More on the Selfish Gene and Evolution

Some additional information regarding why things evolve and "the selfish gene".
This Side Notes covers:
- Birds with Horns
- Survival vs reproduction, K and r selection
- A single gene for a trait?
- More on the selfish gene and crossing over
- DNA doesn't code for proteins. RNA world hypothesis?
Link Dump
Why do things evolve? • Why Do Living Things E...
Senesence: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senescence
Image Credits
Cassowary
Cuatrock77- www.flickr.com/photos/cuatrok7...
• Cassowary Attack
Hornbill
Lip Kee- www.flickr.com/photos/lipkee/5...
Camouflage owl- Potoo
Wagner Machado Carlos Lemes- www.fotopedia.com/items/wagner...
The Lilac Breasted Roller- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nyc...
Camoflage bug
Remy Snippe- www.flickr.com/photos/rs_snipp...
Bacteria
Gina Bei- www.flickr.com/photos/melynagu...
Baby
Bridget Coila - www.flickr.com/photos/bibbit/4...
These were all creativecommons.org/licenses/b... and were all cropped
Patreon patreon.com/user?u=849925

[@aynsleyhoelscher988]

"It will murder you and feel no emotion"

[@ZardoDhieldor]

+Aynsley Chaloupka Yeah. I don't care about being dead but couldn't it at least feel some sort of satisfaction?

[@TheDavidLiou]

2 Reproductive strategies: the spammer and the sharpshooter :P

[@jdonnorland6609]

im about to binge watch all your videos

[@GodlessInsane]

It didn't take long, I'd supposed :(

[@RowanHumphreys]

I could probably listen to these videos for days on end without getting bored, you would be a phenomenal teacher.

[@sykn5422]

+Rowan Humphreys Me too. It's probably the voice though.

[@GarketMardener]

1:00 R = Quantity K = Quality

[@oaktree2406]

R=Africa, Mexico,China, actually everybody except... K= Europe, Japan

[@shahdalmnaies2576]

I have to say that even after watching only two videos i decided that this is my next best youtube channel, I love what ur doing! Ur simplifying it so much & presenting it in such a great & easy to understand way. Keep up the great work! Waiting for ur new videos, good luck.

[@zwep]

Your videos are really fun to watch! (both fun as in.. I was laughing, and fun as in.. science stuff.. which I like!)

[@shboi8103]

Fun

[@XxvoleistulxX]

i think its only gonna take so long untill people find this channel. no matter what stick to it.

[@kaylee8451]

I just learned more here with this video, than I have in 18 years of school. thanks American schools.

[@DatIIV]

I just began binge watching you videos, and seriously I'm surprised your not more popular, your videos are incite full, and detailed and help to understand fairly complicated topics, Keep it up :)

[@symbioticcoherence8435]

hey, did the "cat" in 3:05 really have 5 feet? a bit strange, but lovely :D

[@ThisPlaceChannel]

Nimicraft I forgot how many feet cats have

[@thetruepipster2706]

Cassowaries are Australian. Another thing trying to kill me...

[@PlanetCoolMinecraft]

Unless, you live in Far North Queensland, I think you're fairly safe. From cassowaries that is. Don't want an angry Koala coming after you, or any angry Aussie animal for that matter

[@Jariid]

Then you'll get run down by Wild hogs. NOWHERE IS SAFE

[@batrachian149]

+rv3392 Especially those damn drop bears.

[@SkittleflakeKitty]

+rv3392 aka sydney funnel web

[@thetruepipster2706]

Good Sense The drop bears are everywhere

[@NoriMori1992]

Seriously, don't mess with cassowaries. I read about a boy who messed with one, and died when it slashed him in the neck and sliced open his carotid artery. Don't mess with ostriches or kangaroos either, for similar reasons. Their legs are more powerful than you can possibly imagine. _"It'll murder you and feel no emotion."_

[@Illya244]

Just found your channel, I love your vids, you should have way more views!

[@gabriellehull7539]

+this place please do a video on how plants are female and male and all that. School tried to explain it but it just ended up confusing me a bit. :)

[@ThisPlaceChannel]

+Gabrielle Hull when a mommy plant and a daddy plant love each other very much.... a bee comes and tries to steal their pollen and nectar

[@gabriellehull7539]

Hahaha

[@Cyberw4y]

+Gabrielle Hull Plants are either hermaphrodites or follow the same XX/ XY system as humans.

[@RosalegaFrumlegt]

This video series was highly informative, thank you.

[@catief1031]

About the single ethnicity child from mixed ethnicity parents, there are a few examples of twins where one twin looked white and one looked black and there's some mixing in their parents' ancestry (one I usually fine is half and half).

[@ElemenTzEdits]

dude your videos are so fucking good, never stop making them

[@gaurav7047]

Thank you good sir

[@alttrottgamer1631]

i just started watching ur videos, and i love the funny comments you make here and there. xD

[@tarundiwan5600]

I love these vidoes

[@Freaknick0Beatnick]

I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!

[@szilardszabo9677]

you kinda sound like Michael Cera. (which is a good thing)

[@MananagKiVato]

Only now I realize that these types of videos have blue side-bars on their thumbnails while his main videos have dark grey side-bars.

[@MrNisse-ef9by]

+This Place You have an amazing brain. Thank you for sharing it with us. ;-)

[@Barnardrab]

Interesting summary. I'll have to read Richard Dawkins' book for a full understanding.

[@gustavorosa3d]

This Channel should have millions of views!

[@gwendelinsheroshevski7535]

i love science.

[@rubiniosity]

yay more of you , thanks

[@VictoryFire88]

I've been watching a few of your videos.. And I can't decide what my favorite it line from this one is. The one about leaving you alone or the one at the end about something being so big.. hmm think think think... oh anyways. Great video. I wish you had more current ones coming up though.

[@Fallingsky1399]

Love your videos.

[@teunvandenbrand1324]

A few points from a biology student. 5:58: A microbiologist studies microbes, a molecular biologist studies the large molecules such as DNA, RNA and proteins. 4:06: A non-trivial thing is that most within-species genetic variation does not occur in protein-coding genes, but in gene regulatory elements that determine a combination of under what circumstances a protein coding gene is expressed and how much is expressed. An example of this could be lactase persistence, which is the ability of mostly Caucasian people to digest lactose in adulthood. Lactase, the enzyme that digests lactose, used to be expressed in weening babies and becomes inactivated in adulthood. The mutations that keeps lactase expressed during adulthood are not in the protein coding sequence of lactase, but rather in a region somewhat upstream of the lactase gene. This region, called an enhancer, acts as a platform for transcription factors that can initiate the transcription of mRNA from the lactase gene. It is believed that the 3 dimensional structure of DNA in the form of loops bring the enhancer near the start site of the gene and recruit RNA polymerases to initiate the transcription of the gene. Thus, zooming back out, non protein coding sequences are driving most of the within-species genetic variation and thus evolution.

[@Vathilia]

i like this side notes vid! never hurts to learn more! >w>

[@Ximares]

This is really nice to listen to :D

[@tombullard123]

There was that couple where the mum was mixed race and the dad was white they had twins one was ginger the other was mixed race i find that interesting

[@hanam.abdelzaher2580]

Hey there! Subbed a while back and keep returning to your videos all the time! you're an absolute genius! Have a really pressing question, how do you make them? xD Please do answer would appreciate it a ton!

[@isidoreaerys8745]

I’m going to start a Salon club and at the door, the Bouncer says “what was Richard Dawkins’ debut book?” And people will google it. And see people going in saying the selfish *gene* And get denied again and again saying the *selfish* gene. Only those who are in the know could gain access.

[@theharristrain]

what do i study at uni to learn about this kind of stuff

[@Hittf]

+Alex Harris science :)

[@KindaXP]

+Alex Harris biology

[@Goldenheart_345]

Tardigrades can live through basically anything

[@raziagloop95]

How is it that I'm doing a biochemistry degree and I know all this stuff yet when you put it the way you do it just blows my mind!

[@faktafakta316]

damn this channel is so underrated can't believe i just now found it

[@lopenash]

Wikipedia says the only human death caused by a cassowary was a kid being kicked in the throat. A dog did get kicked in the stomach, but died of a ruptured organ.

[@diamondInLava]

You believe Wikipedia?....

[@lopenash]

Fine: panique.com.au/trishansoz/animals/cassowary.html scribol.com/environment/animals-environment/the-most-terrifying-bird-on-earth www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/invasion-of-the-cassowaries-10896851/?no-ist journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=66857 www.qm.qld.gov.au/~/media/.../QM/.../n49-1-kofron.pdf www.outsideonline.com/1928291/10-worst-ways-die-wild Happy?

[@anjelinejoegi422]

Just discovered your channel and hit the BIG Subscribe button (not by accident, sorry). Please create more vids!!

[@sirmongrel511]

I put some of these videos on .75 speed. Moth Light brought me here!

[@Shatterverse]

I haven't seen you cover neutral genes in any of the videos I've seen so far; maybe you've done it and I just haven't seen it yet. By neutral I mean genes that are neither beneficial nor deleterious, and so are randomly scattered in a population, but may become beneficial or deleterious when circumstances change, or when coupled with new mutations, thus changing that gene's likelihood of being passed on.

[@LarlemMagic]

Why did those pigs have five legs?

[@kenzo8096]

aren't they cats?

[@SamirPatnaik]

KZbin why doesn't this channel have a million subs already???

[@harrycake9407]

Very good vids , keep going , you should do a "draw my life" vid , I'm interested really :)

[@pantopia3518]

Are you on the ning?

[@ThisPlaceChannel]

what is the ning

[@pantopia3518]

Nerdfighter social media

[@ThisPlaceChannel]

nerdfighter slash's random epic channel Oh yea, I should have assumed from your name that's what you meant. I thought Ning was a separate service. I'm on there. I don't do a lot with it though. I just post videos there sometimes. nerdfighters.ning.com/profile/JesseAgar?xg_source=profiles_memberList

[@late8641]

The like/dislike ratio is giving me some hope...

[@leviathan9747]

What was that creepy ass bird/owl thing?

[@idiot_with_a_pen1333]

LoveMeDaddy the potoo yes potoo pronounced poo-too just look it up

[@jazdigance6403]

-Last name is Agar -Isn't a microbiologist

[@kevinguo5924]

I accidentally clicked on the subscribe button.

[@wombatmachine4128]

Oh whoops I subscribed.

[@rayrayronald]

I accidentally clicked on the subscribe button

[@Togepi-er6df]

Another wording.... more on the psychopath gene

[@zotomiporitezaur]

IT IS REALLY BIG ;D

[@enkiimuto1041]

Would you mind making a video on species with more than just two sexes?

[@isaiasovelar4434]

this video make me want to become a microbiologist

[@we-learn-we-grow]

Do women with no children live longer?

[@AAA-kt4nn]

nope

[@Luckyyshot]

+Jaya Ramchandani In average yes, as it's a possibility to die from childbirth (=one less possible way to die).

[@akiratagashira2033]

+Luckyshot True, but women without children may be missing the support from future children. Not only are they potentially less likely to receive physical resources, but childless women may be more susceptible to loneliness, depression, and mental stagnation. It'd be interesting to learn the results of such a study.

[@DustinRodriguez1_0]

+Luckyshot That is a flawed argument. It is possible to die from eating, is it therefore the case that you will live longer by not eating because you have one less possible way to die? Simply removing one way to die does not necessarily result in an average longer lifespan. A single thing like 'having no children' actually has a multitude of consequences to consider. Depending upon cultural practices, for instance, not having any children could result in a woman menstruating hundreds of times more often than a woman who does have children (for example in a culture where women breastfeed continuously, keeping levels of the hormone prolactin high in their systems which prevents ovulation) which is hypothesized to be the main source of endomitriosis. Also, not having children might mean sexual abstinence, and sexual abstinence is very dangerous over the long term. It doubles your chance of heart attack, greatly increases the chance of contracting various cancers, increases your chance of depression, anxiety, and other psychological issues, and it even increases your chance of death from ANY cause. Any study that shows the difference between the lifespan of childless women and mothers would be relevant only to the culture in which it took place, as well. Cultural factors play a very large role in child rearing that would have a big effect. How often, and for how long, a woman breastfeeds, how close a family is, whether children are raised privately or in common with others, etc, etc, etc.

[@LyaksandraB]

What the hell do you mean there are no bad genes. What about horrendous genetic diseases? I mean, technically it's not bad, only bad for us, but that's the whole point, what do we care about anything the gene doesn't affect.

[@thejoydrops9362]

did those cats have 5 legs (3:44)

[@luhe36682]

I just can't belive I haven't seen this chanel before. It has existed for five years. How fucking easy good stuff can get lost in this ocean of useless information. Damn.

[@noiserock]

I'd love to see Steve Gould and Dickie Dawkins in some sort of mental cage match. Though, I'll have to say I'm becoming a bigger fan of the punctuated equilibrium theory.

[@tusharkakkar7567]

Oh my god, I clicked 'Subscribe'.... "Accidentally". ;)

[@SlayClay117]

Imagine the question as a bird sees it. "Eat bug, smash hens."

[@moxi_floxi]

This stuff is what I'm learning in college Biochemistry right now, haha. How smart are you?

[@inkliizii]

"You hussy!"

[@ForeverImpossible1]

"oh my god, this kid can't be mine, you hussie!"

[@jimisru]

R Strategy and K Strategy. What about Q strategy? There are lots of humans and other species who engage in homosexuality their entire lives.

[@cOmAtOrAn]

+James Ru I'd consider it a variation of K strategy. By not reproducing themselves, they can dramatically increase the resources dedicated to keeping alive other, related children.

[@jimisru]

cOmAtOrAn Do you know what heterosexism is? It's the bias that everything revolves around heterosexuality. What if they not only don't reproduce but use those resources for their own needs and luxuries? Not everything is an equation about how to breed and maintain offspring.

[@cOmAtOrAn]

James Ru Sorry, there's clearly been a bit of a miscommunication here. My bad. I was looking at the question from a purely evolutionary perspective, from which things like 'well-being' and 'happiness' are negligible. Reproduction is the ONLY thing of importance. From the more general viewpoint you were taking on, there are obviously many other important factors. Conversations are hard when you're accidentally talking about two different things.

[@jimisru]

Homosexuality exists in hundreds of species. Only now are scientists beginning to ask questions about what role this plays. In the past it was either ignored or considered a freak of nature. To say that everything reproduces therefore that must be the goal of life is a bias. Reproduction could in fact be a secondary effect of a goal. A species may not be considering happiness, but then again, they might. Or they might be considering something we haven't found due to a bias towards ignoring anything that doesn't hold reproduction in the center of attention. It's like when archaeologist would enter a new culture and take with them a European Christian bias. If they saw someone doing something odd, they would call it savage and try to change it to fit their culture. Or ignore it. Another example might be this. A factory reproduces the computers we're using. But we can agree that the factory is not the point of the computer.

[@akiratagashira2033]

+cOmAtOrAn I would be interested to read an argument weighing the effects of intangibles like love, happiness, and bitterness factor in reproductive fitness. Intuitively, stronger feelings of love might lead to more relationships and stronger bonds, maybe increasing fitness. I've read a study somewhere where participants with lower self-reported happiness had shorter lifespans due to poorer cardiovascular health. Just my two cents.

[@littleaussiepoodle5106]

This is even more boring and complicated than the several hours I spent reading about merle genes on dogs. BUT I'M STILL INTERESTED, DOES THAT MAKE ME A NERD??! Oh my god I'm a nerd. What has my life become?!? Instead of coming to KZbin to watch cat videos I'm coming to watch a video about... GENETICS AND DNA!! Oh god what have I done?

[@noiserock]

Also... None of this is consistent what what the bible says.

[@Julia53808]

You hussie?

[@Julia53808]

***** oh...ok thanks

[@mistered4783]

there's nothing original about dawkins, it's all "stolen" from darwin and schopenhauer no less

[@ronweasley8435]

Richard Dawkins much?

[@mancheaseskrelpher8419]

4:30 Race and ethnicity are NOT genetic. Both race and ethnicity are social constructs, which are loosely based on a few physical characteristics that are heritable. But classifying someone into a racial group is a subjective process, which varies as society varies. It is very possible for a person of a certain race to be more related to someone of another race than to a person of the same race.

[@matiasoliva8351]

Joke?

[@1503nemanja]

+XxXPhaSeIlLuMiNaTiXxX W Fetus Slayer 666 I don't think so. Sadly.

[@mancheaseskrelpher8419]

Why do you think it is a joke?

[@dotkiarika1026]

You could say ethnicity is a social construct but race surely isn't. You are probably thinking about humans and the whole caucasian/black/asian thing, right? Don't. People often use terms in a really wrong ways (like thinking that weight = mass, while in reality it is a force and as such must be measured in Newtons) and this is one of the cases, probably used to subdue Africans from Europeans during the slavery period. A better way to think of races would be using dog breeds. All of the dog breeds are from the same genre and family (Canis familiaris) but the physical characteristics (and sometimes behavioural) differ too much to be considered the same thing, sometimes making it impossible for them to mate in nature (tho you could still do it trought artificial...). It's a little complicated to talk about what specify races and all that because it's a really incomplete system and the closer DNAwise things are, more difficult it is to differentiate.

[@waltyann9626]

Manchease Skrelpher Genetics = is the study of heredity, or how the characteristics of living things are transmitted from one generation to the next. Classifying = arrange categories according to shared qualities or characteristics Examples of "genetic" variations -Some people have blue eyes and some have brown, some even have green -Skin tone is inherited from our parents, which is genetic Genetics are subtle differences. Race = group of people of common ancestry Ethnicity = social group that shares a distinctive culture, religion or language. No matter what, there are going to be differences between humans, and there's nothing wrong with it. To ignore that is ridiculous. It's not being subjective(meaning according to one's feelings or opinions) it's OBJECTIVE! (based on fact, it's quantifiable and measurable). Everything is genetic. Your personality, body type, hair, eyes, everything. It's not a social construct, it's called being able to point out differences and not being a blind fool.

[@ElemenTzEdits]

although you do somewhat take a very reductionist view on life

[@mistered4783]

there's nothing original about dawkins, it's all "stolen" from darwin and schopenhauer no less