Shouldn't mouse genes create mouse eyes?
Two oddities:
During the biology lecture, the professor talked about experiments where genes for mouse eyes were transferred into fruit flies, which grew *fruit fly* eyes with the mouse genes instead of mouse eyes.
Also, the animal with the most synteny (the order that the genes show up on each chromosome 'string', that is, same genes matching same location on the chromosome) isn't apes or monkeys or any primate. Even though they don't share all the same genes, the animal that shares the most similar sequence order to human genes is cats.
(That 'cattyness' explains a lot about the behavior on online lists/internet forums and the preference for snarky games like Requiem/Masquerade. :P )
It also speaks to how poorly contrived simple models can lead to false thinking, like the Paleo Diet conceit that "modern humans haven't adapted to the agricultural diet in the last 10,000 years" when it's been shown that lactose tolerance has gone from non-existent levels to being the normal state in groups from East Africa in only the last 3,000 years: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/science/10cnd-evolve.html?_r=1 or the "chemical imbalance" hypothesis of mental illness (like the discredited idea that they must be lacking lithium in the brain somewhere, since lithium lessens the symptoms (but is still toxic to the body, particularly the kidneys)).
Paleo works because cutting out junk food and stopping to think about the next thing you put in your mouth works no matter how you dress it up. The same with vegetarianism or raw-foodism or whatever song and dance gets you to cut those calories back, eat more fiber and drink more water that stops people from hitting the metabolism with constant large spikes of digestion. No matter what you eat, it's the process of breaking down food that causes damage, just like using a hammer, knife/saw or computer causes wear and tear.
Huge meals like breakfast were practical, because Paleo human (or even Medieval human) didn't have a vending machine down the hall to feed them a constant stream of eight sodas a day or making coffee runs for three Grande half-caf double-soy mocha Frappucinos with room. You worked until it was time to eat again, and then you went back to work. Food at all times was not the norm, affordable to the rich and aristocratic. (Why else would they be called fat cats?)
During the biology lecture, the professor talked about experiments where genes for mouse eyes were transferred into fruit flies, which grew *fruit fly* eyes with the mouse genes instead of mouse eyes.
Also, the animal with the most synteny (the order that the genes show up on each chromosome 'string', that is, same genes matching same location on the chromosome) isn't apes or monkeys or any primate. Even though they don't share all the same genes, the animal that shares the most similar sequence order to human genes is cats.
(That 'cattyness' explains a lot about the behavior on online lists/internet forums and the preference for snarky games like Requiem/Masquerade. :P )
It also speaks to how poorly contrived simple models can lead to false thinking, like the Paleo Diet conceit that "modern humans haven't adapted to the agricultural diet in the last 10,000 years" when it's been shown that lactose tolerance has gone from non-existent levels to being the normal state in groups from East Africa in only the last 3,000 years: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/science/10cnd-evolve.html?_r=1 or the "chemical imbalance" hypothesis of mental illness (like the discredited idea that they must be lacking lithium in the brain somewhere, since lithium lessens the symptoms (but is still toxic to the body, particularly the kidneys)).
Paleo works because cutting out junk food and stopping to think about the next thing you put in your mouth works no matter how you dress it up. The same with vegetarianism or raw-foodism or whatever song and dance gets you to cut those calories back, eat more fiber and drink more water that stops people from hitting the metabolism with constant large spikes of digestion. No matter what you eat, it's the process of breaking down food that causes damage, just like using a hammer, knife/saw or computer causes wear and tear.
Huge meals like breakfast were practical, because Paleo human (or even Medieval human) didn't have a vending machine down the hall to feed them a constant stream of eight sodas a day or making coffee runs for three Grande half-caf double-soy mocha Frappucinos with room. You worked until it was time to eat again, and then you went back to work. Food at all times was not the norm, affordable to the rich and aristocratic. (Why else would they be called fat cats?)