Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua has confirmed that a third gene-edited baby has been born as part of researcher He Jiankui’s controversial experiment.
Source: China Quietly Confirms Birth of Third Gene-Edited Baby
Month: December 2019
How fish fins evolved just before the transition to land
Research on fossilized fish from the late Devonian period, roughly 375 million years ago, details the evolution of fins as they began to transition into limbs fit for walking on land.
Source: How fish fins evolved just before the transition to land
Breakthrough in Understanding Evolution – Mitochondrial Division Conserved Across Species
New study shows exactly how the manner in which mitochondria divide has remained the same since evolution began. Cellular origin is well explained by the “endosymbiotic theory,” which famously states that higher organisms called “eukaryotes” have evolved from more primitive single-celled organisms
Source: Breakthrough in Understanding Evolution – Mitochondrial Division Conserved Across Species
China sentences scientist behind world’s first gene-edited babies —
He and his fellow researchers “breached the moral bottom line of scientific research and medical ethics,” the court said.
Source: China sentences scientist behind world’s first gene-edited babies — Quartz
Thousands of Koalas Feared Dead in Australia Wildfires
Record wildfires continue: “I think this is the single loudest alarm bell I’ve ever heard on global heating.”
Source: Thousands of Koalas Feared Dead in Australia Wildfires | Common Dreams News
You’re Not So Different From an Octopus: Rethinking Our Relationship to Animals
We are on the cusp of revolutionizing the way we understand the animal world, says naturalist Sy Montgomery.
Source: You’re Not So Different From an Octopus: Rethinking Our Relationship to Animals
Is a recent YouTube vid a symptom of end-stage Darwinism?
Via the Institute of Art and Ideas, Massimo Pigliucci, Zanna Clay, Tim Lewens address the question, “Is evolution wrong?” It’s not a “PR crisis.” It’s a collision with reality.
Source: Is a recent YouTube vid a symptom of end-stage Darwinism? | Uncommon Descent
How birds drop ‘unnecessary’ genes can help us understand evolution
Humans, the latest tally suggests, have approximately 21,000 genes in our genome, the set of genetic information in an organism. But do we really need every gene we have? What if we lost three or four? What if we lost 3,000 or 4,000? Could we still function? Humans have variation in their genomes, but the […]
Source: How birds drop ‘unnecessary’ genes can help us understand evolution
Trump and his followers have weaponized Christmas. But the true spirit of the holiday holds other possibilities – Alternet.org
The Malthusian social-Darwinist Scrooge and his Republican Party continue to gut programs such as food stamps, assistance for the disabled, health care, and other remnants of the social safety net, while giving the very richest Americans trillions of dollars in tax cuts. Trump’s regime continues its assault on the rule of law, the Constitution and human rights.
Darwiniana 