Second Evolution-introduction

the final piece of the evolution puzzle

an introduction to teem theory

Charles Darwin Pangenesis Darwin's flawed theory of Lamarckian inheritance claimed acquired 'pangenes' accumulate in sperm cells and are inherited. Lamarck's theory of acquired characteristics Claimed incorrectly that physical traits acquired during the life of an individual could be inherited to offspring.	firstly, do we need new theories of evolution and inheritance? Although Darwin's theory of natural selection elegantly explains microevolution, Darwin himself realized his theory didn't explain how new instincts are formed, or how the external environment is able to shape those instincts. During the voyage of The Beagle, Darwin observed countless instances where instincts appeared to have been influenced, (or 'instructed') by the environment. In 1868 Darwin published his 'Pangenesis' theory (see Sidebar) to explain how environmental information could be inherited and used to create environment- specific instincts. Although pangenesis, which was based on 'Lamarck's theory of acquired characteristics' is now known to be incorrect, to this day no viable explanation for the evolution of instincts and innate behaviour has emerged. In the last two decades, over 1900 scientific papers, books and dissertations have been published critiquing aspects of NeoDarwinian theory, so that today, evolutionary biology remains arguably the most challenged and incomplete of the life sciences. Similarly, although Gregor Mendel's brilliant theory of genetic inheritance elegantly explains how genes regulate the inheritance of physical traits, it doesn't explain the evolutionary function of noncoding DNA which makes up over 98.5% of the human genome. Nor does it adequately explain how emotions, instincts and innate behaviours are first acquired and inherited.
	a second evolutionary process emerges I am fascinated by theoretical biology and have been working on these problems now for about ten years. My research suggests that for the first 3.2 billion years of evolution, Darwin's 'selectionist' process (natural selection) exclusively regulated both physical and behavioural evolution. Originally though, the first inheritable proto-instincts were simply reflex actions. Then about 543 million years ago, a second 'instructionist,' (but nonLamarckian) evolutionary process emerged which 'took over' the evolution of innate behaviour, instincts, emotions and personality in multicellular animals. This second process, which I call teemosis, emerged because it filled a niche function - it provided a means by which the environment could 'instruct' the genome with adaptive information. This facilitated the creation of environment-specific instincts that could be inherited by offspring. Without these new 'instincts,' biological complexity and diversity couldn't emerge in any systematic form. These new teemic instincts were a vast improvement over the old reflex actions that were basic stimulus-response behaviours.
	the cambrian explosion Once the teemosis process came on stream 543 million years ago, it precipitated a dramatic and unprecedented increase in both behavioural and physical evolution that is graphically revealed in the fossil record as 'the Cambrian explosion' - arguably the most concrete and telling proof of the emergence of a second evolutionary process.
Noncoding DNA The DNA molecule contains both protein coding nucleotides (called 'genes') that code for the proteins used to build cells, organs, bones etc. plus innumerable noncoding nucleotides that don't code for proteins. Till now, the function of ncDNA has been a mystery. 'teem' An anagram derived from "Trauma Encoded Emotional Memory"	the teemosis evolutionary process Briefly, 'teem theory' argues that in multicellular animals, powerful, traumatic emotions generated by stressful environmental circumstances (like predatory attacks, sexual encounters, accidents, etc.) can be genetically encoded into an area of an organism's DNA called 'noncoding DNA' (ncDNA). Once encrypted in ncDNA, these traumatic emotions can be inherited to offspring, providing them with an emotional memory of the traumatic event. Each Trauma Encoded Emotional Memory (or 'teem') has the potential to transfer adaptive information (in the form of an emotional memory) from one generation to the next, thus building up a repository of emotional memories of the ancestral environment. These emotions form the basis of all instincts and innate behaviour in multicellular animals.
	a completely different evolutionary process Unlike natural selection which uses random mutations of protein-coding genes to code for physical traits, the teemosis evolutionary process uses directed (non-random) mutations of non-protein-coding (so-called 'junk') DNA to code for emotional and behavioural traits in animals. Significantly, because the teemosis process requires emotions and sensory organs to work, only animals possessing a CNS (necessary to generate emotions) and sensory receptors (eyes, ears etc.) can acquire the teemosis evolutionary process. Bacteria, plants and simple animals (like sponges) that don't possess a CNS or sensory organs evolve exclusively by the natural selection evolutionary process. Their behaviour is limited to simple reflex actions. This effectively divides the biosphere into two new distinctions: teemic and nonteemic kingdoms.
	why does nature need two evolutionary processes? The reason why natural selection came up with a second evolutionary process is quite simple. To create adaptive physical traits using random mutations, it's imperative to prevent environmental factors contaminating the germline (sperm cells). In biology, this is what is called the 'central dogma' and it's necessary to prevent individuals inheriting things like their father's lumbago or their mother's skin cancer - ailments the parents acquired during their lifetime. By comparison, to create adaptive inheritable behaviours that include environmental information, like what a particular predator looks like, (information that can only be acquired during its lifetime from the environment) then it's essential to provide a means by which acquired environmental information can be encoded into an individual's DNA and inherited via sperm cells to its offspring. The only solution to this dichotomy was for natural selection to come up with a second instructionist (but nonLamarckian) evolutionary processes that could be incorporated within the same DNA molecule. What nature came up with was a brilliant solution - divide the DNA molecule into two separate parts. One part (the coding genes) would be subject to natural selection and would regulate physical evolution in accordance with the central dogma. Meanwhile, the noncoding part of the DNA molecule would regulate behavioural evolution via the new instructionist teemosis process Almost precisely 543 million years ago, the second evolutionary process came on stream and from then on, life on earth has been regulated by two distinct evolutionary processes, (natural selection and teemosis) both housed within the same eukaryotic DNA molecule.

Home

Kardoorair Press Australia presents
NEW RELEASE

THEM AND US How Neanderthal predation created modern humans
by

Danny Vendramini
Available in paperback and EBook $A39.95

"It has been a long time since I read a book about human evolution that I enjoyed so much." Professor John Shea, Stony Brook University, New York

"I don't think I've enjoyed a book more than 'Them and Us' in my life."
Don Burke. Radio 2UE. 24th September. 2009

"Sometimes it takes an outsider to cut through the routines of interpretation in the most intractable problems in science. That is what Vendramini's approach offers the reader in his daring claims about the interactions between humans and their most famous evolutionary relatives, the Neanderthals. In doing so he provokes lots of new thoughts for professional and lay reader alike."
Iain Davidson, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology, University of New England. Visiting Professor of Australian Studies, Harvard University, Massachusetts

website www.themandus.org

firstly, do we need new theories of evolution and inheritance?

a second evolutionary process emerges

the cambrian explosion