The Experts below are selected from a list of 39 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Yongsheng Liu - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
Darwin's Pangenesis and Graft Hybridization.
Advances in genetics, 2018Co-Authors: Yongsheng LiuAbstract:Abstract Although there were many records of Graft-induced variations in ancient China, it was Darwin who coined the term “Graft Hybridization”, the formation of hybrids between distinct species or varieties, through plant Grafting, without the intervention of the sexual organs. He described many cases of the so-called “Graft hybrids”, in which shoots produced from Grafted plants exhibited a combination of characters of both rootstock and scion, and explained their formation by his Pangenesis. Michurin invented “mentor-Grafting” and “preliminary vegetative approximation” methods, which greatly increased the production of Graft hybrids, thus providing a solution to Darwin's puzzle. Over the past decides, the existence of Graft hybrids has been extensively documented, and Graft Hybridization is considered to be a simple and efficient means of plant breeding, and would be especially significant in the improvement of fruit trees. Graft Hybridization is now explained by horizontal gene transfer and DNA transformation. In addition, the long-distance transport of mRNA and small RNAs is also considered to be involved in the formation of Graft hybrids.
-
Darwin's Pangenesis and Medical Genetics.
Advances in genetics, 2018Co-Authors: Yongsheng LiuAbstract:Abstract Darwin had many close connections with medical men, and made a number of observations on inherited diseases, clearly describing the inheritance of sex-linked diseases, inherited diseases at corresponding ages, infectious disease and the causes of diseases. Darwin's Pangenesis provides an alternative explanation for cancer metastasis, and is now supported by the discovery of circulating tumour DNA. The “genometastasis hypothesis” proposed by Garcia-Olmo et al. is consistent with Pangenesis. Darwin's view of animal regeneration and his pangenetic explanation is also supported by the recent finding regarding the role of small RNAs and extracellular vesicles in regeneration. There is increasing evidence for genetic information exchange between the donor and recipient cells during transplantation, supporting Darwin's “Graft Hybridization” concept that gemmules released from the cells of the stock (or scion) could move into the scion (or stock) and incorporated into their cells. In addition, there is also increasing evidence for transposition of the viscera. It appears to me that there is a need to expand the concept of Darwinian medicine by incorporating Darwin’s Pangenesis into it.
-
Natural Selection and Pangenesis: The Darwinian Synthesis of Evolution and Genetics.
Advances in genetics, 2018Co-Authors: Yongsheng LiuAbstract:Since the end of the 19th century, Lamarck's name has been tightly linked to the notion of the inheritance of acquired characters. Darwin regarded Lamarck as a great zoologist and a forerunner of evolution, and repeatedly expressed the opinion that "natural selection has been the main but not the exclusive means of modification." The original Darwinism not only includes natural selection, but also the inheritance of acquired characters and mutation. Neo-Darwinism considers natural selection as the one controlling process of evolution, but denies the inheritance of acquired characters. Lysenkoism accepts the inheritance of acquired characters and Graft Hybridization, but denies the significance of Malthusism and Mutationism. It has been suggested that the "modern synthesis", which evolved from neo-Darwinism, needs a rethink. I propose that there is a need to go back to Darwin's own synthesis which combined his theory of evolution by natural selection with his theory of heredity and variation - Pangenesis.
-
The Criticisms of Pangenesis: The Years of Controversy.
Advances in genetics, 2018Co-Authors: Yongsheng LiuAbstract:Abstract When first published in 1868, Darwin's Pangenesis was almost uniformly rejected by his contemporaries. Until recently it has still been regarded as Darwin's biggest mistake or a brilliant blunder. There are three main reasons for this. First, Galton transfused the blood of one variety of rabbit into another, and then bred together the latter. The results of breeding showed no variations of characters in the offspring. Thus he concluded that Darwin's Pangenesis was incorrect. Second, there was no direct evidence for the existence of Darwin's imaginary gemmules. Third, Darwin's Pangenesis explained the Lamarckian inheritance of acquired characters, Graft Hybridization, xenia and telegony, which were largely thought to be doubtful phenomena. Now the discoveries of circulating cell-free DNA, mobile RNAs, prions and extracellular vesicles provide striking evidence for the chemical existence of Darwin’s supposed gemmules. There is also convincing evidence for heritable changes induced by blood transfusion in which Galton failed to find such effects in his experiment. Moreover, there is increasing evidence for the inheritance of acquired characters, Graft Hybridization, xenia and other phenomena that Pangenesis was designed to explain. In light of the mounting evidence, it is not proper to continue to consider Pangenesis as Darwin’s biggest mistake or a brilliant blunder.
-
Darwin's Pangenesis: A Theory of Everything?
Advances in genetics, 2018Co-Authors: Yongsheng LiuAbstract:Abstract This chapter briefly discusses Darwin's The Origin of Species and its companion volume The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication. It is in the second great book that Darwin took a broad survey of the whole range of variation and heredity, and developed his Pangenesis, an expanded cell theory and a unified genetical theory that would strengthen his theory of evolution and explains the numerous phenomena of life. The essential assumption of Pangenesis is the existence of inherited particles or molecules called gemmules, and their production by cells at each stage of development. He assumed that besides the ordinary cellular division, cells could also “throw off” numerous and minute gemmules, which were capable of self-replication and dormancy, diffusion from cell to cell or circulation through the body, modification by the effects of use and disuse or environmental changes, union with nascent cells, aggregation into buds and germ cells, and transmission from parent to offspring. By his Pangenesis, Darwin not only explained the general phenomena pertaining to inheritance, variation, development and reproduction, but also the inheritance of acquired characters, prepotency, Graft Hybridization, reversion, regeneration, xenia, telegony, transposition, sex-linked inheritance, the inheritance and non-inheritance of mutilation, and many other facts. Darwin called Pangenesis his “beloved child”, and firmly believed that it “will turn out true some day!”
Qinglian Wang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
Science and politics
EMBO reports, 2009Co-Authors: Yongsheng Liu, Qinglian WangAbstract:In his 1977 obituary of Trofim Lysenko (1898–1976), the British biologist Cyril Darlington (1903–1981) commented that Lysenko was “obviously ill‐educated, quite shallow, very cunning and a little deranged” (Darlington, 1977). Lysenko's rejection of Mendelian genetics in favour of Lamarckism, his embrace of the Hybridization theories of Russian horticulturist Ivan Michurin (1855–1935), and his claims that plants can be heritably altered by Graft Hybridization or environmental conditions certainly ran counter to mainstream biological research. His influence and thirst for power had an impact on many areas of Soviet science and politics. The Soviet government imposed a complete ban on the practice and teaching of Mendelian genetics. Russian biological science, which had previously flourished, rapidly declined (Soyfer, 2001). Lysenko was born into a peasant family in the Ukraine and achieved acclaim working as a plant biologist in the late 1920s. His pioneering work on vernalization and his claim that pre‐treating seeds in such a way that the treatment's effects were …
Xiu-mei Zhou - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
Graft Hybridization and the specificity of heredity in fruit trees
Yi chuan = Hereditas, 2004Co-Authors: Yongsheng Liu, Xiu-mei ZhouAbstract:Emphatically discusses the relationship between Graft Hybridization and the specificity of heredity in fruit trees on the basis of introducing the recent achievements in plant Graft Hybridization. We propose that genetic materials in rootstock being translocated and integrated into the genome of the germ cells and embryonic cells in scion are the main reasons why the majority of the hybrid seedlings have wild properties and the heredity of fruit trees violate Mendel's laws of heredity. The potential of Graft Hybridization in fruit breeding are also discussed.
Zhou Xun - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
From Graft Hybridization to Distant Hybridization:the Practice of the Heredity Breeding Theory of "Darwinism"
Journal of Beijing Forestry University, 2008Co-Authors: Zhou XunAbstract:The heredity breeding theory of "Darwinism" gained widespread applications in China during 1949—1956.The asexual Hybridization or Graft Hybridization was wildly used in new species breeding.However around 1956,the sexual Hybridization,especially the distant Hybridization,was in common use.Afterwards,some farmers took part in the work of heredity breeding.This article focuses on the period from 1949 to 1965 and on our understanding of the "Darwinism",and its relation to "Michurinism",as well as its principle and application.Generally speaking,the heredity breeding theory of "Darwinism" had big influence to China's heredity breeding work in that time.
Q. L. Wang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
Darwin's contributions to genetics
Journal of applied genetics, 2009Co-Authors: Y. S. Liu, X. M. Zhou, M. X. Zhi, Q. L. WangAbstract:Darwin’s contributions to evolutionary biology are well known, but his contributions to genetics are much less known. His main contribution was the collection of a tremendous amount of genetic data, and an attempt to provide a theoretical framework for its interpretation. Darwin clearly described almost all genetic phenomena of fundamental importance, such as prepotency (Mendelian inheritance), bud variation (mutation), heterosis, reversion (atavism), Graft Hybridization (Michurinian inheritance), sex-limited inheritance, the direct action of the male element on the female (xenia and telegony), the effect of use and disuse, the inheritance of acquired characters (Lamarckian inheritance), and many other observations pertaining to variation, heredity and development. To explain all these observations, Darwin formulated a developmental theory of heredity — Pangenesis — which not only greatly influenced many subsequent theories, but also is supported by recent evidence.
