The Eclipse of the Organism: No Longer Biology’s Central Interest

animals, Ascaris megalocephala, bar code, Cenorhabditis elegans, Chemistry, chimpanzees, chromosome number, chromosomes, Cruciferae, DNA, donkeys, Drosophila, Evolution, ferns, fruit flies, genes, genetics, homunculus, humans, idiogram, Junk DNA, Lego blocks, Ninth Symphony, nucleotides, Ophioglossum petiolatum, Parthenon, physics, plants, proteins, roundworm, Salvador Dalì, wheat, zebras
Organisms have disappeared below the horizon. In many papers on DNA the organism is barely mentioned. Source
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Death by Intelligent Design? A Biological Enigma

animal kingdom, bacteria, Bible, biosphere, cancer, Casey Luskin, cat, cell division, chromosome, Darwin Devolves, death, DNA, earth, ecosystem, Faith & Science, humans, Intelligent Design, Karl Krueger, life, mice, Michael Behe, National Cancer Institute, origin of life, plants, proliferation, seeds, squirrels, telomeres
Limited lifespans, accompanied by reproductive continuation of the living organism, provide a sustainable balance for life. Source
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For Darwinism, Here Is the Problem with Butterfly Mimicry

butterflies, butterfly wings, Darwinians, dead leaf butterfly, dung spiders, Evolution, false heads, five percent solution, foresight, hind wing, insects, Intelligent Design, lycaenid butterflies, orchids, plants, preplanning, rockets, self-protection, spacecraft, spiders, walking leaf insects, walking stick insects, zoology
The usual explanation we hear is that the butterflies, spiders, plants, etc., “evolved this way in order to” survive predators. Source
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Microbes as “Moral Agents”? Bioethicist Says Yes

Artificial Intelligence, babies, bioethics, computer software, Endangered Species Act, fish, gestating human babies, human exceptionalism, image of God, insects, invertebrates, Jeff Sebo, life, Life Sciences, mammals, microbes, moral agents, moral patients, moral responsibility, NYU, philosophers, plants, The Moral Circle, universe
Only a philosopher could claim seriously that humans owe significant moral duties to microbes. Source
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ORFanID: An Online Search Engine for Identifying Orfan Genes

bacteria, bioinformatics, C. elegans, D. melanogaster, Discovery Institute, DNA, E. coli, Evolution, evolutionary paradigm, fungi, gene classification, genes, genomes, genomics, genomics analysis, H. sapiens, Intelligent Design, nucleotide sequences, O. sativa, ORfan genes, plants, PLOS ONE, S. cerevisiae, search engine, taxonomic groups, Z. mays
The existence of such genes is surprising given the hypothesis of universal common descent. Source
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Phenology: The Science of Seasonal Adaptation

abiotic changes, Albert B. Phillimore, algorithms, Animal Algorithms, animals, biotic changes, calendars, California poppy blooms, caterpillars, Chaco Canyon, cicada emergences, Current Biology, Darwinian evolution, Darwin’s Bluff, El Niño, Evolution, Farmer’s Almanac, foresight, genetic adaptation, herbaceous plants, Intelligent Design, Kirsty H. Macphie, La Niña, Life Sciences, locust plagues, moisture, mosquito swarms, pandemics, phenology, physiology, plants, PNAS, Robert Shedinger, sensors, Stonehenge, superblooms, temperate, temperature
No, not phrenology — phenology. It’s not pseudoscience, but a lesser-known branch of science that includes birds, bees, and trees. Source
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Plant Evolution: All Gaps and Miracles

abominable mystery, algae, angiosperms, bryophytes, Cambrian Explosion, Charlie Brown, clubmosses, conifers, cycads, Darwinian gradualism, embryophyte, Evolution, ferns, flowering plants, ginkgoes, gymnosperms, hornworts, James Clark, Life Sciences, liverworts, lycophytes, miracles, morphospace, mosses, Nature Plants, neofunctionalization, Philip C. J. Donoghue, pine tree, plants, punctuated equilibria, Sandy Hetherington, The Conversation, trilobites, University of Bristol, vascular plants
A major study looks for evolution, but finds huge disparities, stasis, gaps, periodic explosions, and miracles of emergence held together with imagination. Source
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Are Plants Cognitive, Intelligent Beings?

audible range, botany, cognition, Darwinism, David G. Robinson, ecologists, EMBO Reports, emotions, Frantisek Baluška, infection, intelligence, Life Sciences, Louvre, mathematics, Neuroscience & Mind, panpsychism, plants, random mutations, spirituality, Tel Aviv University, teleology, Third Way of Evolution, University of Heidelberg, water deprivation, ZME Science
Some plant biologists want to see them that way; others continue to insist on a Darwinian view. Source
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