Beware of health misinformation!

-
Image
Remember the good old days when most of the time only confirmed and reliable health information used to reach you. Your source of this information was through academic journals, books, newspapers, brochures, booklets, pamphlets, or your doctor's and health organizations.  But the growing social media platforms has created hurdles in the reach of genuine information to the masses. Instead what reaches them is health misinformation through social media posts created by people who have no knowledge about health. These are quacks operating. And social media helps spread this misinformation like fire. This is dangerous. It is playing with the lives of people.  Read here: Politicians vs doctors: believe whom? Most of this information is false and not accurate. It can be misleading. Sadly, even governments assist in spread of this misinformation. Most politicians these days are illiterate and shameless who boast about past and have no vision for the present or the future. Moreover, s...
Post a Comment

The mystery of sex and sexual reproduction that even confused Charles Darwin, the father of evolution!

-

Evolution has always helped the creatures of this world! It has allowed better survival and ways to do it. Evolution has led to the formation of the higher form of animals and humans. The process of replication has also evolved. First, it was the asexual means and in this, an organism divides and produces a progeny. This is seen in bacteria, some plants, and also some animals during certain times. And in the higher forms came the sexual reproduction. In this, two members of the same species have sex and the DNA or genome of the two combine to produce a new genome and life. This concept of sex and sexual reproduction is a mystery for scientists. Even Charles Darwin, the father of evolution was confused with this concept of sex. He wrote in the year 1862: 

"We do not even in the least know the final cause of sexuality; why new beings should be produced by the union of the two sexual elements. The whole subject is as yet hidden in darkness."

Sexual reproduction [Source: Quora]


If you think closely on it, compared to asexual reproduction, sexual reproduction is messier. It is more troublesome, more time-consuming, and more costly. Besides, the end result is a mixer and not a replica of the former being. It is also more dangerous because one member has to attract a mate for sex and the result of it a reproduction. With so many disadvantages, is there any probable advantage of sexual reproduction over asexual reproduction? 

Any advantages of sexual reproduction?

There seem to be no obvious advantages of sexual reproduction. Hence scientists have to hypothesize and propose and postulate theories for it. In 1886, the evolutionary biologist from Germany, August Weismann had proposed one advantage. He stated that sexual reproduction gives an opportunity to reshuffle genes and produce a different person with individual differences. And sex is a process to combine two resources into one. He felt that this would help to have a better individual who can respond to environmental stresses in a better way! He stated that sex helps to speed up evolution. Do you agree? 

Sexual reproduction is messier, dangerous, and troublesome than asexual reproduction [Source: YouTube]

August also felt that some animals reproduce asexually for most of the year and switch to sexual reproduction when environmental stress is increased. 

Read here Mauritius and the story of its sugarcane plantations! 

Chris Adami and his opinion

Chris Adami from Michigan State University has a theoretical explanation for it. He states that evolution is about information acquisition and preservation. It is a learning process that an organism gets and passes it to the next generation through its DNA. This process is more efficient with sexual reproduction. He states: 

"Acquisition and maintenance of information are necessary for evolution to work – remembering the old and imagining the future."

Attracting act, choosing, and sexual selection in sexual reproduction [Source: Slideplayer]

But then the question is why have males? Charles Darwin felt that besides natural selection, another thing was acting on evolution. This was the sexual selection and it means preferences by one sex of certain characteristics in the other sex. These two are required for population genetic health. And the earliest thing to have a sexual reproduction was a red alga or a seaweed. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Morton's toe: Everything you need to know about your longer second toe

-
Image
 Often, one notices that the second toe of some people is longer than the great toe. People say different things for it. Many of them say that it implies that the owner of such a longer second toe is a dominant, creative, energetic person in real life and very ambitious and peace and happiness-loving. But no one has tried to understand the reason, science, medicine and problems of having such a toe. It is called as Morton’s toe or Greek foot.  What is a Greek foot? Many people in the world have a longer second toe of the foot. Such feature may be on one side or in both the feet. It is called Morton’s toe or Greek foot. The other names for it are Morton’s foot or royal toe. But the reason is not the second toe is longer but the fact is that the first metatarsal below the great toe is shorter. Thus it is not due to the faulty phalanges but due to the difference in height of the metatarsals. Since the second metatarsal is relatively longer than the first metatarsal, the joint at ...
Read more

There can be no universal forgiveness! It never exists!

-
Image
Forgiveness or pardon means clearing off the feelings of resentment or revenge towards the offender. In most contexts it implies giving up any expectation of justice. People justify this act of forgiveness from a religious point of view and psychologists justify it as an act that would bring peace to the victim. But my experience tells me that both religion as well as psychologists are absolutely wrong in asking a victim to forgive the evil person. This act is bad from a society point of view and would lead to a rise in crimes and unhappiness. Let me explain in depth with examples. 1. I have a friend in the UK. She is originally from Nigeria. She has two siblings who are married with children and she herself is single and childless. In the year 2009, she had gone to her hometown. There her siblings tortured her physically and mentally and put her under house arrest. They did not want to give her any ancestral property and assets. She managed to free herself with the help of a friend an...
Read more

Covid-19 pandemic and exercise regimes recommended for different categories of people by WHO!

-
Image
 Covid-19 pandemic is still on and it is known that overweight and obesity is associated with risk of enhanced severity of the infection necessitating hospitalization. WHO has issued guidelines on exercise for adults between 18-64 years, children, pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and those with chronic illnesses.  Healthy adults and exercise during Covid-19 pandemic WHO has stated that 150-300 minutes of moderate and 75-150 minutes of vigorous activity should be done weekly by people in the age group of 18-64 years. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a news release said: "Being physically active is critical for health and well-being — it can help add years to life and life to years,"  Remain active in pandemic (Source: Facebook WHO) Also, read Walking and its benefits He added: "Every move counts, especially now as we manage the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic. We must all move every day — safely and creatively." WHO states: Be active, s...
Read more