by Alex Major
Abstract:
New research programs in epigenetics have reinforced a body of empirical evidence deemed “irrelevant” to the theory of evolution for 70 years because it does not fit the assertions of the theory. Since the 1940s, there have been gaps between what is observed/practised in research labs, between what is admitted to university undergrad students and what is emphasized in the design and the wording of results of research programs. The gaps widened immensely, culminating in a November 2016 conference/debate at the Royal Society of London.
Many scientists are attempting to extend the existing theory of evolution to account for the phenomenon. Some are calling for its full re-write or replacement. A third camp fighting for the status-quo disagree with their interpretation and how to incorporate the findings into the existing canon/assertions. Issues are presented with the use of direct quotes from the conference, mostly.
At
a conference held the weekend of November 7th, 2016, twenty-two
accomplished scientists were invited to speak at the prestigious Royal
Society in London to settle major disagreements concerning the theory of
evolution. (1)
One of the presenters at the conference had written this in a scientific journal the year before:
“Experimental
results in epigenetics and related fields of biological research show
that the Modern Synthesis (neo-Darwinist) theory of evolution requires
either extension or replacement.“ -Prof. Denis Noble, Journal of
Experimental Biology, 2015 (2) See footnotes. Prof. Noble’s
credentials located in the credentials section below.
Epigenetics
is the science of non-genetic biological mechanisms of adaptation to
internal changes and external environmental changes, and also the
inheritance of the adaptations in the very-next-generation and beyond.
(3) One such mechanism is DNA Methylation occurring mainly in plants,
but also in certain animals, and single-celled organisms. (4)
The
conference was named: “New trends in evolutionary biology: biological,
philosophical and social science perspectives.“(probably to bore the
media). The Atlantic covered it. (5)
All sides of
the debate were represented, including moderates/bridge builders.
Approximately 300 scientists were in the audience.
I mostly use direct quotes to represent the issues discussed at the conference:
“The
relationship between genes and phenotypes is not a direct one.
(Phenotype: observable resulting trait or functionality in an organism.
(6)) The whole system is mediated and interpreted by development (in an
environment). Non-genetic factors play a role in developmental
transformation of genetic information into the phenotype.
Interpretation of genes is a recursive system of interactions between
genes, cells, tissues. It’s not genes that build bodies; its cells
and tissues that build bodies. None of these levels of organization have
explanatory or causal priority. You take out any one of these, the
system breaks down. “ -presenter, Prof. Gerd B. Müller (audio 1 @ 11:32
mins, see audio links section)
_Rapid Adaptation in an Organism_
“Coined
adaptive improvisation or developmental selection: in experiments, they
modified yeast DNA so they could not process the glucose they were put
it, and the cells didn’t divide for a long while but then they resumed.
They found [the existence of] a trial and error mechanism, trying many
transcription networks, then the transcription stabilized, growth
resumed, cell division resumed and this [adaptation] was inherited for
hundreds of generations. Only 50% of the yeast cells died before growth
resumed. Adaptive improvisation also occurs in drosophila experiments
(fruit flies) Some organisms die off completely, can’t cope but some
have this ability to cope. “ -Prof. Eva Jablonka (audio 11 @ 36:08 mins)
“Regarding
bacteria adaptation studies where bacteria reconstruct their flagellum
(tail): if you have a thousand components interacting in a biochemical
network you’ve got a combinatorial explosion The number of pathways in a
network like that is gigantic.” -presenter Prof. Denis Noble (audio 13 @
27:58 mins in Q & A)
Presenter, Prof. Sonia E.
Sultan showed her lab studies on plant adaptations within individuals
such as larger leaf growths as light diminishes or larger roots that go
deeper during droughts or grow hair-like roots nearly out-of-soil in
flood conditions. The adaptations are passed on to the very-next
generation epigenetically ( non genetically) The very-next generation
starts-off fully adapted via a modified component mix placed in the
seed. (7) (audio 3 @ 9:00 mins) This rapid adaptation has also been
discovered in vertebrate and invertebrate animals, (audio 3 @ 15:09
mins) “Genotype (genes) is a repertoire of contingent developmental
outcomes ( preprogramming for individual organisms to adapt to many
complex situations ) which leads to a changed and more complex view of
genetic diversity. We cannot fit this plasticity as an elaborated
version of genotype-based (gene-based) model“ (audio 3 @ 24:44
mins) “Genes are impervious to the environment, which is why it has
such an incredible power as a record of the past. A commitment to that
(gene-centered view) is what we are here to confront. ” ( nervous
laughter) “Ok, I’ll stop that” (audio 3 @ 00:35 seconds ) “It’s now
very clear that environmental as well as genetic information can be
inherited and can participate in shaping development as inborn factors,
very often confounded experimentally with genetic factors.” -presenter
Prof. Sonia Sultan (audio 3 @ 25:45 mins)
_“Junk DNA” has Various Functions_
Prof. James Shapiro explained that so-called junk DNA does not code for protein but does serve other important functions:
-genome reformatting/restructuring, re-arrangements, rewiring transcriptional networks,
-changing expression of sequence functions (in DNA that code for protein),
-regulation of stem cell proliferation,
-roles in nervous system and immune system function (audio 9 @ 17:50 mins)
_Hybrid Speciation (a new species resulting from the natural merger of two separate species in one event)_
“A
lot of this has been known for a long time but not given the prominence
they deserve. For example, hybrid speciation is often treated as
exceptional and unusual whereas, it may, in fact, be much more common
than we recognize.” -Prof. James Shapiro (audio 9 @ 37:52 mins)
Interspecies
hybridization also occurs in fish, dolphins, bats, birds and cats,
plants and yeasts. (8) -Prof. James Shapiro (audio 9 @ 09:45, 11:50 and
13:00 mins)
“I remember Peter Grant saying all of the
variation in the Galapagos Finches came from introgression, that is from
a different population or a different species. ” (audio 9 @ 12:40
mins) “The initiating event involves the entire genome of the two
parent species so that all traits of the organism are affected in a
single evolutionary event. It’s not that each trait has to evolve
separately. Multiple changes can occur at the same time and hybrids
aren’t just mixtures of the two parents, they can have novel
characteristics and novel genome configurations.” -Prof. James Shapiro
(audio 9 @ 15:00)
Question/comment in agreement: “ You
are describing the situation in which one organism, an unimaginably
intricate system where many processes have to be consistent with one
another, then you collide that with a completely different one.
Immediately you get a hybrid that somehow resolves all the conflicts
that are emerging at once between the constraints of one system and the
constraints of another system. And you call this variability or
plasticity and we don’t even care to think about how this plasticity
gets organized. Natural selection does not address this problem of
resolving these conflicts when two organisms are merged.“ (could not
get his name) (audio 9 @ 35:42)
Answer: “I agree. How
do complex organized systems such as transcription networks form? How
do they evolve? How do they appear for the first time? Is it a gradual
process or a coordinated event? If it is coordinated, how does it
occur? We need experimental systems to study.” -Prof. James Shapiro
answering a question from the Weizmann Institute, Israel,(audio 9 @
38:21 mins)
“There’s an awful lot of work to be done,
especially in convergent evolution where you have different families of
endogenous retroviruses (9) doing similar things. We may need to
question some assumptions. How do hybrids form coordinated networks
which provide adaptive function because, obviously, those things appear
in the course of evolution. Maybe in many of these events they don’t
happen gradually but more suddenly. How did those successful hybrid
radiations come about? ( Evolutionary radiation: a diversification into
several lineages from a common ancestor ) An area for a lot of
interesting research which needs to be done.” (audio 9 @ 31:10 mins)
“Living
organisms have core biological and molecular tools to rewrite their
genomes actively when they are challenged. Examples:
-cell fusions: two cells can merge and become one cell,
-symbiogenesis,
that is the incorporation of endosymbionts, one organism has an eye
where the cornea is a mitochondrial endosymbiont and the retinal body is
made of cyanobacteria. (10) Many organisms trade DNA. ( audio 9 @
06:25)
-composites of multiple organisms such as termites, which
would not be able to live if they didn’t have digestive microbes in
their intestines.” ( audio 9 @ 01:44 min )
Some
scientists also spoke about other factors than natural selection at work
that are not represented in the standard modern synthesis (11), such as
niche construction; how an animal modifying its external environment
affects its adaptation. In my view, this is a sideshow compared to
hybrid speciation and epigenetics.
_Various positions_
Against the status quo:
“George
Ledyard Stebbins (12) was one of the main architects of the Modern
Synthesis. Stebbins’ book: Variation and Evolution in Plants (published
in 1950) is filled with examples that do not fit the Modern Synthesis
including hybridization and plasticity, but he instructs the reader:
’Pay no attention because it’s not important to evolution’. Stebbins
struggled to fit a great range of phenomenon, quite dominant in the
plant clade, into the new synthesis model. A lot of what we’ve been
discussing here had been pushed to the periphery. The question we’re
asking now is: ‘Shall we bring them to the center?’ ” -presenter Prof.
Sonia Sultan(audio 9 @ 41:50 mins)
“In 1983, I asked
Francisco J. Ayala (14) a question about transposable elements, (
transposons, used to be disregarded as ‘junk DNA’ (15)) . He said: ‘They
are not relevant to evolution.’ … We have to adjust our thinking both
to what is possible and how we design experiments to get more empirical
evidence on what is actually going on in the process of evolutionary
change." -presenter Prof. James Shapiro (audio 9 @ 44:10)
Echoed by Prof. Sonia Sultan: a biased view warps the experimental design, each reinforcing each other. (audio 3 @ 02:44)
“We
have a much more complex picture. The standard theory is focused on
natural selection of characteristics that exist already and their
variation and maintenance but not on how they originate." -presenter
Prof. Gerd B. Müller ( audio 1 - 33:12 mins also at 10:10 mins)
“What it (the standard theory of evolution) does not explain:
-the origin of body plans (13)
-complex behaviors,
-complex physiology,
-development (explained by Pro. Sonia Sultan),
-non-gradual transitions,
-the fact that not all the variation is equally distributed, there are biases in the distribution
The theory of evolution is not designed for addressing them.” -Prof. Gerd B. Müller ( audio 1 @ 11:02 mins )
“Most
textbooks still define evolution as understood in the 1930s which was
not a real synthesis. It was a conglomeration of various concepts from
different disciplines based on natural selection and population
genetics.” -presenter Prof. Gerd B. Müller (audio 1 - 06:37 mins)
“The
modern synthesis (theory of evolution/Neo-Darwinism) has been the
inspiration for some extraordinary work in population genetics, and many
areas of biology. I simply think we know much more. We know there are
processes previously believed impossible. "-presenter, Prof. Denis Noble
(audio 13 @ 27:33) (not to be confused with Prof. Ray Noble’s brother,
also in attendance)
“I actually had a paper rejected
from Evolution (magazine?) because it was too complicated, not the
writing, the data!” -Prof. Sonia Sultan (audio 3 @ 26:37)
“…related
to the assumption that Dr. Russ Lande makes that heritability of the
traits he was dealing with doesn’t change over time. That gives you the
ability to solve these equations. A lot of assumptions that go into the
kind of analysis that was put forward up until the 1960s has to be
altered as we know more about the underlying biology. “ - Prof. Marcus
Feldman, Roundtable discussion, audio 16 @ 28:30 mins
Moderate:
“It
is virtually always possible to operate new findings in the established
theoretical framework. But we often pay a price for that in that the
new findings can be weakened or distorted to fit with what pre-existed
and that alternative perspectives can be of value to the extent they
allow the new findings to be fully explored. They encourage researchers
to open up new lines of inquiry. It’s not a call for revolution, it’s a
call for greater explanatory pluralism.” -presenter Prof. Kevin Laland,
University of St Andrews, UK (audio 8 @ beginning)
Defending the status quo:
“I
agree in a lot of what you’re saying in that the Modern Synthesis isn’t
so modern anymore. ( but) You’re criticizing what you find in
textbooks. In any field, textbooks are a simplification of what you find
in the field.“ -Prof. Russsel Lande (audio 1 @ 35:18)
“Russ
referred to textbooks giving a superficial view and indeed they do,
including my own but if you go back to my 1986 edition […] you see what
Gerd has been talking about is already part and parcel in the thinking
of practicing evolutionary biologists who still retain the general
framework of the Modern Synthesis but extended it to a vast variety of
phenomena. When transposable elements were discovered it took very few
years to have population genetic models of their behavior and their
consequences for natural populations.” -Prof. Douglas Futuyma - Stony
Brook U, US (audio 2 @ beginning)
Question/comment: “I
don’t believe in the existence of a standard theory or an orthodoxy.
When I look at evolutionary biologists, I see a pluralistic group of
people who are working on specific problems. All the things you
mentioned, conventional evolutionary biologists use all the time. This
idea of a group with a homogeneous view is a form of shadow boxing.” -
Prof. Richard Goldstein (audio 1@ 37:13 mins)
Reply: “Yes. I was expecting this. There are two reactions we get:
1- ‘Evolutionary practice ( in the field) has changed, so what?’ and
2- ’We need to change the theory much more. You’re not radical enough.’
If
current practices were introduced into the complete theory then I would
agree but it hasn’t. There are individual researchers that use all
these concepts, but that’s my point. We don’t need a new theory, it’s
already in the making and we must draw the consequences saying: ‘some
of these are not in line with the standard view.’ Whether that’s called
Extended Synthesis, it doesn’t matter, this is a working title. We can
call it whatever " -Prof. Gerd Müller, against status quo audio 1 @
37:18 mins)
“I want to dissolve the myth of a unified
orthodox evolutionary biology where, as some kind of conspiracy, we talk
about genes and nothing else, and we’re all on the same page against
the other stuff… Some of the complaints have been targeted against
population genetics, the part of evolutionary theory which is tasked
with formalizing the whole thing, the gold standard. If an aspect of
evolutionary theory cannot be framed in terms of theoretical population
genetics, it’s kind of dodgy… Developmental adaptation is special and
separate from evolutionary change. Natural selection is only a concept
within evolution. Some of the problems that have arisen so far have
hinged on not seeing that distinction. Either thinking that, you know,
all of evolution is supposedly adaptive. And I’m not ignoring all this
other stuff” -presenter, Dr. Andy Gardner (audio 14 @ beginning)
“I’m just looking at natural selection because I think that’s where the
design is coming from. The multi-level selection controversy, group
variance, group fitness. Should natural selection work in a group as
well as individuals? Should groups be treated as “super-organisms”?
Some say yes some no. The Portuguese man of war is a group of unrelated
organisms working together as a super-group “ -Dr. Andy Gardner
(audio 14 @ 27:45 mins)
Responder: “I agree
regarding multi-level selection but I disagree with your
characterization of theoretical population genetics as rejecting the
idea of fitness maximization” -Prof. Russel Lande, moderate) (audio 14 @
34:00) Andy Gardner backpedalled.
“Prof. Noble was
granting the phenomena are familiar to many of us but saying he viewed
them in a more integrationist framework and less reductionist framework.
I’m having trouble understanding what it means to have a different
perspective and how that advances things. I feel as is I were reading a
paper by an 18th century scientist who is thinking about many things in
an entirely different way from the way I do and I wouldn’t know how to
interpret what the person is writing. I feel as if there may be a lack
of translation from one perspective into the other though there’s rather
little we deeply disagree about.” (Prof. Futuyma, Roundtable
discussion, audio 16 @ 08:31 mins) “There has been a continual growth
in evolutionary biology without any kind of Kuhnian break with the 1940s
and there’s been a comfortable assimilation of a lot of new
perspectives, you know. Sexual selection, for example. There’s less of a
difference than we seem to be trying to make out. ” (Prof. Futuyma,
Roundtable discussion, audio 16 - 33:00 mins)
Prof Noble
replied: “It seems clear that conceptual framework matters in what we
do. Our differences between our conceptual frameworks is a different
notion of causality. Clearly, you’ll have a completely different set of
possible experiments and hypotheses that could be tested. If you stick
rigidly to one conceptual framework, you’re never going to do those
experiments because you’re never going to ask those questions. (Prof.
Denis Noble, Roundtable discussion, audio 16 - 34:34 mins)
In
a bizarre twist, Dr. Andy Gardner tore down Intelligent Design as an
argument for the status quo when no one in the opposing camp was
speaking of it outright. (audio 14 @ 06:53) In attendance at the
conference were 20 “converts” to the Intelligence Design theory/movement
including Dr. Stephen Meyer from the much maligned Discovery Institute
(16)) Maybe he decided to admonish them when he saw them even if they
did not participate in questions, except for this exchange after the
fact:
Timothy: “You are quite happily talking about a
design for organisms, you see the phenotype adapted to its purpose, then
say exactly like Paley did: “Therefore, there must have been a design
in place before the developmental process of the phenotype began. Tell
me how this view of design differs from that of Paley?” -Prof. Timothy
Ingold, University of Aberdeen (audio 14 @35:40 mins )
Andy:
“the core part is that you may have no idea what this thing is for, but
it’s clearly a designed object. It’s not like a rock (as Paley
observed.) ”
Tim: “I’d like you to explain why you
believe that an organism is a designed object. (*Andy sighs*) I’d like
to know what you mean by ‘designed.’ You’re using this word very freely
and generally speaking, if we’re talking about the design for a thing,
it means that there is, in the world, a plan of some kind which
underwrites its subsequent construction. And if you are saying that this
is something that you yourself have observed, and are then imputing it
to the organism as having been there in advance and realized in
development, then I would say that your argument is circular.”
Andy:
“It’s an analogy to say that natural selection is designing the
organism. The plan in mind is to maximize that individual’s inclusive
fitness.”
Timothy: “So natural selection is an agent with a plan? A design agent?“
Andy: “No I didn’t say that.”
Timothy: “That’s what you said. “ (laughter)
Andy “No”
Timothy: “Do you believe that natural selection is a design agent. “
Andy: “It depends what you mean by agent. “
Timothy:
“That’s what I want to know.“ (louder audience laughter, moderator
stopped the questions, and audio ends.) -Prof. Timothy Ingold,
University of Aberdeen (audio 14 @35:40 mins)
Q&A between Prof. Ray Noble and presenter Prof. Douglas Futuyma defending the status quo (audio 2 - 38:00 mins):
Noble:
“The problem I have with a gene-centered view of evolution is that it
is maintaining variation within a population. It does not explain how we
get speciation. (to become a distinct species.)”
Futuyma: “Sorry, I have to disagree…”
Noble: “I haven’t finished yet…”
Futuyma:
“There is enormous literature on the genetics and ecology and behavior
and everything else that goes into speciation. There’s a book by Jerry
Coyne and Allen Orr (Speciation 2004) and another by Sergey Gavrilets.
Like everything else in biology, there are aspects that are not
sufficiently understood.”
Noble: “What you do
generally, is to say: ‘well… there’s nothing new there. And this and
that was said a long time ago’, indicates to me that an awful lot of
ideas have been ignored because we have developed…(gets interrupted
again by Futuyma, unintelligible) What I want to see in a theory of
evolution […] produce some kind of speciation where the two populations
get separated from each other. And I don’t see that. All these random
variations are maintained and balanced-out within the population.
That’s not what speciation does.”
Futuyma: “I don’t think I understand what you’re talking about.”
Noble: “Exactly” (audience laugher)
Futuyma: “Yeah…no, it’s uh…” (end of audio) (audio 2 - 38:00 mins)
Why
is there still resistance to the data that does not “fit” the current
wording of evolution? Are evolutionists afraid the new data will
explain-away the evidence they use to support evolution-based origins
theories? Defenders of the status quo deny the existence an orthodoxy.
Seems like a scorched-earth strategy. Does a minimal subset of the
principles in the theory still exist upon which to build an orthodoxy
under the umbrella term: “evolution?” What does the term mean? Is it a
long term process over millions of years or adaptation within an
organism’s lifespan within days, months or years? I agree with the
conference presenters. Accurate wording is required.
___Audio Links____
Conference
audio for Meeting on New trends in evolutionary biology: biological,
philosophical and social science perspectives. (audio arranged by order
of speakers )
audio 1:
The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis,
Prof. Gerd B. Müller University of Vienna, Austria
Direct link to presentation audio: http://downloads.royalsociety.org/events/2016/11/evolutionary-biology/muller.mp3
or scroll down to Schedule of talks. Select Session 1 -> show detail:
https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2016/11/evolutionary-biology/
audio 2:
The evolutionary synthesis today: extend or amend?,
Prof. Douglas Futuyma, Stony Brook University, USA
Direct link: http://downloads.royalsociety.org/events/2016/11/evolutionary-biology/futuyma.mp3
or scroll down to Schedule of talks. Select Session 1 -> show detail:
https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2016/11/evolutionary-biology/
audio 3:
Developmental plasticity: re-conceiving the genotype,
Prof. Sonia Sultan, Wesleyan University, USA
Direct link: http://downloads.royalsociety.org/events/2016/11/evolutionary-biology/sultan.mp3
or scroll down to Schedule of talks. Select Session 1 -> show detail:
https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2016/11/evolutionary-biology/
audio 8:
The middle ground between artificial and natural selection: niche construction as developmental bias,
Prof. Kevin Laland, University of St Andrews, UK
Direct link: http://downloads.royalsociety.org/events/2016/11/evolutionary-biology/laland.mp3
or (Session 2 -> show detail -> audio link
audio 9:
Biological action in Read-Write genome evolution,
Prof. James Shapiro OBE, University of Chicago, USA
Direct link: http://downloads.royalsociety.org/events/2016/11/evolutionary-biology/shapiro.mp3
Or Session 3 -> show details -> see audiolink
audio 11:
The role of epigenetic inheritance in evolution
Prof. Eva Jablonka, The Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
http://downloads.royalsociety.org/events/2016/11/evolutionary-biology/jablonka.mp3
or Session 3 -> show detail -> audio link
audio 13:
Evolution viewed from medicine and physiology
Prof. Denis Noble CBE FMedSci FRS, University of Oxford, UK ( Prof. Ray Noble’s brother)
Direct Link: http://downloads.royalsociety.org/events/2016/11/evolutionary-biology/noble.mp3
or Session 4, click show details
audio 14:
Anthropomorphism in evolutionary biology
Dr Andy Gardner, University of St Andrews, UK
Direct link: http://downloads.royalsociety.org/events/2016/11/evolutionary-biology/gardner.mp3
or Session 4, click show details
audio 16:
Roundtable discussion 1
http://downloads.royalsociety.org/events/2016/11/evolutionary-biology/panel-tues.mp3
NOTE!
I entered the links into the Wayback Machine Internet archiver and
saved the audio files to my hard drive These kinds of public sites tend
to be modified or deleted when the material is about to give bad press.
___Credentials___
Against the Status Quo:
Prof. Gerd B. Müller, biologist, University of Vienna, Austria,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerd_B._M%C3%BCller
https://theoretical.univie.ac.at/gerdbmueller/
Peer reviewed papers:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gerd_Mueller
book: Origination of Organismal Form
https://www.amazon.com/Origination-Organismal-Form-Developmental-Evolutionary/dp/0262134195#customerReviews
Prof.
Denis Noble CBE ( Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British
Empire) FMedSci FRS ( Fellow of the Royal Society ), University of
Oxford, UK
https://royalsociety.org/people/denis-noble-12007/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Noble
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Denis_Noble
Prof. Sonia E. Sultan, plant evolutionary ecologist, Wesleyan University, USA
https://www.wesleyan.edu/academics/faculty/sesultan/profile.html#
Peer reviewed papers:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sonia_Sultan
http://sultanlab.research.wesleyan.edu/selected-publications/
Book: Organism and Environment: Ecological Development, Niche Construction, and Adaptation
https://www.amazon.com/Organism-Environment-Ecological-Development-Construction-ebook/dp/B014I4HP1K/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1546888616&sr=1-2
Prof. Eva Jablonka, The Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Jablonka
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eva_Jablonka2
https://m.tau.ac.il/~cohn/staff/eva-jablonka.htm
Prof. James Shapiro OBE( Officer of the Order of the British Empire), University of Chicago, USA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Shapiro
http://shapiro.bsd.uchicago.edu/
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/James_Shapiro
Prof. Ray Noble ( Denis Noble’s brother ), zoologist, physiologist, ethicist, University College London
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ray_Noble
http://ucl.academia.edu/RayNoble
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_College_London
http://www.voicesfromoxford.org/people/ray-noble/208
Prof.
Marcus W. Feldman, director of the Morrison Institute for Population
and Resource Studies, and co-director of the Center for Computational,
Evolutionary and Human Genomics (CEHG) at Stanford University, USA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Feldman
https://www-evo.stanford.edu/marc.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT-Jb0lKVT8
Prof. Timothy Ingold, FBA, FRSE, University of Aberdeen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Ingold
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/socsci/people/profiles/tim.ingold
For the Status Quo:
Prof. Douglas Futuyma, evolutionary biologist, Stony Brook University, USA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_J._Futuyma
https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/ecoevo/people/faculty_pages/futuyma.html
https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/16006662_Douglas_J_Futuyma
Prof. Russell Lande FRS, Center for Biodiversity Dynamics, NTNU, Norway:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Lande
https://www.ntnu.edu/employees/russell.lande
https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/39434340_Russell_Lande
Dr Andy Gardner, University of St Andrews, UK
http://biology.st-andrews.ac.uk/contact/staffprofile.aspx?sunid=ag243
https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/andy-gardner(60838b3d-ea54-42ee-8bb8-be8e071d26cf).html
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andy_Gardner5
https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=WQrZYMIAAAAJ&hl=en
Prof. Richard Goldstein, University College London ( not a presenter )
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/infection-immunity/people/professor-richard-goldstein
___Footnotes___
( If you want clickable links, please email me. I’ll sent a PDF file )
1) Royal Society conference: New trends in evolutionary biology: biological, philosophical and social science perspectives.
https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2016/11/evolutionary-biology/
Articles published related to the presentations: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsfs.2017.0051
2) Evolution beyond neo-Darwinism: a new conceptual framework, Prof. Denis Noble, Journal of Experimental Biology http://jeb.biologists.org/content/218/1/7
3) Epigenetics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics
Research on epigenetic inheritance of traits via DNA Methylation: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5559844/
Other known mechanisms of epigenetic inheritance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgenerational_epigenetic_inheritance
More on DNA Methylation inheritance research: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12095278
4) DNA Methylation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_methylation
https://www.the-scientist.com/the-literature/transgenerational-epigenetics-prepares-plants-for-drought-32264#.WK9pQChe4oo
5) The Atlantic: The Biologists Who Want to Overhaul Evolution: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/11/the-biologists-who-want-to-overhaul-evolution/508712/?utm_source=fbb
6) Phenotype, definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenotype
7)
Prof. Sonia Sultan: “It inherited the changes via the seed nutrients,
hormones, and other signaling molecules and DNA Methylation (8) (audio 3
@ 21:15 mins ) In many cases, these responses comprise an immediate
developmental mode of adaptation that takes place at the level of the
individual organism, unlike the random and rare occurrence of a genetic
variant, plasticity ( ability to adapt) can provide adaptive variation
when it is needed in numerous individuals in a population at once.
Genotype ( genes) is a repertoire of contingent developmental outcomes (
preprogramming for individual organisms to adapt to many complex
situations ) which leads to a changed and more complex view of genetic
diversity. Similarly, epigenetic adaptation and trans-generational
inheritance occur in animals like the tadpole and sea urchins. ( audio 3
@ 15:09 mins) Surprisingly, the amount a particular pattern of
genetic variation available to natural selection are both,
environmentally contingent and not a property of population’s genotype (
genes) (17:58 mins) We cannot fit this plasticity as an elaborated
version of genotype-based ( gene-based) model “ ( audio 3 @ 24:44 mins )
8) Hybrid Speciation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_speciation#Animals
9) Endogenous retrovirus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endogenous_retrovirus
10) endosymbiont https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endosymbiont
11) Modern Synthesis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_synthesis
12) George Ledyard Stebbins: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._Ledyard_Stebbins
13) Body Plan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_plan
14) Prof. Francisco J. Ayala https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_J._Ayala
15) Junk DNA / Non-coding DNA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-coding_DNA
16 Stephen C. Meyer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_C._Meyer
Role at Discovery Institute: https://www.discovery.org/p/11
Dr. Stephen Meyer video about Intelligent Design, claiming to be in attendance at the Royal Society conference https://youtu.be/lgs6J4LqeqI?t=491
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