Chaupoline

My Anthropology professor was the one who initially told me that mutations are only neutral or negative. A negative mutation would be Downes Syndrome. A neutral mutation would be dwarfism. If the climate shifted and everything froze over midgets would be the ones to inherit the earth. They would require less caloric intake, and possess more fat deposits than their tall, skinny counterparts. As it is though, you would never consider dwarfism to be a positive mutation in Southern California, nor would you consider it a negative mutation. It's just a neutral mutation because it is not going to kill them or prevent them from having fertile offspring.

Y.B

Too bad your anthropology professor didn't know his biology, then.

premjan

Mutations are mainly neutral or negative. Positive mutations are rare but not absent. Also the positivity of a mutation requires a full organism life cycle to establish whereas the negativity can be established a bit faster as the organism is likely to be nonviable, sterile etc. Neutral mutations are stuff like hair color which don't do anything much to you.

Chaupoline

The neutral theory of molecular evolution (also, simply the neutral theory of evolution) is an influential theory that was introduced with provocative effect by Motoo Kimura in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although the theory was received by some as an argument against Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, Kimura and most evolutionary biologists today maintain that the two theories are compatible: "The theory does not deny the role of natural selection in determining the course of adaptive evolution" (Kimura, 1986). The theory attributes a large role to genetic drift.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutral...ular_evolution

There are many biologists that support these claims.

Y.B

Exactly. The neutral or the "nearly neutral" theory of molecular evolution doesn't deny the fact that mutations can be beneficial.

premjan

Yeah but your professor said all mutations are neutral or negative which is not the same thing.

Chaupoline

Anything can be beneficial when there is a need for it. That doesn't mean that there is anything other than neutral and negative mutations.

premjan

Negative can be neutral in an innocuous environment. Neutral can be negative in a harsh environment.

It all depends on the environment and has less to do with the mutation.

Amaleq13

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Chaupoline

Downes Syndrome is never anything but negative. People with Downes Syndrome are still wonderful people but Downes Syndrome is still a negative mutation. Neutral mutations are like Batman's utility belt, anti-shark repellant is not a negative thing but it is useless when you come across a freeze gun. Mutations are classified as either neutral or negative independent of their success in the environment for precisely the above reasons.

But to keep things on track, I think the story of Adam and Eve is about the rise of civilization and the need for humanity to try to control all the variables in their manufactured artificial environment. Initially it was nature with agriculture and animal husbandry as was stated with Cain and Abel, then it proceeded to the control over other people with the settlement of cities. I thought that it was interesting that Genesis had Cain the farmer be the one to create the first city since Agriculture was the contributing factor in the creation of all the pristine civilizations. It is also a very destructive system when it comes to the bio-diversity of the environment.

Garden of Eden: Natural selection is the process by which individual organisms with favorable traits - as decided by their environment - are more likely to survive and reproduce that those with unfavorable traits. Insofar as there is genetic variability for the trait under selection, the genotypes associated with the favored traits will increase in frequency in the next generation. Given enough time, this passive process results in adaptations and speciation.

The manufactured artificial environment of Humanity creates its own selection process by which individual organisms with favorable traits - as decided by humanity - are more likely to survive and reproduce under the care of humanity. This is the case with humanity’s relationship with the environment as well as humanity’s relationship with the rest of humanity. The desire for control and dominance is the source of all evil and the byproduct of original sin.