New discovery proves 'selfish gene' exists

June 20th, 2008

A new discovery by a scientist from The University of Western Ontario provides conclusive evidence which supports decades-old evolutionary doctrines long accepted as fact.

Since renowned British biologist Richard Dawkins ("The God Delusion") introduced the concept of the 'selfish gene' in 1976, scientists the world over have hailed the theory as a natural extension to the work of Charles Darwin.

In studying genomes, the word 'selfish' does not refer to the human-describing adjective of self-centered behavior but rather to the blind tendency of genes wanting to continue their existence into the next generation. Ironically, this 'selfish' tendency can appear anything but selfish when the gene does move ahead for selfless and even self-sacrificing reasons.

For instance, in the honey bee colony, a complex social breeding system described as a 'super-organism,' the female worker bees are sterile. The adult queen bee, selected and developed by the worker bees, is left to mate with the male drones.

Because the 'selfish' gene controlling worker sterility has never been isolated by scientists, the understanding of how reproductive altruism can evolve has been entirely theoretical – until now.

Working with Peter Oxley of the University of Sydney in Australia, Western biology professor Graham Thompson has, for the first time-ever, isolated a region on the honey bee genome that houses this 'selfish' gene in female workers bees.

This means that the 'selfish' gene does exist, not just in theory but in reality. "We don't know exactly which gene it is, but we're getting close."

Source: University of Western Ontario


print this article email this article download pdf blog this article bookmark this article     Digg this Stumble it share on Facebook share on Reddit add to delicious save to Yahoo! bookmarks
4/5 after 23 votes

Rank Filter

Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

  • tigger - Jun 20, 2008
    • Rank: 3 / 5 (1)
    Richard Dawkins is a legend. Nuff said.
  • HenisDov - Jun 21, 2008
    • Rank: not rated yet
    Culture Imprints Genetics, In Bees Too

    http://www.physor...776.html

    Genes, Earth's primal organisms even when interdependent members of their genome communal cooperative, evolve in response to their survival survival requirements, which is THEIR CULTURE.

    Darwinism starts with pre-Archaea genes:

    From http://blog.360.y...Q--?cq=1]http://blog.360.y...Q--?cq=1[/url]&p=409

    - Genes are organisms, interdependent members of genes communes, genomes, all continuously undergoing evolution directed towards survival as long as possible, for maintaining Earth's biosphere as long as possible.

    - Culture is a ubiquitous biological entity and is the major effector of genetic evolution, of capabilities and attributes selected for survival.

    - The major course of natural selection is NOT via random mutations followed by survival, but via interdependent, interactive and interenhencing selection of biased replication routes by genes at their alternative-splicing-steps junctions, effected by the cultural feedback of the second stratum multicells organism or monocells community to their prime stratum genes-genome organisms.


    Dov Henis

    http://blog.360.y...Q--?cq=1]http://blog.360.y...Q--?cq=1[/url]&p=372


    Puzzled why even Darwinians do not comprehend that Darwinism starts all the way back with Life's day one, with the pre-archaea not-yet-genomed-celled genes...
  • KB6 - Jun 21, 2008
    • Rank: not rated yet
    But how "selfish" can genes be when they ultimately render themselves obsolete?

    "Homo Sapiens, the first truly free species, is about to decommission natural selection, the force that made us... Soon we must look deep within ourselves and decide what we wish to become."
    - Edward O. Wilson
  • COCO - Jun 24, 2008
    • Rank: not rated yet
    Entire organizations can be affected e.g. the Bush adminstration - the U of Toronto. Let us hold a telethon for ME!!!!!!!!
  • mabarker - Jul 24, 2008
    • Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
    Was the ethereal s.g. really found? "We don't know exactly which gene it is, but we're getting close."
    Meanwhile everybody should calm down. This story has exactly nothing to do with macroevolution. dawkins and his fellow secular scientists need to show how DNA arose via chance, time and natural processes - wi/o the aid of repair enzymes. KB6 quoted from creation-basher & quasi-philosopher E.O. Wilson who spoke about the "force" that made us: natural selection. Four of his fellow atheists disagree with him, Natural selection can act only on those biological properties that already exist; it cannot create properties in order to meet adaptational needs. - Noble, Noble, Schad, MacInnes, Parasitology, Lea & Febiger, 1989, p. 516.


June 20th, 2008 all stories
Medicine & Health / Genetics

Comments: 5
Rank: 4/5 after 23 votes

  • Stumble this up

  • Digg this

  • Share it:
  • share on Facebook
  • share on MySpace
  • share on Slashdot
  • rss-newsfeed
  • share on Google
  • share on Reddit
  • add to delicious
  • save to Yahoo! bookmarks
  • share on Windows Live
  • Add to Mixx!
Rating: 4/5 after 23 votes

  • Related Stories

  • Honey bees on cocaine dance more, changing ideas about the insect brain
    created Dec 23, 2008 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Rare disease claims children early
    created May 29, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Legalize it? Medical evidence on marijuana blows both ways
    created May 25, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Research team finds important role for junk DNA
    created May 20, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0
  • Yahoo is Going Portuguese Hound to Outwit Twitter
    created May 15, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Tags


  • Physicists Demonstrate Quantum Memory with Matter Qubits
    Physicists Demonstrate Quantum Memory with Matter Qubits
    Physics / General Physics
    created Jul 03, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (17) | comments 1
  • 'Holey' Nanosheets for Wastewater Dye Removal
    Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
    created Jul 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 1
  • Jellyfish Robot Swims Like its Biological Counterpart
    Jellyfish Robot Swims Like its Biological Counterpart
    Electronics / Robotics
    created Jun 26, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 1
  • Could Maxwell's Demon Exist in Nanoscale Systems?
    Could Maxwell's Demon Exist in Nanoscale Systems?
    Physics / General Physics
    created Jun 24, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (18) | comments 29
  • Living Safely with Robots, Beyond Asimov's Laws
    Living Safely with Robots, Beyond Asimov's Laws
    Electronics / Robotics
    created Jun 22, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (52) | comments 40
  • Other News

    Researchers highlight new direction for drug discovery

    Medicine & Health / Research

    created 1hour ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

    In a discovery that rebuffs conventional scientific thinking, researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) have discovered a novel way to block the activity of the fusion protein responsible for Ewing's sarcoma, ...


    Variations in 5 genes raise risk for most common brain tumors

    Medicine & Health / Genetics

    created 3 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

    Common genetic variations spread across five genes raise a person's risk of developing the most frequent type of brain tumor, an international research team reports online in Nature Genetics.


    MicroRNAs hold promise for treating diseases in blood vessels

    Medicine & Health / Research

    created 3 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

    A newly discovered mechanism controls whether muscle cells in blood vessels hasten the development of both atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease, according to an article published online today in the journal Nature.


    Malaysian authorities seize 'Viagra coffee' : report

    Medicine & Health / Health

    created 6 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

    Malaysia's health authorities have seized over 20,000 dollars worth of coffee mixed with sildenafil, the main ingredient in erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, a report said Sunday.


    Wind power may have its own environmental problems

    Medicine & Health / Health

    created 2 hours ago | popularity 2 / 5 (2) | comments 0

    Wind power generation is expected to be a clean and environmentally friendly natural energy source, but a new kind of environmental problem has surfaced as infrasonic waves caused by windmills are suspected of causing health ...