The Pope will hear of epigenetics and human DNA

[azul]

American biologist chosen by Vatican to discuss life origins
Biologist Scott Gilbert first addressed a pontifical conference in 2007; he's going back in March to talk about evolution

~snip~

He said he agreed with the basic premise that human life is important and should be respected and protected. But he had issues with some scientific statements that Catholic authorities were making to support the position that an early embryo -- even a fertilized egg -- was a human being.

He said the fact that the fertilized egg contains a complete set of human DNA is often used to argue that it is not just a human cell but a human being.

But the emerging science of epigenetics shows that's not the case, Gilbert said.

Now, he said, scientists understand that genes, which are made from DNA, are surrounded by epigenetic "markers." These disable certain genes and activate others. Epigenetic markers are what make a fertilized egg capable of starting development, while a skin cell stays a skin cell.

In a human embryo, Gilbert said, factors in the environment can reorder the epigenetic markers, thereby changing all sorts of physical and mental traits.

Even before science uncovered all this, he said, there were several strong arguments that individual identity had not been established in embryos that are created in fertility clinics and sometimes used for stem cell research. At that stage, an embryo can divide into a pair of identical twins. Even more astonishing, two early embryos with two different genetic codes can merge into a single embryo and develop into a single person.

http://www.kansas.com/living/religion/story/707010.html

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Unintelligent design:

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Perinatal environment can influence how aggressive a child becomes
Published on 18 February 2009,

It’s a well-documented fact that children from zero to two-years-old can be spontaneously aggressive and that boys can be among the worse culprits. Even after being socialized, seven percent of boys will continue to be hyper-aggressive until the age of nine.

According to a new study, this small sub-group of aggressive children has a different make-up than non-aggressive children.

http://insciences.org/article.php?article_id=2492


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If the government or businesses or people poison developing humans to sickness and mental problems, are they legally responsible too? The supreme court may enliven a two-edged sword in any decision of legal status. The chemical and dietary effects on development are rapidly being discovered by epigenetic research.