Evolutionary imperfection

1. Dan Harris John Lones Robert Norris Brendan Little SubrinaThapa Evolutionary imperfection

2. Introduction • Consilence of Inductions • Analogous structures, DNA/RNA, Fossil record, Homologous structures, Sexual Selection, Embryology, Continental vs. Oceanic Islands, Microevolution of bacteria, Artificial selection (dogs), Hybridization • However, imperfection is unique…..

3. SubrinaThapa Vitamin C Production?

4. Guess what this is?

5. Vitamin- C • an essential nutrient • It also is a cofactor in enzymatic reaction and several other collagen synthesis. • protects our body from oxidative stress by working like antioxidants.

7. long term effects : sickle cell , parkinson’s , heart failure, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia • Short term effects : prevents aging Oxidative stress

8. Lack of Vitamin – C

10. “Enzymologicalstudies in the late 1950s revealed that the genetic defect was caused by the deficiency of L-gulono-y-lactoneoxidase GLO, the enzyme that catalyzes the terminal step of L-ascorbic acid biosynthesisin most animals.” However, recent study show that the human genome contains a nucleotide sequencet hat cross-hybridizes toacDNAfor rat GLO. But a frame-shift mutation has made these genes non-functional Do we make Vitamin- C ?

13. WHY DON'T HUMANS AND OTHER PRIMATES SYNTHESIZE VITAMIN C • 70 - 80 million years ago • Early primates lived in tropical regions and ate lots of fruits (e.g. they were largely frugiverous), and therefore the mutation was not lethal to these animals and was passed on to all descendents. • So just like they say “ what you don’t use you loose” we too have lost the ability to synthesize Vitamin-C

14. Now we moved out of tropical environments, developed agriculture, started traveling on ships, planes and eating can goods. The repressed ability to synthesize Vitamin-C is in high demand. However, now the question is will it reselect this trait. Problem

15. Dan Harris Evolutionary Imperfection of the Eye

16. The Eye

17. “Irreducibly Complex???” • Proponents of Intelligent Design • Far too complex to be “evolved” • i.e. evolution is built of emergent properties, however, if one took a component of the eye, there would be no eye • However, evolution works differently says Dr. Kenneth Miller from Brown University

18. Evolution of the Eye

19. Imperfection(s) Acute Glaucoma Aqueous blockage Very painful Temporary to permanent vision damage

20. Scotoma • Commonly known as the blind spot • Caused by an optic nerve infraction upon the light entering the eye • Test! • Take a blank sheet of paper • Draw an “X” on the right side of the paper and an “O” on the left • Cover your right eye and focus on the “X” • Very slowly move toward the paper and watch the “O” disappear!

21. Biological Imperfection of Choking

22. Basics of Choking • “When someone is choking with a completely blocked airway, no oxygen can enter the lungs. The brain is extremely sensitive to this lack of oxygen and begins to die within four to six minutes.” - John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP

23. Basics Continued There are two openings in the back of the mouth: • The esophagus where food travels to the stomach • The trachea where air passes to the lungs

24. Basics Continued • When something is swallowed the trachea is covered by a flap called epiglottis. • The trachea splits into left and right bronchus which lead to the left and right lungs. • When an object ends up in the airway, it gets stuck when the airway narrows. Often times large objects get stuck just inside the trachea.

25. Speech • The cause for the biological imperfection of choking in humans is speech. • According to scholar Neil Shubin: “We produce speech sounds by controlling motions of the larynx, the back of the throat, and the tongue. All those structures are relatively simple modifications to the basic design of a mammal or a reptile...

26. Price of Speech • “... In humans, the back of the throat...has flexible walls that can be widened and narrowed by relaxing and contracting a number of muscles. The human tongue, too, is woven of multidirectional muscle fibers that give it a remarkable range of movement. By changing the size and shape of the mouth cavity and the softness or rigidity of the throat, we are able to modify sounds from the larynx.”

27. Functions at Odds • Shubin continues to note that because we use this flexible passage to swallow, breathe, and talk, “those functions can be at odds, for example when a piece of food ‘goes down the wrong pipe’ and gets lodged in the trachea.”

28. What’s different about humans? • When comparing humans to other animals Shubin observes: “Other mammals, and reptiles too, use the same structures for eating, breathing, and communicating but the back of the mouth does not need to be so vertically spacious and flexible as ours. The basic mammalian structures are arranged so that nonhuman animals can safely swallow while breathing. Tweaking the engineering to enable us to talk has left us peculiarly vulnerable.”

29. Choking Conclusion • With the useful biological development for complex speech, we became more susceptible to the perils of choking. Sources: -Shubin, Neil. "Fish out of water: human ailments as varied as hernias, hiccups, and choking are a legacy of our 'fishy' ancestry." Natural History Feb. 2008: 26+. Academic OneFile. - Cunha, John P. “Choking Overview” http://www.emedicinehealth.com/choking/article_em.htm

30. John Lones Testicular Herniation

31. Hypthotheses • Introduction • Hypotheses describing the evolutionary origin and functioning of the scrotum • The molecular physiology of testicular descent in modern mammals • Material and character coding

32. Tree topology/ results • Evolutionary scenario of testicular descent and scrotal development • Adaptive significance of the scrotum and testicular descent • Conclusion

35. Evolutionary Significance • Sperm need an environment at a temperature lower than 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit • The scrotum allows optimum sperm production, however it is not void of imperfection • There is an opening to allow the Vas Deferens connection • This opening however can cause a painful hernia that must be corrected.

36. Robert Norris Bipedalism

37. Evolutionary Imperfection of Bipedalism • Bi-Pedlelization • Load on the lumbar compared to quadpidals • Load on Knee

38. Load on Lumbar

39. Load on Lumbar increases as Gestation Period Increases

40. Male and Female Dorsal Wedging

41. Bird Vs. Human

42. Angle of the Knee

43. Quadruped Vs. Ancestors The femur sits nearly perpendicular to the ground in a quadruped, while the femur sits at an angle in a biped. The A. afarensis Lucy exhibits a distinctly angled femur.