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What do you mean by improved? What do you mean by degraded? Explain. It is hard to give an opinion without you describing what you think improvements or degraded mean.
What do you mean by improved? What do you mean by degraded? Explain. It is hard to give an opinion without you describing what you think improvements or degraded mean.
Really!
Genomes nether improve or degrade they are simply an organism that carry all hereditary information. If this is a question whether the genetic evolution of modern humans is strengthening or weakening our species I would think that would be an impossible question to answer because it would require incredible foresight into the future. And based upon your earlier statements about land development only god knows what you consider and improvement.
What do you mean by improved? What do you mean by degraded? Explain. It is hard to give an opinion without you describing what you think improvements or degraded mean.
Degraded means more physical and mental problems. For instance if the average human is more likely to have genes for excessive heart problems, that would be a degradation in the genome.
Genomes nether improve or degrade they are simply an organism that carry all hereditary information. If this is a question whether the genetic evolution of modern humans is strengthening or weakening our species I would think that would be an impossible question to answer because it would require incredible foresight into the future. And based upon your earlier statements about land development only god knows what you consider and improvement.
Degraded means more physical and mental problems. For instance if the average human is more likely to have genes for excessive heart problems, that would be a degradation in the genome.
Hmm. I'm no scientist but from the few science classes that I have taking, I don't think that the genome could degrade like that. Genes mix randomly, so unless there is a extremely small bottleneck population of people/incest, there would not be an accumulation of genes that would give such a condition. Besides, usually with such a condition, the person dies young and may not be able to pass on defective genes to the next generation. Also, genome improvements or degradation are relative. In one environment, a change in the genome can be good but bad in another. Personally, I don't think it is improving or degrading. It just...is.
Improving. The DNA gene D-32 was changed during the Black Death of 1348- 1350 -- the earth lost about 1/3 the population. But some of those who got it survived and their DNA was marked with a "defect".... and when the plague struck again -- those who had the "defective" D-32 didn't get it. Well -- they may have been infected but it didn't take. The d-32 marker doesn't allow viruses to replicate.. and viruses need to replicate to make you sick.
This gene is being looked at as a possible link to curing HIV.... it's resistant. The guy they "cured" of HIV with a bone marrow transplant was given bone marrow that matched, but also had the d-32 marker..... and it that marker didn't allow the HIV virus to replicate. So the HIV went away.
So yeah -- our DNA is changing and for the better.
I would say degrading. Up until a hundred or so years ago, the strongest and smartest people were able to bear and raise more offspring who would survive to an age to reproduce themselves. The weakest and least fit tended to die off more - not in every individual case but in the aggregate. But then gradually (and suddenly with the advent of the birth control pill) the smartest and most successful people were able to decide to have fewer children at the same time as the least mature and stupidest people continued to have large numbers of children. Again, not in every case, but in the aggregate. In addition, advances in medical care keep the weakest alive until an age at which they reproduce, and widespread and generous societal welfare programs provide incentives to popping out more children on the part of people who are poorly equiped to raise them well.
Natural selection produced our remarkably intelligent species which gained dominion over the natural world to such an extent that we have essentially repealed natural selection as it applies to us! What irony.
And now, perhaps our gene pool could use a little chlorine. (Sorry, I couldn't resist that last sentence).
Last edited by Escort Rider; 02-01-2013 at 12:44 AM..
I would say degrading. Up until a hundred or so years ago, the strongest and smartest people were able to bear and raise more offspring who would survive to an age to reproduce themselves. The weakest and least fit tended to die off more - not in every individual case but in the aggregate. But then gradually (and suddenly with the advent of the birth control pill) the smartest and most successful people were able to decide to have fewer children at the same time as the least mature and stupidest people continued to have large numbers of children. Again, not in every case, but in the aggregate. In addition, advances in medical care keep the weakest alive until an age at which they reproduce, and widespread and generous societal welfare programs provide incentives to popping out more children on the part of people who are poorly equiped to raise them well.
Natural selection produced our remarkably intelligent species which gained dominion over the natural world to such an extent that we have essentially repealed natural selection as it applies to us! What irony.
And now, perhaps our gene pool could use a little chlorine. (Sorry, I couldn't resist that last sentence).
Yes!
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