April 7th, 2009 ecoli
From Not Exactly Rocket Science:
Some scientists believe that the revulsion we feel towards immoral behaviour isn’t based on our vaunted mental abilities, but on ancient impulses that evolved to put us off toxic or infectious foods… Hanah Chapman from the University of Toronto has found that both physical and moral disgust cause the levator labii muscles, which run from your eyes to your mouth, to contract. The result: you wrinkle your nose and you purse your lips. Nasty tastes, gross photos and foul play all cause the same physical reaction and the same subjective emotions. When people say that moral transgressions “leave a bad taste in your mouth”, it’s more than just a pretty metaphor.
This seems to imply that the physiological emotional reactions we feel when experiencing moral outrage where co-opted from our response to physical disgust.
Perhaps in our evolutionary history, these faces helped cooperators in groups send silent signals to identify cheaters. This could be a significant idea in terms human social evolution.
Posted in evolution | 1 Comment »
July 29th, 2008 ecoli
I’ve been reading a biography Adam Smith, who I had previously thought of as an economist, but have since learned that he is a moral philosopher, who studied under Hutcheson and was a good friend of David Hume.
From this work, I’ve realized how important the insights of the enlightenment thinkers were to later theories by biologists such as Charles Darwin.
In his Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith tried to explore human behavior in a way fairly unique to the time. Recognizing morality as unique to humans, previous thinkers chalked it up to a gift from a diety. Smith wasn’t so sure, or at least looked to people’s behavior in public and private to understand how a sense of morality develops.
One thing that Smith observed is societal pressures creating a standard or norm for public behavior, which could deviate in private. Smith recognized societal standards as a powerful force to shape emotions and therefore behavior. People strive to have a similar emotional level as the people around you, which creates an acceptable medium for public emotional displays, and therefore the behaviors in response to outward emotion.
What I found interesting is that Smith recognized the importance of human interactions, where most others tended to focus on the personal, in dealing with theories of morality (be it the ridiculous supernatural or the slightly more reasonable, all actions are essentially selfish). This idea that society and personal interactions are powerful in shaping human psychology lines up nicely with my ideas about human evolution.
While Smith did not have an inclination of evolution and was not terrible concerned with how morality could have come about, I think his ideas were essential for the eventual development of Darwinism.
The enlightenment thinkers developed new ideas about psychology, behavior, and human interactions and all scales that did not rely on some supernatural force. They did for biology and social sciences what Galileo and Newton did for cosmology and physics: they started the notion that human behavior can be studied in a systematic way by studying aspects of humans and human society. This change in thinking was essential, I think for the study of biological organisms as adaptable.
Posted in evolution, musings | 2 Comments »
June 25th, 2008 ecoli
DaveScot, an IDiologist who writes for the uncommondescent blog has claimed to have found a mistake in Richard Lenski’s paper. (which I first talked about here)
He points to a statement made by Lenski: (DaveScot’s emphasis)
However, selection requires heritable variation
generated by random mutation, and even beneficial mutations
may be lost by random drift.
And then points to a study done by the Scripps institute that would seem to contradict this statement:
The bold portion is patently wrong. Selection operates on any heritable variation whether random or not… The Scripps researchers, in a nutshell, discovered that E. coli, when stressed (such as running out of food as in Lenski’s experiment or in the presence of antibiotics in the Scripps experiment) selectively increases the mutation rate on certain genes.
What DaveScot has wrong (and I believe he was refering to this experiment) is that the study says that mutations are purposefully induced on specific genes. However, the doesn’t say that only beneficial mutations are induced or that mutations were localized only to specific genes. This is a case of an organism increasing the rate of random mutations, which is a good survival strategy for a population to increase its genetic diversity. However, it does not appear to be the case, that the bacteria is select for their own survival.
So DaveScot is wrong in saying:
Thus the mutations in this case are not random but rather directed at a certain area in an attempt to solve a certain problem.
There is no basis to this teleological statement. Bacteria aren’t attempting to solve a problem, not in the same humans do when we create a new medicine or drug. They are simply increasing their genetic diversity (and probably not on purpose either, more likely in response to selection pressures), so that when antibiotics are around, the probability of a random mutation conferring antibiotic resistance is increased.
DaveScot FAIL
Posted in creationism, evolution, genetics, link out, microbiology | 9 Comments »
June 25th, 2008 ecoli
Thanks to bascule at SFN for this link.
Richard Lenski, whose groundbreaking work witnessed the evolution of citrate-using E. coli in a mere 44,000 generations over 20 years of work.
He responds directly to conservapedia’s ignorant creationism populace published by conservapedia (amazingly enough) here:
Lenski’s second letter is particularly good, filled with lots of good biochemistry, scientific philosophy and general good sense. A highly recommended read.
Discuss the exchange here.
Posted in biochemistry, creationism, evolution, link out, microbiology | 3 Comments »
June 18th, 2008 ecoli
I haven’t been blogging much recently, prefering to spend my time studying for the MCATs or working on some of the research projects I’m currently involved with. Hopefully soon I’ll be off to some hospital to shadow a doctor. But, I just had to share this story.
Sciencedaily reports on chimp behavior, saying that chimps keep quiet during copulation, in order to evade detection of other chimps. I suspect that this is a mechanism chimps use to obscure paternity, which is interesting considering that chimps also make it quite obvious when they’re in estrus.
At any rate, it doesn’t seem to be a trait we share with chimps, at least judging from some of the shadier motels I’ve had the misfortune of staying at.
Posted in evolution, link out, musings | 4 Comments »
June 3rd, 2008 ecoli
I first heard this story on the radio and then again at Sciencedaily.
Images of sexy women tend to whet men’s sexual appetite. But stimulating new research in the Journal of Consumer Research says there’s more than meets the eye. A recent study shows that men who watched sexy videos or handled lingerie sought immediate gratification—even when they were making decisions about money, soda, and candy.
I don’t think this finding is that surprising, though it is interesting. What I suspect, is that the evolution has selected for males who seek immediate sexual gratification. Reproducing early and often is a trait selected for in the right conditions. What these results seem to suggest, is that there is a psychological link between sexual desire and other material desire, such as tasty snacks, or an impulse purchase.
Though, brain scanning experiments will have to be done to confirm this (if they haven’t been done already) what I expect is that these ‘desire’ traits will be linked in the area of the brain as well.
What I want to know next, is that if it works the other way around. Does seeing a delicious snack make us want to fufill sexual gratification as well?
Regardless, I’m sure the advertisers are all over this one. Soon, we’ll be seeing pictures of bikini-clad women in all male-oriented stores.
Posted in evolution, neurobiology, news | 1 Comment »
May 29th, 2008 ecoli
It’s hard to imagine, in our world of internet and cell phones, that there could be any people unconnected and unplugged from the ‘modern world.’ Yet, these photographs show that there are still some tribes in South America, this one is in Brazil, that remains isolated from the Western world and modern government. Who knows how much they know about the world outside their tribe? This group still uses bow and arrows.
Now here’s the question. Should we make contact with these tribes, to study them. There is much we can learn from isolated tribes about human behavior and evolution. On the other hand, would it not be better for them to leave them be? Especially because, in the past, western diseases have been known to decimate tribal populations.
more pictures
Posted in environment, evolution, politics | 5 Comments »
May 27th, 2008 ecoli
A few days ago, I blogged about a company that put a wide range of long-lasting antimicrobial products into a wide range of products. I wrote the company to complain about their practices, especially in regards to the evolution of antimicrobial resistance, due to the overuse of antimicrobial products.
To my surprise, I actually got a response from Microban International, Ltd. to the email I sent:
Dear Mr. [ecoli]
I appreciate your concern, and applaud your going to the effort of expressing an opinion on an major issue; but I also must point out that this issue shows the need for applying critical thinking to what is published, particularly on science and health in the mass media, and to be sure that you study primary sources of information before forming your opinions.
Resistant strains, such as MRSA, are an issue in the medical use of antibiotics, a subset of antimicrobials with particular modes of action and patterns of use. Microban uses general purpose biocides, another subset of antimicrobials, with multiple modes of action, which do not cause resistant strains as demonstrated in both clinical studies and in over a century of use. Triclosan is one of the antimicrobials that we use, is probably one of the most studied of the antimicrobials, and despite all of the hysteria around it has been shown in something like 6-7 clinical studies, including one by the guy who started the whole thing, and 30 years of use to not cause resistant strains. In addition, our mode of use of antimicrobials, incorporating them into products so that there is always a greater than inhibitory concentration of antimicrobial available, would minimize the likelihood of development of resistant strains; whereas the use of disinfectants and general purpose antimicrobials, common in medical, public spaces, and the home, continually cycles through substantial periods of sub-inhibitory concentrations, a situation far more likely to result in resistant strains but doesn’t. The focus on triclosan and other general purpose antimicrobials is just a red herring that distracts from the real issues concerning the use of antibiotics.
I have attached a white paper that reviews the science behind this issue with regard to general purpose antimicrobials and lists the key papers reporting on the research in this area. I hope that you will take the time to study them.
Sincerely,
Dr. Wayne Swofford
VP, Research & Development
Microban International
I’ve made the paper they gave me available as a Google Doc. I’m going to read the paper in detail over the next several days, but I’m sure at least some of the technical aspects are going to be above my head. So I appeal to the masses to give me a hand in reviewing the paper, to attempt to falsify their work. I don’t want Microban to win out in a simple ‘Appeal to Authority’ if their study is, in fact, bunk.
I urge people who are interested in this issue, to take part. I’ve posted a thread at ScienceForums.net (my home base), which anyone can and should take part in. And, bloggers, feel free to write about this in your own blogs.
Posted in education, evolution, genetics, medicine, microbiology | No Comments »
May 26th, 2008 ecoli
I’ve been sitting on this one for a while now, wondering on how best to approach it.
For our anniversary, my girlfriend got me this box of 12 #2 Antimicrobial Pencils from Ticonderoga.
My first thought was, “WTF is wrong with the world” quickly followed by a “Why would you get this for me?” to my girlfriend. She shrugged and said “you like bacteria.”
Well, I guess I like them so much that she thought I should contribute to the growing problem of bacterial resistance to commercial antibiotics by introducing a new source of a completely useless product.
According to the front of the box:
Microban protection inhibits the growth of odor and stain causing bacteria
and according to Wikipedia:
Microban International, Ltd. produces chemicals used for antimicrobial product protection. These persistent chemicals provide antimicrobial properties in consumer, industrial and medical products… The broad application of the Microban product in everything from cutting boards to flooring, along with its long life in the product and hence the environment, has raised some concerns about the long term effects of its promiscuous use.
This could be a made up statistic, but 48.5 out of 50 microbiologists agree that the concept of Microban products is one of the stupidest they’ve heard in a while.
We’re overusing antimicrobial agents in everything from flooring, pencils and our colons. It’s no wonder that widespread antibiotic resistance is wreaking havoc in the medical field. Haven’t we seen in the recent spread of drug resistant superbugs, like MRSA)shown us the dangers of overusing antibiotics?
Apparantly not, because companies like Microban will not be satisfied until their antimicrobial products are in the lining of every pot and in the flooring of every garage. Just looking at that insidious green packaging, in it’s environmentally friendly guise, is making me angry.
I can see the attractiveness of wanting to put antibiotics into pencils, sort of. I suppose if you happen to be an elementary school teacher who’s students slobber all over their pencils, it could help stop the spread of germs,if they happen to share their pencils. But, this still, is going too far.
Bacteria will quickly build up resistance to these types of antibiotics, which is dangerous because of the increased virulence associated with increased resistance. So, instead of a few relatively harmless bacteria on your pencil, you’ve got lots of harmful bacteria.
This simple fact speaks to a larger ignorance in the general public about the simple fact that antimicrobial products become less effective when they’re overused. As a result, the doctor’s treatment arsenal is getting smaller, and science simply cannot produce new antibiotic agents as quickly as they are needed.
I am going to send an email to Microban International, Ltd to give them a piece of my mind, and I urge all my readers to do the same. Perhaps we can pressure them into at least recognizing the potential problem associated with their company.
(my email – feel free to use this version or modify as needed for your own letters)
I am writing as a student in microbiology and biochemistry to express my concern about the general content and implications of your Microban products.
As you may or may not know, antimicrobial products are important tool in medicine and treating infectious diseases, however, their overuse is leading to a serious health problem.
This company, which seeks to put antimicrobial products into everything from flooring to pencils, is doing the public a great disservice. It is important to realize that not all bacteria or fungi are killed by antimicrobials, and that the pathogens that survive are often the strongest and most virulent of the population. These organisms are also largely resistant to antimicrobials.
Therefore, as more antimicrobials enter general use, they become less effective. This is annoying problem for those concerned with household odors. This is an potential public health catastrophe to those, like myself, who can envision what the overuse of antimicrobial products will bring.
In the news we see with cases like the MRSA superbug, which have been able to outmaneuver our antibiotics faster than science can produce them, and the result is often fatal (to children). This is one of hundreds of different cases of virulent diseases made worse by overuse of antibiotics.
I write to urge this company to reconsider the way it approaches and applies it’s products.
Right now, overuse of antimicrobials is a nuisance, but in the future it could become a real health epidemic if this overuse is continued. If Microban International, Ltd. truly cares about the public good and its consumer base, it will seriously reconsider its business approach.
Sincerely and respectfully,
Posted in business, education, environment, evolution, microbiology, musings | 4 Comments »
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