So, my favorite of the evolution materials was the Genetic Toolkit: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/03/4/l_034_04.html
Which is under the "change" button on the pbs link.
It's pretty cool, it talks about how we are all made of the same set of genes, just in different combos, so Walter Garing from the University of Basil gene for eyes from a mouse into a fruit fly and the fruit fly grew normal fruit fly eyes. The conclusion of one of the scientists featured in the show's preview is that we all came from the same one ancestor who originally had this packet of genes.
For me, I have this way of thinking that rather than this one ancestor that once occurred at a certain origin point, that instead the entire world, and maybe even beyond is like, imbued with the seed of this genetic packet, an essence in all things that could at any time sprout into a variety of life, interdependent groups of species, even cultures, given varying conditions.
Lately I've been thinking a lot about dinosaurs since my son is really obsessed with them and we read books about them. It's incredible to me to imagine a gigantic creature, how much it would have to eat each day. I think that way about the blue whale, too. Sometimes I think, why not, just eat and eat and eat and grow larger, there's certainly enough plant material and animal material out there, and yet to sustain that is so much.
Here is a good basic definition of evolution from the UC Berkeley Evolution 101 course: "Biological evolution, simply put, is descent with modification. This definition encompasses small-scale evolution (changes in gene frequency in a population from one generation to the next) and large-scale evolution (the descent of different species from a common ancestor over many generations)."
ok, over and out!
I like your idea about this whole world being imbued with the genetic seed and could at any time sprout into a variety of life. New forms of life continue to emerge as we speak. Just a few months ago, it was discovered that methane from the BP oil spill was eaten up by some unknown microbes. And at the end of last year, it was discovered that an alien microbe lived in California's Mono Lake. May be this genetic seed is the Tao, the universal qi that gives birth to all things.
ReplyDeleteIn Tao Te Ching, Chapter 42:
The Tao gives birth to One.
One gives birth to Two.
Two gives birth to Three.
Three gives birth to all things.