Natural Science Forum / Biology / Evolution / January 2007

This is a summary of my views on the place of philosophy in bio-evo and all
the sciences.
1.    Philosophy is essential to all the sciences, including biological
evolutionary studies;

Book Review
Genetic Engineering: Dream or Nightmare?
Mae-Wan Ho, Dublin: Gateway, 2nd ed., 1999; xiii + 385 pages, ISBN
0-7171-2980-2, paperback, EUR 13.59

If symbiosis is explained by preservation of like minded genes,
then how do you explain the following symbiotic relationships:
ants and acacia tree,
termites and gut bacteria that break down wood

This question comes from a systems background. I'm not a biologist
myself, but it always struck me that evolutionary biologists seem to
have a perspective on adaptation, on ecology and on survival of species
that - to me at least - seems inspired by an explicit awareness of

A group of a species that is isolated from other members can adapt over
time, but is there any evidence about why the ancestors of this "new
species" are not able to breed with the ancestors of those other
members millions of years (or whatever) later?

The baculum (i.e., os penis) is a bone found in most mammal
species other than human beings and pygmy chimpanzies (i.e., bonobos).
Is there a feature similar to the baculum in structure (i.e.,
homologous) in nonmammalian species?

I was just wondering if psychopathy might be a uniquely human
characteristic.
More and more things seem to be shared with other animals. I know that
there are nasty chimpanzees and monkeys and even chickens (the pecking

Does anyone know of any webpages that help to visualize the
relationship between
all 4x4x4 (=64) possible RNA codons and the 20 corresponding amino
acids?

JILL NEIMARK
Science Journalist; Co-author, Why Good Things Happen To Good People
The Human Epigenome Project
There are maps, and then there are maps. We're embarking on a kind of

Question about the Komodo dragon that gave birth without mating: Was
the birth closer to asexual reproduction or to cross fertilization?
    An article that I read claimed that the Komodo dragon gave birth
by parthenogensis. It then said that other lizard species give birth by

New Scientist article on "suicidal DNA" and forbidden sequences:
``Could there be forbidden sequences in the genome - ones so
  harmful that they are not compatible with life? One group of
  researchers thinks so. Unlike most genome sequencing

As technology and ways of storing information has progressed we will in
the next 1000 years witness many trends and phenomena's of evolution.
While all knowledge up till now is based on uncontrolled experiments or
salvaged evidence from the past. Our current technology allows us to

Why do men stay with women who dont give them babies. Isnt there some
kind of check and balance in evolution . It seems like a major
loophole. My sister cant seem to get pregnant but her boyfriend isnt
going to dump her. Another thought: we obsess over breasts and hips but

ON THE ORIGIN OF INSECTS
The following points are made by H. Glenner et al (Science 2006 314:1883):
1) Although hexapods -- those arthropods having six legs, including
insects -- are the most diverse group of contemporary animals in terms of

If I look at people I know, they seem to take after one parent or the
other, not both. Is there an explanattion for this. For example, if one
parent is ugly and smart and the other is good looking and dumb, the
children seem to be either ugly/smart or goodlooking/dumb.