental epigenetics will completely revise our view of evolution

Laland at it again: touts a “radically different” account of evolution

Yes, the folks who want evolutionary biology to be radically expanded to take into account phenomena like development, “niche construction,” culture, and epigenetics are at it again, and again they have nothing to offer but a few lab examples mixed with a lot of hype. And the promoter of this view is once again Kevin … Continue reading Laland at it again: touts a “radically different” account of evolution

Templeton wastes $11 million in attempt to change evolutionary biology

For some time, a group of biologists have been promoting the idea that the Modern Synthetic Theory of Evolution (which they call “Standard Evolutionary Theory,” or SET) is incomplete in major ways, and needs a reboot. Their main contention is that the SET is too “gene-centric”, and ignores environmental factors—like non-genetic developmental plasticity, epigenetic modification,  and ‘niche … Continue reading Templeton wastes $11 million in attempt to change evolutionary biology

Should there be a “Third Way” of evolution? I think not.

Someone just called a fairly new “Evolution-Needs-a-New-Paradigm” website to my attention, and I wish they hadn’t. The site, “The Third Way of Evolution,” has been going for some time and, according to the its notes, was created last May by two biologists, James Shapiro (here at the University of Chicago) and Dennis Noble, a renowed physiologist who was formerly a … Continue reading Should there be a “Third Way” of evolution? I think not.

Does evolution need a revolution?

I’m a bit late on this one, but the Albatross has kept me occupied. This post will be of interest mainly to science buffs, particularly those who already know a bit about evolution. But I’ll weigh in anyway, for, like an egg-eating snake expelling the shell, I had to get this out. On October 9, the … Continue reading Does evolution need a revolution?

BBC Radio 4 tonight: a revolution in evolution? NOT

Over my whole career, but especially in the last half-dozen years or so, I’ve heard that neo-Darwinism (the modern theory of evolution) is either wrong, in a crisis, or about to undergo a profound Kuhnian paradigm shift.  And it’s never happened.   Neo-Darwinism gets expanded (things like the “neutral theory,” for example, were adopted and largely … Continue reading BBC Radio 4 tonight: a revolution in evolution? NOT

Is “epigenetics” a revolution in evolution?

One often hears the suggestion that the neo-Darwinian view of evolution is on the skids, and that that view will be completely changed—if not overturned—by new biological ideas like modularity, genetic assimilation, evolvability, and epigenetics.  Epigenetics in particular (I’ll define it in a moment) has been especially touted as a concept that will revolutionize evolutionary … Continue reading Is “epigenetics” a revolution in evolution?

Epigenetics: the light and the way?

How often do you see an editor of a scientific journal complain that a field is overhyped?   Well, you can see it this week in Current Biology, where Florian Maderspacher, the senior reviews editor, takes out after the current penchant of  journalists to see epigenetics as the Great Missing Piece of Biology—a field that will … Continue reading Epigenetics: the light and the way?