^TagGenetics

Human cell or Embryonic stem cell microscope background.

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith
Date
March 27, 2024

Tagged
Biotech, Cancer, Genetics, HIV, Medicine, stem cell, wesley j smith}

Stem Cells Might Cure HIV?

_{We must always be cautious about stories touting biotechnological cures} _{Wesley J. Smith

March 27, 2024

3}

We must always be cautious about stories touting biotechnological cures. There is a lot of hype out there, but this seems genuine. An HIV/blood-cancer patient seems to have gone into permanent remission thanks to adult stem cells. From the Daily Mail story: A California man is on the cusp of being declared cured of HIV and blood cancer. Paul Edmonds, 68, who made international headlines last year when he shared his story, still has no traces of either condition five years after being given a transplant of cells that rid his body of both diseases. In a new article by the medical team who treated him, doctors said he was officially cured of cancer and two years away from being declared cured of HIV — when he will have gone Read More ›

Twin African girls are interested and playing Kalimba or Thumb Piano acoustic music instrument from Africa, twins little African girls with her braided hair, African hair style

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
July 8, 2023

Categorized
Psychology

Tagged
Cyril Burt, Gavin Evans, Genetics, Genetics and aging, Homosexuality, Identical twin studies, Identical twins separated at birth, Josef Mengele, Thomas J. Bouchard}

That “Mirror Image” Myth About Identical Twins… What Happened?

_{Researcher of identical twins hoped to prove that Genes Rule! But there were ethics slippages along the way} _{Denyse O'Leary

July 8, 2023

6

Psychology}

For some decades, we heard claims from studies of identical twins (formed when one fertilized egg splits) that everything from exam results to homosexuality might hinge on genetics. Therefore, any similarity in later choices or behavior might be due to genetic factors (read “predetermined” or “inevitable” here). How has that assumption held up, especially in the age of genome mapping? Identical twins comprise roughly 1 in every 250 births. Studies of twins who were separated at birth, have been especially prized because the twins were assumed to grow up in different environments. Thus any significant similarities pointed to genetic influences. Several problems emerged though. For one thing, what about the assumption that separation at birth means that twins experience different Read More ›

Dinosaur eye, Closeup yellow eye of the dinosaurs with terrifying. Dinosaur hunters are staring with horrible yellow eye. Generative AI

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
February 11, 2023

Categorized
Science Fiction

Tagged
Chris Pratt, Cloning, Dinosaur, Futurism, Genetics, Jurassic Park, Jurassic World, Sci-Fi Saturday, Science fiction}

Jurassic World: Dominion Review Part 2

_{Incorporating characters from the original movies gives continuity to the franchise} _{Gary Varner

February 11, 2023

7

Science Fiction}

In the previous review, the clone daughter of one of the engineers from the first Jurassic Park, who was being protected by Claire and Owen from the first two movies of the second trilogy, was kidnapped, and her surrogate parents enlisted the help of the CIA to track her down. At the same time, Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant, our heroes from the first trilogy, suspect the international cooperation, Biosyn, of creating genetically altered locusts to eat their competition’s crops. Another survivor of the first Jurassic Park incident, Ian Malcolm, is working for Biosyn, and he has offered to allow them access to the cooperation’s secret lab. Ellie and Alan fly to Biosyn, where they find that many of the Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
February 4, 2023

Categorized
Science Fiction

Tagged
Chris Pratt, Dinosaurs, DNA, Genetics, Jurassic World, Sci-Fi Saturday, Science fiction, Story}

Jurassic World: Dominion Review Part 1

_{Too many unanswered questions and gaping plot holes in the grand finale} _{Gary Varner

February 4, 2023

6

Science Fiction}

Like so many kids in my generation, one of the things that prompted my interest in science was the iconic movie, Jurassic Park, and also, like so many kids of my generation, Jurassic Park Three left me furious. Once the dinosaurs started talking, I was out. Then came Jurassic World, and I was left unimpressed but unoffended, so I called it good enough. And the last movie in the second trilogy left me in a similar boat. It fixed one of the big issues I had with Jurassic Park Three, so I can’t really say this is a bad movie. That being said, it is an excellent example of bad writing. The problem with the film is that it’s convoluted, Read More ›

IQ test Result, Very Superior Intelligence Quotient.

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
April 27, 2021

Categorized
Education, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Animals (capabilities), Genetics, Heritability, intellect, Intelligence quotient (IQ), Rational powers (Thomism), reason, Sensitive powers (Thomism), Thomas Aquinas, Twin studies, Vegetative powers (Thomism), will}

If IQ Is Inherited, Is the Intellect Simply Material?

_{Michael Egnor

April 27, 2021

6

Education, Philosophy of Mind}

A reader writes: I was reading your writings about mind and brain, and I was wondering about how IQ relates to all of this. Since IQ seems to have a large heritable component to it, and the only thing that can be inherited genetically is physical traits, does IQ and its heritability pose a threat to mind-body dualism? It seems to me that someone with an IQ of 75 would have a very different mental experience than someone with an IQ of 145, and that they would also make decisions very differently, which, to me at least, would pose a threat to free will as well, since wouldn’t a certain level of intelligence be required to make decisions freely in Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
October 3, 2020

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

Tagged
Brain organization, Comparative brain structure, Convergent evolution, Evolution, Genetics, human brain, Inheritance, Insect brain, Mouse brain}

Human, Mouse, and Fly Brains All Use the Same Basic Mechanisms

_{The study of brains in recent decades has yielded a very different picture from the patterns we might have expected} _{News

October 3, 2020

4

Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience}

With differing outcomes, of course: A new study led by researchers from King’s College London has shown that humans, mice and flies share the same fundamental genetic mechanisms that regulate the formation and function of brain areas involved in attention and movement control. News Centre, “Humans and flies employ very similar mechanisms for brain development and function” at King’s College London (August 3, 2020) We might have expected a gradual increase in size and complexity, corresponding with ability, leading up to the human brain. But we have learned from recent research that lemurs, with brains 1/200 the size of chimps’, pass same IQ test (the Primate Cognition Test Battery). Human intellectual abilities are orders of magnitude greater than that of Read More ›

Dog playing the shell game with her human. Concept of training pets, domestic dogs being smart and educated

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
August 5, 2020

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
___longform, Dog breeds, Dog intelligence, Dogs, Genetics, George Dvorsky, Gestures, intelligence, Language, Magnetic field sensing, Numeracy, Problem-solving, Self-awareness, Sense of smell, Wolves}

In What Ways Are Dogs Intelligent?

_{There is no human counterpart to some types of dog intelligence} _{Denyse O'Leary

August 5, 2020

8

Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

At Gizmodo recently, George Dvorsky adopted the useful, though somewhat unusual, strategy of determining dog intelligence by focusing on what dogs can’t do. He starts with the premise, as put by University of Exeter psychology professor (and dog expert) Stephen Lea, who says that domestication “has radically altered the intelligence of dogs.” Not so much raised or lowered it as changed its nature from the type of intelligence we would expect from a wolf: “Dogs are very good at what they’re bred to do — they’re excellent at doing those things, and in some cases even better than other species we think are intelligent, such as chimps and bonobos,” Zachary Silver, a PhD student from the Comparative Cognitive Lab at Read More ›

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
July 9, 2020

Tagged
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), Dan Brown, Genetics, John Lennox, Life 3.0 (book), Max Tegmark, Prometheus, Rosalind Picard, transhumanism, Yuval Harari}

John Lennox: False Assumptions in the Hype over AI

_{Robert J. Marks

July 9, 2020

1}

Much of the hype over artificial general intelligence seems to be based on false assumptions and presuppositions. Will robots become human? Robert J. Marks and Dr. John Lennox discuss artificial general intelligence, transhumanism, and Dr. Lennox’s book 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity. Show Notes Additional Resources

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 4, 2020

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Dmitry Belyaev, Domestication, Elinor Karlsson, Genetics, Jared Diamond, Silver foxes, Tameness}

Tame Animals, Not Wild Ones, Are Mysterious

_{A recent discovery about tame foxes sheds some light but deepens the larger mystery} _{Denyse O'Leary

January 4, 2020

7

Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

New research puts us back where we started. The foxes are tame. But why are they tame? Other foxes are decidedly not tame. Why is it so easy to “tame” dogs and cats but not wolves and bobcats?

Those Puppy Dog Eyes Are No Accident

_{The babyface dog is, according to a study of animal shelters, more likely to be adopted} _{News

June 20, 2019

5

Natural Intelligence}

Over thirty-three millennia of selective breeding shaped “a scant, irregular cluster of fibres” found around wolves’ eyes into eyebrows that communicate—to humans—a look-after-me doggy expression.