sábado, 16 de abril de 2011

Evolución del lamarckismo

Me llega noticia de este libro, Transformations of Lamarckism, editado por Snait Gissis y Eva Jablonka:

In 1809--the year of Charles Darwin’s birth--Jean-Baptiste Lamarck published Philosophie zoologique, the first comprehensive and systematic theory of biological evolution. The Lamarckian approach emphasizes the generation of developmental variations; Darwinism stresses selection. Lamarck’s ideas were eventually eclipsed by Darwinian concepts, especially after the emergence of the Modern Synthesis in the twentieth century. The different approaches--which can be seen as complementary rather than mutually exclusive--have important implications for the kinds of questions biologists ask and for the type of research they conduct. Lamarckism has been evolving--or, in Lamarckian terminology, transforming--since Philosophie zoologique's description of biological processes mediated by "subtle fluids." Essays in this book focus on new developments in biology that make Lamarck’s ideas relevant not only to modern empirical and theoretical research but also to problems in the philosophy of biology.

Contributors discuss the historical transformations of Lamarckism from the 1820s to the 1940s, and the different understandings of Lamarck and Lamarckism; the Modern Synthesis and its emphasis on Mendelian genetics; theoretical and experimental research on such "Lamarckian" topics as plasticity, soft (epigenetic) inheritance, and individuality; and the importance of a developmental approach to evolution in the philosophy of biology. The book shows the advantages of a "Lamarckian" perspective on evolution. Indeed, the development-oriented approach it presents is becoming central to current evolutionary studies--as can be seen in the burgeoning field of Evo-Devo. Transformations of Lamarckism makes a unique contribution to this research.

Lamarck siempre se le ha utilizado como "el que se equivocó" con la herencia de los caracteres adquiridos, cuando su teoría es más compleja que todo eso... Y, si consideramos al sujeto de la herencia y de la evolución no al individuo aislado sino a la población, entonces la herencia de los caracteres adquiridos se convierte en una lógica aplastante, más que en un absurdo—Y el el lamarckismo, lejos de ser una mera metedura de pata, confluye con el darwinismo para explicar cómo unos caracteres previamente inexistentes en la población pasan a heredarse y dan lugar a poblaciones diferenciadas y a seres que siguen líneas evolutivas diferentes... en fin, de esto escribí algo hace unos cinco años, en "Vuelve Lamarck". Me alegro de ver que por fin vuelve de verdad, aunque sólo sea un poquito.




Amago de una cara


Amago de una cara, originally uploaded by JoseAngelGarciaLanda.

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