Page 47 - The Origin of Life and the Universe - International Conference 2016

The Origin of Life and the Universe

replicate having gained new genetic information from the virus. A third
mechanism the bacteria or single cell organisms can use to exchange genetic
information is one called transduction or sometimes transformation. And
this occurs when a bacteria dies or it is lysed, it releases genetic information
into the environment. At such a time it’s possible for other bacteria to come
and contact with the genetic information and take it up into itself, acquiring
new genetic information from the bacteria that had just lysed.
So whether it’s through horizontal gene transfer or micro-evolutionary
mutations transfer of genetic material again is unguided and non teleological,
and can be deleterious or beneficial or neutral. But it should be obvious that
once the genetic information is taken up into a bacteria, then it can quickly
spread throughout the population of subsequent progeny. Because it’s a
single cell organism. So all the mutations that occur in a single cell are then
reproduced in all of the progeny that result from that cell. So this mechanism
is a very powerful mechanism that allows bacteria and single cell organisms
to survive and thrive in changing environments.
This brings us now to our forth category which is speciation. And
much like the word evolution which we’re in the process of trying to un-
equivocate, species is an other world that is often equivocated, used in
many different terms and meanings under different conditions. It actually
has a name. It’s called the species problem. And the species problem results
from a wide range of approaches in defining how species are identified and
in how species function in nature. And each approach for trying to identify
how species function and how they’re identified within themselves is known
as a species concept. And currently, there are at least twenty six different
recognized species concepts. That’s phenomenal. But the important point is
that you must be very careful to know what the other person is talking
about when they are going to use the word species, especially in the context
of this topic of speciation.
So speciation refers to the process in which a given species becomes
genetically, phenotypically, and by appearance, behaviorally distinct species,
typically do to geographical isolation, that results in reproductively
independent groups. During speciation, radiation events occur when a
single starting species is split into various ecological niches where they
encounter variable environmental pressures.

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