By directlymeasuring the functional mutation rate, Maughanet al.(2007) wereable to predict how long until plasticity should be lost in the absenceof costs, and compare this prediction to the observed rate of loss.
I think looking at mutations when trying to find the limits of plasticity is vital. It only make sense to look at mutations when determining limits because a presence or absence of a mutation could be the determining factor of an organisms limit to plasticity.
Comparisons between environmental sensory networks ofclosely related populations (Tsujiet al.,2011; Longet al.,2013) offerevidence that novel genetic variation may be present in many systems—suggesting organisms frequently overcome such limits to plasticity
I think it is important to note that even though there are many limits to plasticity wild species have the ability to overtime over come such limits which makes it hard to pinpoint limits to plasticity of wild species if they have the ability to change.
Selective pressures that are shaping microbiome char-acteristics within high-income countries may include prenatal and postnatal antibiotics exposure, dietary antimicrobials, toothpaste, soaps and perhaps even consumption of chlorinated water.
1) I never understood how much the microbiome has an affect on an organism 2) I didn't know that the microbiome could be so sensitive to change--- accidentally swallowing chlorinated water and can result in a change in your microbiome blows my mind!
Understanding the coevolution of milk glycans, the immune system and gut bacteria in infancy across mammals may be critical in improving human health in infants and provides a translational model for modulation of the gut microbiota
I know a lot of women in today's world that freeze their extra breast milk and give it to mothers who cannot breastfeed, for various reasons, to give to their own babies. I don't really know how I feel about this process, but maybe it could help solve the problem of synthetic milk for infants that is not so synthetic. I had no idea that breast milk has any role in the microbiome and it would be interesting to read up more on how breast milk and different formulas affect infants .
The microbiota seems to exert effects on the next generation from gestation, via maternal microbiota and immune responses.
I am still super interested in the comparative effects of being born vaginally v.s. c-section on the microbiome. I did a quick search on the differences and some researches say that there is an impact on the immune system later in life if born by c-section (weaker immune system). It is also known that c-section babies lack Bacteroides phylum that vaginal babies are exposed to when being born. C-section babies are also more prone to allergies, asthma, and obesity which blows my mind being a c-section baby myself. haha
Akeyaspectofbiodiversityconservationconcernsthepotentialpervasiveinfluenceofhumansocietiesonbiodiversity.
This sentence is huge! As humans continue to increase in population and build outward, sadly we increase the risk of destroying biodiversity. It is important to look at how other species have adapted epigentically to the increasing anthropocentric world to try and come up with new conservation strategies.
Here,wearguethatepigeneticvariation,andmoreparticularlyDNAmethylation,representsamolecularcomponentofbiodiversitythatdirectlylinksthegenometotheenvironment.Assuch,itprovidestherequiredinformationontheecologi-calbackgroundoforganismsforanintegrativefieldofconservationbi
I don't know if you could tell but I am definitely 100% towards the conservation side of things haha. I think looking at the underlying epigenetics of species should be a major step when determining a conservation plan because it is important to look at how the environment has an affect on certain species and how plastic a species is. I don't think it's possible to try an conserve a species without looking at epigenetic variation.
Epigenetic modifications contribute to phenotypic variation (Jablonka 2013), which may have wide ecological implications (Table 7 .1), including phenotypic plasticity in response to different environments (He & Amasino 2005; Nicotra et al. 2010). There are several kinds of epigenetic modifications, although the most studied so far is DNA methylation (Jaenisch & Bird 2003). Methylation generates phenotypic variation in several tax.a. In a mutant form of the plant Linaria vulgaris, flower symmetry is changed from bilateral to radial by methy-lation of the Lcyc gene (Cubas et al. 1999). The epigenetic modification is heritable, and demethylation of the Lcyc gene causes a reversion to wildtype. In mice, epigenetic modi-fications of the agouti locus alter coat color (Morgan et al. 1999) and modifications of the axin locus generate a kinked-tail phenotype (Rakyan et al. 2003). A spontaneous mutation in methylation to the promoter of the colorless nonripening locus in the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) prevents fruit ripening (Manning et al. 2006). Because epigenetic modifi-cations are more dynamic and reversible than DNA mutations (Slatkin 2009), more rapid flexibility can be generated than is possible with genetically-based adaptation alone. An excellent example of epigenetic mechanisms underling phenotypic plasticity is found in vernalization (the acceleration of flowering after prolonged cold temperature) of Arabidopsis thaliana. Vemalization causes changes in histone methylation that alter chromatin structure and ultimately allows for plasticity in flowering (Bastow et al. 2004). Another example is found in the leaf characteristics of holly trees in response to her-bivory (Herrera & Bazaga 2013). Here, mammalian browsing is correlated to a prickly leaf phenotype, and DNA methylation differs between prickly and nonprickly leaves. Further, experiments on nearly isogenic epigenetic recombinant inbred lines of A. thaliana demon-strate that variation in DNA methylation may contribute substantially to heritability in plant traits and the plasticity of these traits (Zhang et al. 2013).
epigenetic inheri-tance, which "occurs when phenotypic variations that do not stem from variations in DNA base sequences are transmitted to subsequent generations of cells or organisms.
How can we do integrative biology in research and education? In terms of curricula, we can make sure that students are introduced very early to broadly based science that is centered in biology by featuring organisms but has a scope that includes reference to all elements of the hierarchy of biological organization and the other sciences and humanities. For example, the kindergartner, learning about the plants and animals that live in the schoolyard pond, a rice paddy, or a garden near home, can participate in a discussion of the biology of the organisms and their interactions with one another, the effects of climate, the social dimensions of food and water supply and desiccation, and the aesthetics of a calling frog's song or a beautiful stand of plants. Education in following years can be more fine-grained, inclusive, and synthetic as different kinds of ideas, questions, and problems—and how to deal with them—are considered (which might make learning fundamentals and techniques more interesting). It is by doing science that students learn critical thinking and positive skepticism, and they should be engaged in hands-on science as early as possible, while they are still curious about the world around them. The maintenance of critical thinking and skepticism is important at all levels of the scientific enterprise—professionals should not lose that capacity.
To me this is what school systems are already doing and have been doing in every level of education.
Educational curricula should be sure to include acquisition of function—techniques, ideas, and communication—in relevant areas outside students' central discipline.
Expanding on this idea and giving an example would be helpful in understanding the statement made. How far from the central discipline should educational curricula stretch?
Integrative approaches offer much that current practices do not. Integration facilitates the generation of new hypotheses and new questions because representatives with an array of expertise communicate with one another about general but complex issues. The ability of such research teams to generate data and resources faster, and with more dimensionality, than can practitioners of the single-focus model of research confers a “competitive advantage.” Most important, the new ideas, approaches, and insights of integrative approaches can make the science more innovative.
This statement, to me, sums up the paper as a whole. Integrative biology is science for the 21st century because of the fact that humans are continually looking for faster and more efficient ways to problem solve and without collaboration across multiple fields of expertise this is not possible.
the approach that an individual or institution adopts may depend on the nature of the person's or organization's expertise.
I believe that there are more challenges than just expertise that a person or organization face when trying to integrate other fields of study into their own. For example, communication and funding can affect the amount of integration a person or organization are able to incorporate into research.
It is both an attitude about the scientific process and a description of a way of doing science
I'm not sure if I'm not reading this statement correctly, but I don't understand how integrative biology is an "...attitude about the scientific process...". I agree that integrative biology can be a "...description of a way of doing science...", but I don't think I would call it an attitude.