that happened since then has supported thenotion of punctuated equilibriumDthe splicing enzymes would come alongsnip out the intron sections so that thefirst third of the exon connected tothe middle 3rd final third to produce aclear read outmythis is a massivedeviation from the conceptthat one gene specifies oneProtine Different splicingcan thus create verydifferent resultsthe more they goesinto the deeperr rNext he moves onto DNA. When we look at a DNA strong, there are periods that codefor genes interspliced with large sections (95% or so is non-coding) that function asan "instruction manual."The genes themselves are not always coded for in just one snippet. Often multipleareas on the DNA will code for parts of the same gene. So you can have a sectionthat codes for the first third of a protein followed by a long stretch that has nothingto do with that protein.This is then followed by a section coding for the next third. And so on. Each of thesesections is called an exon. The in-between stuff is called introns. People deduced andthen discovered something called splicing enzymes.David Baltimore was the first to introduce theconcept that this makes the genes modular andopens the door to massive information withinthe DNA universe. Because of this flexibility, DNAwould then have the potential to abandon theoriginal A-B-C model and create,for example, an A-C combination. This will giveyou 7 different ways to combine these exons,which means there are 7 different proteins thatcan result (pacing mutations of course). the more they've realished different point ofview different enzyems splicing at differentspots So we have different items beingcreated by the same Basic DNA originalset due to different splicing enzymes beingactivated activated at different timesof lifeSo who is inchargeWell whoever orwhatevercontrolsthese trasepritionfactor includingthe enviormentwhich has somethingto do with geneticeffectsSo what qualifies as environmentgt could be something inside the cellcThe instruction booklet part of DNA is all aboutwhen and under what circumstances to activateand start and stop creating proteins.(For example, human growth hormone is releasedthroughout life but has peak periods.) For better orworse this means that DNA doesn't "know" whatit's doing. Instead it's a read-out that's under thecontrol of lots of other factors. Among these arethe regulatory sequences upstream from the gene.These might be called promoter or repressivesequences that promote or repress the expressionof DNA snippets downstream. They are likeswitches. And they are turned on when the rightevent (internal or external) happens. These eventsare triggered by transcription factors. These mightturn on single genes or whole networks in theDNA.On the flipside, any given gene can have a wholebunch of different promoters that it's waiting tohear from before it does its thing. fyou could havemassengeroutsidefrom body as wellSuch as scarysight or an olfactormassenger like apheromontas a consequence of this Sapolskynotes that the most interesting stuffwith DNA now is not the specificnature of the pro fines but rather whenit does its thing what elementstrigger itFor example maybe the cell is gettinglow on energy. This could release atranscription factor that wouldresult in the cell being activated totake up more energy.Or it could be something fromoutside the cell,such as a hormone floating around inthe bloodstream. A hormone is a bloodborne chemical messenger.Testosterone is used as an example. Itwould float far and wide and have itseffects and those effects wouldincrease significantly when the malehits puberty resulting in changes inlots of areas in the body.DNA is covered, stabilized and protected by chromatin. And so thereis a whole world of messengers that inform the chromatin of whereand when to open up and allow the transcription factors through.Changes can also happen that will permanently impact thechromatin.For example, mothering styles in rats have been shown topermanently change elements in the chromatin in areas relating toanxiety. This leads into the field of epigenetics. Research withmonkeys has shown a change in one area impacting 4,000 otherareas! So moral of the story Fertilization isall about genetics while developmentis all about epigeneticsSo if you have a mutation in one ofthese splicing enzymes or transcriptionfactors the kind of changes that wouldresult could well fit into the punctuatedequilibrium notgradual model ofevolution5as we know from the previous lactureDNA as the bigboss man is undermine as welearn that 95 of the DNA is simply the instructionmanual this transeprition factor has ahuge impact in a if then manner that splicing epigenetic effects impact growthon on Here he highlights ways in whichthings are interconnected envioroment geneetcHere come to the most fun part ofSapolsky Principal element of life in whichthere is a bit of randomness chancesin even the most structured systemchaos theory Heisenberg Uncertainty5there is also a bit of structure in theseemingly chaotic this might be animportant theme in evolutionADIjPromoter stimulatesrelease of morevasopressin o relatedwith this is anincrease in monogamoushttps://youtu.be/TQKELOE9eY4https://youtu.be/ovJcsL7vyrkAs promoters change,transcription factors change.Splicing enzymes can changetheir behavior and create entirelynew proteins. Changes intranscription factors can activateentirely different gene sequences.Little changes can have bigresults, especially when thosechanges cascade.https://youtu.be/uIk5I86FJN0 gmatingvasopressinvolsperhaps humans The more vasopressinthe more likely thef not is to be monoganPoligamous vols whengiven vasopressinbehave monogamouslyThere are some evidanthat Impacts humanbehaviour too Sapolskmentions a study thatsuggested that thetype of vasopressinPromoteryou have providedSome predictive powerof the likelyhood ofyou getting divorced down the lineNaturally there are 3 million confound herebut it gives one pause in terms of theconcept of free willone the other side of DimorphinPromoters seem to relate to ease of addictionto pain killing drugs in rat The more promotersthat the rat is to exhibit addictive behaviourpain toward killing drugs when given theopportunityThe more genes youfound in a speciesthe grater the percentageof those genes thatcode for transcriptionfactorsfor example you havegene A you haveone transcription factor Ibut if you have A B you have 3 transeriptipsyA B A B so on down the lineMicro evolution is about the protinesMame netChanging transcription factorschanges gene networks. Henotes that a disproportionateshare of the differences in thegenetic code between chimpsand humans lie in the genesthat code for transcriptionfactors. This leads to thesuggestion that the mostinteresting evolutionarychanges are going to be thosefound in changes in theregulatory structure of thegenes, not in changes to theDNA itself.a plant geneticist named Margaret McClintock. He goes through ahistory of one of her experiments in which she argued fortransposable genes in plants,i.e. genes that are actually moving around on the DNA line,creating new proteins, networks, results. This amazing feature isalso seen in the human immune system which adapts itselfconstantly in order to combat pathogenic invaders (and sometimes,unfortunately, to combat things like the insulin production cellsin the Islets of Langerhorn - giving the person Type I diabetes).A plant can't run away from trouble, so it had to evolve anotherway to handle the world's difficulties. So they have fancy stressresponse tricks, such as changing genes around to handle newenvironments and challenges. This is done by activating transposaze whichis splicing enzymes that slices out sectionof the genes so that they can jump aroundsame kind of gene you found in animalPredictably unfortunately pathogens also getto utilize this trick ____Trypanosoma brucei is a nastyprotozoanthat causes sleeping sickness in humans Itinvade the body inorder to evade thehost'simmune response uses jumpinggenestochangeit'sprotine coating so the adaptiveimmunesystem stays a stepbehind cause just assoon as it figures out how to kill theoriginalcoating the trypanosoma has changed it'sShildThis is called antigenic variationimagine you are a Detective you can onlyIn essence the pathogen has numerous shells (for thisparasite the estimate is in the thousands) andshuffles through them as it replicates itself. Itputs the immune system at a distinct disadvantage.The adaptive immune system takesout pathogens in a sort of lockand key function, but if thepathogen changes the locks fasterthan the immune system can chiselout the keys, you're in for realtrouble. catch your suspect if he's wearing theexact same outfit he had on when hecommitted the crimeif he has A shirt A pair of pants 1Pair of shoes you will catch him immediatelyif he has1 Shirt 1 Paints 2 pair of daysshoes15 11 15 115 11 1,125daysthis same Sh it happens in body alsoNuno progenitor cells can also jump aroundthis is the cells in your body that have themost to do with determining who you arebeing the least constrained by geneticdeterminismSo ahormonehas 2 receptoronit one on the hormone side totriggeritother that connects to the promoterthese can be mixed matched so thathormone can be triggered then gooutattach to an entirely new promoter thisisa new if then clause the downside isthat the immunesystem recoversit sometimes overshootthe original markendsup getting hyper in it hyper state itbecame over reactive the next thing youknow you have an auto immune diseasewhich is more common after pregnancythis could be dangerous some autoimmunedisorder such lupus are severe enough thatthe affected will be advised to avoid pregnanthis iswherespiritualguru'sformtheirbeliefGlucocorticoids are stress hormones that suppress the immunesystem (there's a lot more to it, but in brief, they suppress it byreducing the inflammatory response). A slight clip and a littleshuffling and you can create the new if-then clause if there'sprogesterone around suppress immunity. What's this about?Pregnancy. This if-then statement prevents the immune systemfrom attacking the fetus.Next up are copy number variants. This is the world of multiple copiesof the same gene. This can allow for experimentation with one back-upcopy. At the same time, there can be problems linked to it, such as isseen with schizophrenia.The multiple copies of genes may account for "irreducible complexity,"i.e. how can an eye pop up out of nowhere? If the organism hasmultiple copies of sensory genes and is able to experiment with onewithout sacrificing the other, it could develop a feature incrementally,slowly growing an eye while using sound and tactile information forguidance until such time as the eye starts working. (This can account forevolution's production of vision while leaving a very big door open inregard to what's out there that we haven't evolved to see.This is the whole world of intuition and spiritual belief. This is thewhole world of wackos that claim they can sense things others can't. Oris it?)