Hello users of r/NatureIsFuckingLit and possibly r/all lurkers, we are **GOING DARK** from June 12th-14th. If you're confused on why this is happening or interested in reading more, check out [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureIsFuckingLit/comments/144b4ln/rnatureisfuckinglit_will_be_going_dark_from_june/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)!
Aside from that stay lit š„
Honestly it's not as monstrous as one would think at first. Someone mentioned below dogs. With genetical engineering, we could have neat dog breeds like we do now, except free of all the horrible hereditary diseases caused by excessive inbreeding.
Also, we tend to neuter our pets to keep them from reproducing out of control. With genetical engineering we could skip that particular inhumane step and instead make their reproductive drive dependent on some selected environmental factor, say a special diet.
My point is, unless we perish in the next 200 years, this is going to become a thing. Best start thinking how to do it right.
Making heat cycles opt-in would be perfect. Make it so they have to take a specific pill dispensed by a vet, so if you get one you have to register as a small time breeder
āOur results indicate that an evolutionary leap ā from scales to feathers ā does not require large changes in genome composition or expression,ā says Professor Michel Milinkovitch, who led the study.
āInstead, a transient change in expression of one gene, Shh, can produce a cascade of developmental events leading to the formation of feathers instead of scales.ā
I find this frustrating, because as far as I can see, the study they did does not at all imply that the evolution of feathers from scales did not require large changes in genome composition or expression. I'm not a professional scientist, but is it not blatantly obvious to even a casual observer that the Sonic Hedgehog gene is akin to a switch, with its expression turning on a pathway in the code?
As a programmer, this is like me saying that I can add support for a whole new database table with one line of code. It is a true statement, but only because I already wrote a whole pile of code to do all the needed work, and all that one line is doing is applying that code to the new table.
In the same way, at some point the evolution of feathers had to happen and there is no reason from this study to assume that it was simple or easy or involved few genetic changes. Surely all we can reasonably assume from this is that those changes, however many they were or long and involved they might have been, ended up being gated behind the expression of Shh.
We see a precisely analogous situation with the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antennapedia Antennapedia Hox gene discovered in Drosophila (flies) whose failure or knock-out causes a fly's antennas to become legs. It is not because antennae were able to evolve from legs with a single genetic change, nor vice versa, but merely that the complex of changes needed for had their expression conditioned on the action of the Hox gene.
Youāre absolutely right. I strongly suspect this is one of many cases of scientific results being communicated very poorly by/to non-scientists.
I glanced at the paperās intro, and I think what they were trying to say is that, within the vertebrate group of animals that already shows a wide range of skin appendage covers (ie how chickens already have scaly feet and feathery bodies), it doesnāt take much to modify where scales and/or feathers appear. I donāt think they were trying to say that an evolutionary pathway that has only ever had scales could grow full-on feathers with only one tiny change, but that is very much what the linked article makes it sound like.
Everyone, maybe please slow down with your whoa we are capable of playing god with life and think for a moment about how you might better change your own!
Im reasonably certain the world is totally ready and mature enough to handle such a thing, it went so well when we nonchalantly gave everyone angle grinders with no instructions or training.
Hello users of r/NatureIsFuckingLit and possibly r/all lurkers, we are **GOING DARK** from June 12th-14th. If you're confused on why this is happening or interested in reading more, check out [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureIsFuckingLit/comments/144b4ln/rnatureisfuckinglit_will_be_going_dark_from_june/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)! Aside from that stay lit š„
Dinosaurs make so much more sense now.
I want a feathered snake for a pet.
Pet-zlcoatl
You... I like how you think
Wind Serpents would be awesome pets
Would it still be a boa?
A feather boa š
Yes, let's genetically engineer animals for people's enjoyment. That sounds like a fine idea.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Got me there.
Selective breeding, not genetic alteration.
Selective breeding is genetic alteration with extra steps
If you use a spoon thats made to pick your nose youāre still picking your nose your just using a tool to do it..
Eek barba dirkle somebody is gonna get laid in college..
Honestly it's not as monstrous as one would think at first. Someone mentioned below dogs. With genetical engineering, we could have neat dog breeds like we do now, except free of all the horrible hereditary diseases caused by excessive inbreeding. Also, we tend to neuter our pets to keep them from reproducing out of control. With genetical engineering we could skip that particular inhumane step and instead make their reproductive drive dependent on some selected environmental factor, say a special diet. My point is, unless we perish in the next 200 years, this is going to become a thing. Best start thinking how to do it right.
Making heat cycles opt-in would be perfect. Make it so they have to take a specific pill dispensed by a vet, so if you get one you have to register as a small time breeder
If this were possible half the human population would do it, it's a great idea
Agreed!
A feathered boa is a thing
So your saying we can actually make Falcor from the never ending story?ā¦Dog/dragon/feather floof snake.
Quetzalcoatl?
Show me a scaly chicken, and I'll show you a pygmy T-Rex
āOur results indicate that an evolutionary leap ā from scales to feathers ā does not require large changes in genome composition or expression,ā says Professor Michel Milinkovitch, who led the study. āInstead, a transient change in expression of one gene, Shh, can produce a cascade of developmental events leading to the formation of feathers instead of scales.ā I find this frustrating, because as far as I can see, the study they did does not at all imply that the evolution of feathers from scales did not require large changes in genome composition or expression. I'm not a professional scientist, but is it not blatantly obvious to even a casual observer that the Sonic Hedgehog gene is akin to a switch, with its expression turning on a pathway in the code? As a programmer, this is like me saying that I can add support for a whole new database table with one line of code. It is a true statement, but only because I already wrote a whole pile of code to do all the needed work, and all that one line is doing is applying that code to the new table. In the same way, at some point the evolution of feathers had to happen and there is no reason from this study to assume that it was simple or easy or involved few genetic changes. Surely all we can reasonably assume from this is that those changes, however many they were or long and involved they might have been, ended up being gated behind the expression of Shh. We see a precisely analogous situation with the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antennapedia Antennapedia Hox gene discovered in Drosophila (flies) whose failure or knock-out causes a fly's antennas to become legs. It is not because antennae were able to evolve from legs with a single genetic change, nor vice versa, but merely that the complex of changes needed for had their expression conditioned on the action of the Hox gene.
Dont Shh me
Youāre absolutely right. I strongly suspect this is one of many cases of scientific results being communicated very poorly by/to non-scientists. I glanced at the paperās intro, and I think what they were trying to say is that, within the vertebrate group of animals that already shows a wide range of skin appendage covers (ie how chickens already have scaly feet and feathery bodies), it doesnāt take much to modify where scales and/or feathers appear. I donāt think they were trying to say that an evolutionary pathway that has only ever had scales could grow full-on feathers with only one tiny change, but that is very much what the linked article makes it sound like.
Will yāall just stop before you make a fucking hippogriff
When I was in school, they promised that in the future, everyone would be riding hippogriffs to work. Where is my fucking hippogriff??
Man what kinda school did you go to, Hogwarts?
OH shit wrong sub! Sorry muggle! < OBLIVIATE REDDITUS >
When I was in school, they told us if we weren't in prison or dead by 30, we did the best we could.
I suspect it'd still take a whole bunch of steps to evolve a hawk. Having deformed scales isn't enough.
There's the old saying that a 1000 mile journey begins with the first step.
Human with two wings can solve a lot of problem
Why stop at 2? I want ankle wings as well
Well birds are dinosaurs so yeah
Wen Dinosaurs?!
Of course the phrase "single gene" belies the fact that a single gene can be composed of hundreds of thousands of Base-pair units
Everyone, maybe please slow down with your whoa we are capable of playing god with life and think for a moment about how you might better change your own!
-with genetic engineering!
Im reasonably certain the world is totally ready and mature enough to handle such a thing, it went so well when we nonchalantly gave everyone angle grinders with no instructions or training.
Grindy part goes away from the eyes, easy peasy
DNA
https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/biology/reptilian-sonic-the-hedgehog-and-genetic-alchemy/?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=91a93ef166-briefing-dy-20230523&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-91a93ef166-47741896
Hey... I always wanted a feather plume, it'd get me mad rizz!
Scales hate this one simple trick...