Regenerating limbs in lizards: Epigenetic drivers of evolution

How lizards regenerate their tails: Researchers discover genetic ‘recipe’

August 2014,Source:

Arizona State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Summary:

By understanding the secret of how lizards regenerate their tails, researchers may be able to develop ways to stimulate the regeneration of limbs in humans. Now, a team of researchers is one step closer to solving that mystery. The scientists have discovered the genetic “recipe” for lizard tail regeneration, which may come down to using genetic ingredients in just the right mixture and amounts…..

To see more of this article click the link to Science Daily

Now, as almost always on these blogs, I aim to present non-Darwinian alternatives to explain aspects of nature and evolution in a new light, which is ultimately informed by the most cutting-edige scientific breakthroughs in biology. The regeneration of limbs is a case in point. This wondrous feats of nature is actually explicable (as usual) by epigenetic processes = above the genome. It changes the expression of genes without effected the DNA code itself and these imprints/markers can be inherited, if strong enough. Epigenetic processes therefore explains a great deal about evolution unfolded. and it certainly wasn’t anything like we have been told!

Epigenetic evolution is not: random, slow or genetic-mutation-based process. It is a sophisticated mechanisms that has itself evolved and is found within all organisms. This mechanism is activated and orchestrated into timed and precise responses according to environmental cues (Larmarckian principals in molecular terms). This epigenetic phenomenon helps to explain amazing feats of nature, such as regenerating limbs.. However, the article above does not link this process to epigenetics, but it rarely does on Science Daily and we will be kind and say that they have hnot made the connection – YET, to very un-Darwinian processess in nature and the epigenetic revolution going on as we speak in biology.

Therefore, I have linked the article that explains (albeit more complexly) the epigenetic process (drivers) and how they are linked to limb regenerations below. The excerpt is from a recent science entitled: An artificial lizard regrows its tail (and more):regeneration of 3-dimensional structureswith hundreds of thousands of artificial cells.

ABSTRACT

Biological multicellular structures can not only self-generate from a single cell but also self-regenerate after damage. In this paper we investigate self-regeneration in a model of artificial development, Epigenetic Tracking. 3-dimensional cellular structures grown using our model reach a size and a levelof complexity unmatched by other models in the field, thanks to several features of Epigenetic Tracking. One of these features is that only a small fraction of cells in the body, called drivers, orchestrate development. In this paper we use the mechanim for the generation of drivers based on the diffusion of morphogens as a foundation of several new mechanisms in Epigenetic Tracking, and show that these mechanisms allow for self-regeneration after removal of arbitrarily large portions of the multicellular body….

Below is the definition of Epigenetic Tracking from the same article

Epigenetic Tracking: a model of evolving,
self-generating multicellular structures In Epigenetic Tracking multicellular bodies consist of cube-shaped cells on a 3-dimensional grid. The growth starts from a single cell and continues through a pre-specified number of developmental stages. Cells belong to two categories:normal and drivers . Each driver has an associated array of digits, called mobile code . All the cells carry the same genome, an array of characters (from a 4-letter alphabet). The mobile code can be considered as an abstraction for the set of regulatory factors present in a cell: it allows drivers to behave differently despite sharing the same genome.

full article here

I know if you are not familiar with epigenetics this may seem complex – therefore, I would suggest looking at other blogs on this site to give you a wider perspective of how it applies to me and you in our every day lives and how it explains a great deal about evolution – not by common descent, but via a common mechanism that is ultimately driven by epigenetic processes.