#Evo-Devo

[markscherz]

As you're a proper phd scientist who made it through the gauntlet of higher education, I then assume that you have done some classes that have landed you in a fly lab or two. Do you happen to have a favorite Drosophila melanogaster mutation? Mine is apterous because they're flies who cant do the one thing they're named for (they can't fly).

I managed to avoid the fly labs, but I had amazing lectures by the inimitable Dr Vernon French during my bachelors at the University of Edinburgh about evo-devo and Drosophila. No better way to develop a deep fascination with HOX genes and other transcription factors. Off the top of my head, I think Bithorax is pretty nifty.

[src]

#drosophila #homeobox #HOX #evo-devo #answers by Mark #wolf-pearl #this is not related to herpetology #science #animals

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

I know you probably get asked this all the time, but if the technology to clone dinosaurs existed what do you think would happen? (Aside from how they could never be released in the wild, of course) What dinosaur would you most like to see? Also, do you think we could bring back dinosaurs (to a small degree) through selective breeding with birds over time? I doubt it would be possible, but I like to dream!

So, we can't clone nonavian dinosaurs because they're super old. DNA degrades pretty rapidly, and we do not have actually confirmed DNA fragments from anything older than around 2.5 million years. It's just impossible to clone nonavian dinosaurs unless we figure out time travel.

If we do figure out time travel and bring nonavians back, I need to see the first dinosaur. I need to see what level of fluff it had. Frankly, tons of triassic weirdos, because I need to see their floof levels and figure out how feathers evolved. Beyond that, there's too many dinosaurs for me to list.

If we're talking about the avian dinosaurs from the past 2.5 million years we *could*, theoretically, find DNA for and bring back, then I want Pelagornis. That eldritch horror was taken from us waaaaay too soon.

Reverse engineering a dinosaur won't work. I know, because that's what I wanted to do originally, and I went to my first grad program to figure out how to do it, and I learned a lot, and what I learned was that the answer is "no" and Jack Horner needs a new hobby. There's too many variables afoot and too many nonavian dinosaur features that just cannot be put back into the bird genome. What can ya do.

#deextinction #cloning #dinosaurs #birds #evo-devo

[botanyone]

How Gene Duplication Led to the Evolution of Nectar Spurs

Tropaeolaceae flowers have a peculiar feature – a nectar spur formed by the swollen base of the floral tube, that growths on only one side of the flower. New research published in the Annals of Botany by Sebastián Martínez-Salazar and colleagues revealed that duplication of the gene TCP4 in the Tropaeolaceae lineage seems to have enabled the emergence of their unique nectar spurs. The…

View On WordPress

#Annals of Botany #evo-devo #spur evolution #Tropaeolaceae #Tropaeolum

[inthewindtunnel]

Paradox Obscur

Evo-Devo

#Paradox Obscur #Evo-Devo #Youtube

[homeostasister]

Fun fact: I just learned that

(Source)

I don't know why, but that's so funny to me. Imagine being a developing flower but you're on the edge of the flowerhead so you just have to grow your one single huge petal while your neighbors are making functional stamens and carpels, all to make it look like you're a single unified flower so your plant can get more pollinated. What a strategy, gosh.

#there's whole ass flowers out there whose entire function is Petal #biology #fun fact #plants #flowers #flower development #daisies #compound flowers #evo devo amirite?

[songofwizardry]

obligatory appreciation post for acapella science—every couple months i go back down a rabbit hole and am reminded how brilliant those songs and videos are!

#i am listening to the evo devo one again #and like #it fully formed the basis of my understanding of the field and is why i read endless forms most beautiful #and granted i know fuck all about the subject but both the lyrics and the graphics do such a good job of explaining it??? #my favourite of course is the exoplanets aladdin one #but it's more striking for me to watch the ones about fields i *don't* know very much about #bc you can just see the amount of thought that went into communicating the ideas shine #stem

[wethecelestial]

huge gamer W

#science #@ everyone trying to change the names why would u take away literally the only enjoyable part of evo-devo bio.... #i found out today that they changed the name of MAP kinase kinase kinase (which modifies MAP kinase kinase which in turn modifies MAP kinase #) to ERK.......cowards!!!! #it literally doesn't even make it easier to remember #anyways im so close to finishing all my readings and ran out of steam literally at the last 3....does anyone want 2 learn about genetic #imprinting and genomic medicine for me and then download it all into my brain #the body exists outside itself

[variety-hour]

Against all odds, I submitted a defense-draft of my dissertation to my committee.

Next week, I defend!

#mycology #evo devo #computer biologist

[iiiridium]

Congrats on being the person who won the frog thing!

lol thanks

this is why i got my ecology & evolution degree, so i could successfully guess things on tumblr

#evo devo will always be a mystery to me though. i studied stuff like population genetics and systematics mostly #also i just like frogs a lot. and herps in general

[what-in-crustacean]

I love how scientists naming things range from just naming it after someone or the place where the thing was found, to descriptive names

Then there's the sonic hedgehog gene

Where a bunch of graduate students named it that bc they didn't know it was going to be one of the most important genes in development in organisms and their completely exhausted minds thought it looked like sonic the hedgehog

#bio stories #still my favorite naming story #then i had to listen to my 70 yo professor say sonic the hedgehog every day when i was in evo devo

[markscherz]

now accepting guesses as to what this embryo becomes when it matures

#evo-devo is a hell of a drug #zoology #animals #embryology #nature #evolution #can't post a source without giving it away so… sorry. #but the first author on the paper is named Gross #which is just #*chef's kiss*

[catboybiologist]

could you explain why/if we can't just copy the genes of one animal and splice them into another animal, for example why we couldn't give humans cat ears?

There's no one easy way to answer this, but the basic answer is that it's not that simple. There's no one gene, or even easily reducible set of genes, that just is "make cat ears". Not only is there a network of genes activated within a cell, there are a myriad of signals from nearby cells (the "microenvironment") as well as cues from the rest of the body and environment.

So each one of the cells making your ear isn't just encoded to be a cell that makes your ear. In fact, most of them don't have any "ear" genetic characteristics or activation. They're generic cartilage or skin cells that were told to grow more or less by neighboring cells or distant cells during carefully coordinated times during growth and development. Each cell interprets this signal in different ways, and also receives multiple signals at a time, the combination of which can produce unique results.

The easiest to interpret example of this is finger development. During development, when your hand is still a fingerless paddle, a single cell on the pinky side of your hand (or thumb side, it could be reversed) releases a signalling molecules to nearby cells. A cell receiving the highest dose will start to become a pinky, and send a signal for the cells immediately around it to aide in that. The next cell that isn't aiding that, but still receives the initial signal, receives a lower concentration of that signal since it's further away. That lower concentration signals a ring finger, and it repeats until you get thumbs at the lowest concentrations.

That's the most visible example, but it's similar to what happens all over the body- signals that are dependent on the structure and genetics of the microenvironment, not just the genetics of the developing cells alone.

This careful network of timing, signals, gene activations, and spatial placement of cells is the core of the field of Developmental Biology (which, technically, my PhD is in as well bc it's often wrapped in with molecular bio lol).

So making cat ears on a human genetically would essentially require not only genetic manipulation, but also babysitting the fetus the entire time and adding in localized signals to the microenvironment of the developing ear cells, which is essentially impossible. There's too much "human" flying around to realistically get that result, and an attempt at doing so would essentially be akin to molecular sculpting. That's why *my* preferred approach would be epithelial stem cell manipulation/printing and subsequent grafting, but that's an entirely different thing.

If you're interested in this kind of thing, the most approachable and engaging summary of developmental biology is the book "Your Inner Fish", by Neil Shubin, the discoverer of Tiktaalik. He summarizes a lot of dev biology through the lens of evolutionary biology, which is a great way to see how differences in structures have arisen and differentiate across the tree of life.

If you want a shorter introduction, and like cute but kinda "cringey in the way you love" science parodies: the song evo-devo by a capella science is really fun and gets stuck in my head a lot:

But yeah, hope that answered your question!

#biology #developmental biology #catboy #catgirl #nyanbinary #if this combination of tags doesnt describe my entire persona idk what does

[vampirepunks]

Higgs Monaghan, "Beach Babies," and mind control

We know that the Bridge Baby dolls that Higgs and the Homo Demens used function completely differently than the human BBs invented by Bridges. But did you know they're also otherworldly vessels of extinction itself?

The novelization of Death Stranding suggests that these BB dolls from the Beach ("Beach Babies," as my husband and I refer to them) warp the minds of their users and bend human will towards the goal of extinction.

So... how many of Higgs Monaghan's decisions after meeting Amelie are his own?

The first thing to note is that Bridges BBs react negatively to the presence of these Beach Babies, as seen here when Sam encounters terrorists using them.

Lou does not like these things. Perhaps that's why she points the Odradek at Higgs during their first encounter with him?

The novel introduces us to a porter who visited the Evo-Devo Biologist (referred to as EV in the book) while equipped with one, a couple years before Sam's expedition. He was polite and overall pretty normal at first, but then on his next visit things get... weird.

So... there are holes in reality that using a Beach Baby allows you to see, and that's how the tar leaks from the Beach into the world of the living. Speculatively, this might be how Higgs is able to DOOMS-jump so easily and frequently (and summon tar), without getting exhausted or needing much focus at all, in addition to his level 7+ DOOMS.

Oh, but it gets weirder. And scarier, as soon as Extinction Entities are mentioned.

Wow... he sounds a lot like Higgs, doesn't he? Come to find out, Higgs gave it to him.

But surely this is just him echoing the party lines of Higgs' organization and repeating Higgs' same sentiments... right? Unless...

Important to note, this porter doesn't have DOOMS. He shouldn't be experiencing extinction nightmares, but his Beach Baby is showing them to him.

Whether directly or not, this thing talks to him. Like some eldritch call of the void or an element of a Lovecraft novel, it tells him that extinction is the only answer, the only solution.

EV is, understandably, instantly alarmed when she sees Sam with Lou, relating this story back to him. Sam is quick to connect the dots between that porter, the terrorists, Lou's terror at encountering these other BBs, and Higgs himself.

As they discuss further, a chiralgram recording from that porter begins to play, in which he takes credit for the voidout that killed Heartman's family and explains why he did it.

So then, how is Higgs affected by his own Beach Baby? From his perspective, it doesn't sound good.

We can infer a few things from this:

The Beach Baby acts as the vessel for Higgs' connection to Amelie and her Beach. By the nature of his powers, that's why he's able to DOOMS-jump constantly without getting exhausted, control BTs and timefall, and use telekinesis. Think of it like supercharging a battery; his powers are fueled by connection to the dead, and through Amelie, he's plugged into the dead of five mass extinctions, skyrocketing his DOOMS abilities to their maximum potential.

The Beach Baby (perhaps even Amelie directly, by using it) shows Higgs extinction nightmares beyond the scope of normal DOOMS nightmares, "speaking" to him and giving him forbidden knowledge that fills his mind with thoughts of extinction in terms of inevitability, even without Amelie telling him directly.

(Speculative): Higgs betrayed Fragile because of what the Beach Baby did to him, and perhaps doing so was Amelie's own will disguised as his idea. After all, he turned on Fragile immediately after connecting to the BB doll, severing his closest bond practically overnight. Further, Fragile states (at least in the book, I forget if she acknowledges this in the game or not) that it wasn't Higgs who prevented her from DOOMS jumping with the nuke in South Knot City, but "someone else," who she later determined to be Amelie. Amelie ensured that Fragile had no power in that situation, and that there was no way for her to escape without hating Higgs in the end. Personally, my reading is that Amelie wanted to be Higgs' only option and only remaining connection; she set herself up to be all he had left, the only thing he could focus on. It's easier to control someone who's isolated, scared, and alone otherwise, and would remove the risk of him having doubts about accepting extinction because he had nothing--and no one--left to lose.

(Speculative): The Beach Baby acts as a mind control utility. Whatever hopes, dreams, and beliefs a person has, this BB doll can override them and bend its user's will towards the goal of extinction instead, reshaping their ideology to fit the EE's goals. It's impossible to say how much of this control is direct and tangible, but it grants Amelie a high degree of influence over Higgs' inner world, removing any sense of rebellion against her or instinctive resistance to the concept of total human annihilation.

Established later in-text (too much content to cite and embed), Higgs experiences grandiose delusions surrounding his role in the extinction, falsely believing that he's the one in control, viewing himself as "the bridge that brings the extinction" and is destined to safeguard Amelie so mankind can meet its end. Despite the facts, he genuinely thinks it was all his idea, his plan, and he's the mastermind behind the whole thing, personally chosen by cosmic forces to deliver the apocalypse and usher in a new world after humanity is gone.

As soon as Higgs is disconnected from his Beach Baby by Fragile, his delusions completely shatter and he immediately reverts to cold, hard logic, albeit the kind steeped in self-hatred. His ego does an immediate 180 and he realizes, "it was all make believe,” and "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and righteous fury. Signifying nothing." It hits him all at once: he was nothing but a pawn, a tool, a means to an end, played for a fool. Upon seeing the error of his ways, he can only lament how blind he was. The book decidedly doesn't kill him, instead leaving him on the Beach, "alone, without a person in the world to connect to," thinking, "this is how I'm meant to be," as he remains stranded "with nothing else to do but continue to confess his endless sins."

We'll never know how much of Higgs' mindset and atrocities were truly his own, while acting as Amelie's herald, and how much of it was solely based on Amelie's unseen influence. Just like Lady Macbeth, Higgs is both villain and victim to a greater evil, so to speak.

#the other thing is i don't think amelie fully understood the beach babies. just as bridges didn't understand BBs all that well #she just found them (the first one just Appeared to Bridget on the Beach. nailed to a giant crucifix. and she just. kept it) #but in conclusion i am obtaining a restraining order against amelie on my boy's behalf. i'm suing. emotional damage!!!!!!! abuse!!!!!!!!!! #poor higgs. he really didn't stand a chance. he could've been someone incredible but amelie really said 'i can make him worse' #i'm standing firm on the narrative that higgs is thematically an abuse survivor. not just regarding his uncle #amelie abused him emotionally and psychologically. but y'all ain't ready to talk about that :) #love love love higgs as the imperfect victim. trauma expression and survival is not always pretty or acceptable. it is ugly and violent. #higgs monaghan #death stranding #ds analysis #ds novelization #logan.txt

[inthewindtunnel]

Paradox Obscur

Evo-Devo

#Paradox Obscur #Evo-Devo #Bandcamp

[homochadensistm]

BEAUTIFUL ISRAELI LESBIAN WIFE, TELL ME ABOUT YOUR ARCHAEOLOGY? of the archaeological sites in Israel, which one is the coolest? do you have a favorite culture, time period? which cave is the best? most interesting pre-Bronze Age site(s)? of archaeology in Israel (sites and as a study/historiography), is there anything particularly weird, like just fucking bizarro? any vampire graves?

idk if theres one coolest site, a lot are pretty neat. theres a one of its kind (in the whole world) bronze age graveyard with over 2000 burials, theres the 'middle eastern Stonehenge', theres the first ever burial of human+dog, theres the witch of Hilazon cave, theres the underground towns of the Negev, theres the meeting point between European Neanderthals and H. sapiens, and the 2nd meeting point between later European immigrants and 'assimilated' European early humans, and much more. My fave periods are probably the Netolithic-Chalcolithic cause of the huge and intertwined evolutionary and cultural shifts, and the Middle Paleolithic, for the same reason, since Im a big fan of evo devo and a firm believer in the culture->biology->culture thesis.

Theres lots of caves in Israel and I simply cannot pick The Best. I like Amud cave a lot.

As for bizarre stuff....idk, I think the plastered PPNB skulls are pretty weird. There are intermediate bronze age tombs that were dug 8 fucking meters into the ground, which I also think is weird. Theres a cursed tomb too. In general the whole necropolis of Beit Shearim is really freaky to walk through, especially the areas that arent yet fully open to the public, with the narrow, moist and pitch black corridors stretching between each burial chamber and the collapsing ceiling lmao.

#israel #archaeology

[elodieunderglass]

Was thinking about your horrible things with legs tag once again, because it is a treasure, and I remembered the fruit fly mutant Antp or Antennapedia, which I think fits.

It's a Hox gene mutant that causes them to grow legs where their antennae should be.

Bon appetit

Thank you! This is referred to in this very accurate translation of despacito educational video about evo-devo at 2:20 - “switch a couple bases in the proper places, you’ll be watching flies grow legs out of their faces”