The genetic grounds of biology have been severely criticized
Monday, December 18, 2017
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The call to revise the theoretical basis of biology, directed against the "genetic" view of things, and based on the second law of thermodynamics, was recently published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. The authors of the article "Genes are not important: reassessing the foundations of biology", Arto Annil Annila) and Keith Baverstock (Keith Baverstock), argue that the important role that modern science attributes to genes is based on a misinterpretation of the data of experimental genetics. The "genetic biology" should be replaced by a fundamental analysis of how the cell uses energy.
Is this "hidden" in your genes?
By "this" we mean mental abilities, sexual orientation, increased risk of cancer, stroke and heart attack, a propensity for deviant behavior, political views, religion, etc., etc. Scientists attribute to genes the influence (direct or indirect) on all these aspects of a person's life. Genes are not the cause of these properties, but geneticists find associations between them and specific genes (many of these associations are very doubtful and / or random).
Where such confidence?
When a gene (a chain of bases on a DNA molecule) begins to "act", it is first transcribed, and then translated into a peptide - a chain of amino acids. To determine biological properties, it must "fold" into protein. This process takes place with the absorption of energy and, therefore, obeys the second law of thermodynamics - but also in the environment where coagulation occurs. These two factors mean the absence of a causal relationship between the original coding sequence and the biological role of the protein.
Is there empirical evidence for this theory?
Yes. A study of twins in Scandinavia in 2000 did not provide any evidence of the "genetic" nature of cancer: that is, genes do not play any role in the etiology of cancer. A more ambitious international study of identical twins (50,000 pairs, 2012) showed that this conclusion also applies to other diseases. Although the human genome was fully deciphered back in 2001, no one could link the abnormal sequences of genes with common diseases (hence the "missing heredity" problem).
What is the essence of the revision?
At the most fundamental level, living organisms are energy-consuming systems; from the point of view of physics - complex dissipative systems. When energy enters the cell, leaves it, and circulates inside it, the fundamental physical limitations (associated with the second law of thermodynamics) require these streams to be of maximum efficiency-that is, they must follow the path of least resistance in space and time.
The exchange of energy can create new properties that change these flows, which generates new properties - and so on. The result is an evolution from simple organisms to complex ones (both in form and function), which can be described without resorting to the concept of a gene. This theory is supported by computer models of the virtual ecosystem, developed by Mauno Rönkkö from the University of Eastern Finland.
What are the practical consequences of this theory?
There are a lot of them, but here are the most urgent:
1. To consider that genes inevitably affect our health and behavior is to distract from the true causes of diseases, many of which are related to the environment in which we live.
2. The strategy of "personalized medical care" popular in Europe, which is based on the idea of predicting future human diseases by analyzing its DNA, will prove to be expensive and useless.
By "this" we mean mental abilities, sexual orientation, increased risk of cancer, stroke and heart attack, a propensity for deviant behavior, political views, religion, etc., etc. Scientists attribute to genes the influence (direct or indirect) on all these aspects of a person's life. Genes are not the cause of these properties, but geneticists find associations between them and specific genes (many of these associations are very doubtful and / or random).
Where such confidence?
When a gene (a chain of bases on a DNA molecule) begins to "act", it is first transcribed, and then translated into a peptide - a chain of amino acids. To determine biological properties, it must "fold" into protein. This process takes place with the absorption of energy and, therefore, obeys the second law of thermodynamics - but also in the environment where coagulation occurs. These two factors mean the absence of a causal relationship between the original coding sequence and the biological role of the protein.
Is there empirical evidence for this theory?
Yes. A study of twins in Scandinavia in 2000 did not provide any evidence of the "genetic" nature of cancer: that is, genes do not play any role in the etiology of cancer. A more ambitious international study of identical twins (50,000 pairs, 2012) showed that this conclusion also applies to other diseases. Although the human genome was fully deciphered back in 2001, no one could link the abnormal sequences of genes with common diseases (hence the "missing heredity" problem).
What is the essence of the revision?
At the most fundamental level, living organisms are energy-consuming systems; from the point of view of physics - complex dissipative systems. When energy enters the cell, leaves it, and circulates inside it, the fundamental physical limitations (associated with the second law of thermodynamics) require these streams to be of maximum efficiency-that is, they must follow the path of least resistance in space and time.
The exchange of energy can create new properties that change these flows, which generates new properties - and so on. The result is an evolution from simple organisms to complex ones (both in form and function), which can be described without resorting to the concept of a gene. This theory is supported by computer models of the virtual ecosystem, developed by Mauno Rönkkö from the University of Eastern Finland.
What are the practical consequences of this theory?
There are a lot of them, but here are the most urgent:
1. To consider that genes inevitably affect our health and behavior is to distract from the true causes of diseases, many of which are related to the environment in which we live.
2. The strategy of "personalized medical care" popular in Europe, which is based on the idea of predicting future human diseases by analyzing its DNA, will prove to be expensive and useless.
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