In reading about gene sequencing and the development of actual
cells, I discovered that yeast is an effective medium. I refer to this
statement:
Yeast genome sequencing: the power of comparative genomics.
Piskur J, Langkjaer RB.
Source
BioCentrum-DTU, Building 301, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Kgl. Lyngby, Denmark. jp@biocentrum.dtu.dk
I find this interesting as a general allegory, because I have always been fascinated by the development of both organisms and cultures, and the related process of development, as I quoted earlier, from different sources. Yeast serve as a “substrate” for many experiments in genetic replication, and it also has more ancient connections in the bible.
Beginning with the Tower of Babel account, I have studied the nature of cultures and civilizations, showing how they expand, the function of war as technological expansion, and the use of symbol-system to “disconnect” them from their immediate environment. The tendency of such successful military civilizations, as history shows, is to expand without limit or feed-back, guided by god-kings and emperors. This expansion, as Howard Bloom shows, is part of a giant “learning machine” which he calls the “superorganism”.
Take a culture of people, place them in an environment suitable for expansion, with fertile growing areas, and the “machine-like response” tends to serve the more successful over the peaceful cultures less likely to expand. If such cultures are overcome by the genetic directive to replicate, they will tend to expand and seek “equilibrium wherever they go, always looking, but never finding, the equilibrium which is actually denied by their expansion.
History shows us such cultures as Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome, being the first four major empires of military conquest, followed by later empires slightly different: religion which combined church and state, in the form of Christianity (Roman Catholics), and the Muslim empire, both religions of “the book”.
The holy books of both religions incorporated repeatable, standardized print composed of symbols that the people of the faith could carry with them anywhere, regardless of the limitation of their territories, and expand their empire by forcing others to learn the book’s content. As Slater wrote, this use of symbolism allowed whole cultures not only to detach, but to expand under the military power of the expanding leaders, uniting peoples under a collective symbolism whose uniting power never died, but could be repeatedly printed and created, in exactly the same fashion, over centuries. In short, this power of expansion gave them a “yeast-like” power to expand and grow until all available energy was consumed, after which they collapsed.
I find this analogy used to compare nations to “leaven’ in the bible, with leaven being little more than active yeast ingredients used to expand a loaf of bread.There are stories of the great Persian empire, for example, whose soldiers, horses, and beasts of burden traveled in such great numbers that they consumed miles and miles of usable vegetation, water, and all possible produce for their own consumption. The “machine-like response” under such forces, was “running amuk”.
In limited form, we see this very tendency in the Tower of Babel account. Humans growing in learning ability, having one system of language, one system of organizing, suddenly responding to their own “inner circuitry” seeking a goal outside their ability, to “reach unto God”. This “yeast-like” tendency has existed in human cultures since history is recorded. God, according to the story, stopped this process temporarily by confusing their language and forcing them to respond to their territories as individuals.
This, however, was only temporary. Another solution developed. Enter the history of Israel. Whether or not this history is a true history, it shows insights into the history followed and practiced by an entire culture known as the nation of Israel, who began as slaves seeking freedom, and finally achieved it, only to wander in a desert forty years.It is this beginning, their wandering, that fascinates me.
In simple terms, if you have any group of living organisms whose prime directive is to replicate, whose attachment to their direct environment is damaged due to their language and symbol-making systems, the result will be a a form of cultural cancer, in which the cells feed off their host and continue to replicate without concern, until the host, in this case their environment, dies.
Compare this to Dawkins’ concept of the selfish gene, whose drive is to replicate and control its immediate environment in order to minimize change. In human cultures, this same tendency rises to the social level and is called a “meme”, the need to organize and survive through replication, while minimizing change. But if the “balance wheel is broken, and the system runs amuk”. There must be a counter-force that balances that system.
Look at the history of Israel as that counter-force. First, they were isolated as slaves, with this slavery keeping them from intermarrying with citizens of other cultures, though a few did. Then, as a separate group, they were “delivered”, only to be forced to wander in a desert forty years, where the oldest died off.
This is interesting, because it focuses on what Slater calls “inner symbolic circuitry” that was imposed on Israel in a desert that was almost wholly inhospitable to their existence. Even their food came each day as something called ‘mannah”, given to them each day, with extra helpings given prior to the sabbath, to carry them through the sabbath, when no work was allowed.
What occurred here, according to the story, was a complete reversal of the development of cultures. Their “inner symbolic circuitry” was imprinted on them as a culture, with no dependence on a specific territory or environment.
Their “assignment’, however, was NOT to grow and spread all over the environment, but actually to focus intensely on their “circuitry” to the degree they remained separate from the “leaven” of other nations.
Their entire culture served as a kind of homeopathy or inoculation. To combat the growth of other cultures with the need to replicate and expand, Israel was told to live according to the law itself without regard to any specific territory. This prepared them to function regardless of where they found themselves.
To prepare them for this, they were brutally tested, whether by God or their own need for survival, to show their absolute dependence on the law, no matter the circumstances. When they were finally conditioned to inherit their “promised land” they were told to go forth, conquer, and destroy all living things inhabiting the land, at which they balked, not surprisingly.
After finally entering the promised land, developing a culture including a king, and also enjoying wealth and riches, they began to drift away from dependence on the “internal circuitry”, and blended with the “leaven” of other cultures. In fact, they were developed as a kind of “antibody” against this very tendency toward growth. Each of them were to know the law given at Sinai in detail. it was to be passed on to each generation from parents to children. Each individual was to incorporate the law into their own “internal circuitry”, with as little deviation as possible.
Such awareness, however, with a law that ran counter to their natural
and biological tendencies, created a tremendous diversity of ideas and
beliefs within the culture itself. New ideas and interpretations
expanded into differing views of how to serve God. In short, each
individual became a kind of “antibody” model of the entire culture.
There was “genetic drift” from the “DNA” of their original law. As such,
they were unable to fight off the capture of their first test, the
“superorganism” called Babylon, which I will examine next essay. This is
the first test of the viability of Israel as a “counter-force’ to the
cancer-like or “yeast-like growth” of the “leavened nations”, driven by
the expansive needs of the “superorganism”.Abstract
“For decades, unicellular yeasts have been general models to help
understand the eukaryotic cell and also our own biology. Recently, over a
dozen yeast genomes have been sequenced, providing the basis to resolve
several complex biological questions. Analysis of the novel sequence
data has shown that the minimum number of genes from each species that
need to be compared to produce a reliable phylogeny is about 20. Yeast
has also become an attractive model to study speciation in eukaryotes,
especially to understand molecular mechanisms behind the establishment
of reproductive isolation. Comparison of closely related species helps
in gene annotation and to answer how many genes there really are within
the genomes. Analysis of non-coding regions among closely related
species has provided an example of how to determine novel gene
regulatory sequences, which were previously difficult to analyse because
they are short and degenerate and occupy different positions.
Comparative genomics helps to understand the origin of yeasts and points
out crucial molecular events in yeast evolutionary history, such as
whole-genome duplication and horizontal gene transfer(s). In addition,
the accumulating sequence data provide the background to use more yeast
species in model studies, to combat pathogens and for efficient
manipulation of industrial strains.”
