Interesting that Darwin was a clergyman!

What if there is a purpose? is the question that religions seem to ask.

I didn't know that mitochondria is always inherited by the mother! In research, I found that only proteins expressed in the female eye mapped to the MT (mitochondrial genes) so this makes sense!

This could also be why some people don't believe in evolution--there is sometimes no direct, visual evidence

Interesting that there is a whole new field in biology that focuses on molecular evolution!

Read a book in Genetics last semester (The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee). It had a lot of interesting info about Darwin and one thing that stood out to me was that his cousin was Sir Francis Galton, who actually conceived the idea of eugenics (creating a "better" human race by regulating procreation). Was amazed to hear that Darwin's cousin used his evolutionary theory to devise his own very extreme/scary theory.

Felt like this paragraph didn't fully explain what Neo-Lamarckism is.

Found online that neo-lamarckists thought that Lamarckian mechanisms (inheritance of acquired characteristics) were more likely to be the chief cause of evolution than natural selection (Darwinism).

I may be overthinking this, but I am not quite sure how blending inheritance necessarily implies that variation should decrease?

Couldn't this so-called "blending" of traits lead to more variation as well?

Not understanding how these more extreme variants have to do with body size evolving to become more different within a population.

Are these new, extreme variants unrelated to body size?

I think Darwin's perseverance is pretty incredible; the fact that he spent 20 years gathering evidence towards his theory is impressive--He was able to go against the grain and question the status quo

Lamarckism = traits change amongst a population based on current needs--they then get passed down

Darwinism = variation in traits are present at the beginning--the traits that permit survival are passed down

I find it incredible that beliefs can so strongly impact and skew how we see the world. It is really interesting that we can have so much faith in something without direct physical evidence. (With all due respect to religious beliefs)

expound - to explain the meaning of something in detail

Genetic Drift - a basic mechanism of evolution like natural selection, mutation, and migration

When allele frequencies of a population change over generations by random chance

How exactly have the SIV and HIV viruses diverged? What has caused them to infect different species? I know species can go through speciation when the population becomes subdivided (by geographic location or niche), but I am wondering how this occurs in viruses or bacteria.

Just had a moment of pure awe over the fact that everything evolves....even beyond the whole organism: DNA sequences, molecular pathways, behaviors.

I am interested to learn about this idea (what accounts for behavioral differences between men and women) as I just finished summer research that looked at a more genetic basis for differences between males and females. I am excited to view biology from an evolutionary standpoint and connect the genetic level to the broader picture

I am wondering why the monkeys were the first creatures infected with the SIV virus--why not the rabbit and horse predecessors?

I remember learning about Lamarck in high school and his inheritance of acquired characteristics, but never heard about this "nervous fluid". Also, his theory (although proved wrong) suggests that organisms could almost choose how they evolve based on using certain organs/appendages more than others.

Just looked up some methods that evolutionary biologists use to study virus evolution since there is no fossil record, and I came across a really cool article (https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=126156). It mentioned how computer simulations are being made to mimic evolution; Some programs can make digital organisms that model real organisms in that they can duplicate and mutate. Then, evolution is mimicked by naturally selecting these digital organisms (lets the organism more suited to the environment survive)--but all of this can happen in a short amount of time and on a computer screen!

I am wondering what makes viruses spread easier amongst a species compared to between species? Besides the fact that species have a lot more contact with their own kind of species, I am wondering how this type of retrovirus operates at a molecular level when there is a transfer of SIV from monkeys to humans? Going off of Maddy's question, I wonder how HIV and SIV differ at a molecular level or if they even do?