A well presented and good article that explains really something that should've been obvious from the start. There's a reason we use animals like fruit flies to conduct genetical research: they...
A well presented and good article that explains really something that should've been obvious from the start.
There's a reason we use animals like fruit flies to conduct genetical research: they have an incredibly short generational span. You can establish a hypothesis, test and either confirm or revise it in weeks. Therefore, unless you reduce the population of cockroaches down to 0 or the bottleneck number from which point on the damage from inbreeding will cripple the species forever, you are eventually going to force an evolutionary change. You are literally introducing a new hazard and waiting on them to evolve.
You won't eradicate an insect quickly enough for that to not happen. There's simply too many of them, and they reproduce too quickly.
So ... this just reminded me that I hate humans. We have known how evolution works for over a century — Origin of Species is 160 years old — or at least well enough to know that this would happen....
So ... this just reminded me that I hate humans.
We have known how evolution works for over a century — Origin of Species is 160 years old — or at least well enough to know that this would happen.
And if cockroaches evolve that fast, imagine how quickly bacteria are adapting to antibiotics.
This article invoked more awe than hatred toward cockroaches in me. Actually, I don't really hate them, so only awe. Maybe that's why the title felt more clickbaity than what I feel like I expect...
This article invoked more awe than hatred toward cockroaches in me. Actually, I don't really hate them, so only awe. Maybe that's why the title felt more clickbaity than what I feel like I expect from The Atlantic content-wise - for people who hate them, it might feel like an okay title. Anyway, I'm glad the article 'redeemed' itself with the very last sentence, which tipped the respect-hate scale back to a neutral position, which was tilted the other way by the title.
A well presented and good article that explains really something that should've been obvious from the start.
There's a reason we use animals like fruit flies to conduct genetical research: they have an incredibly short generational span. You can establish a hypothesis, test and either confirm or revise it in weeks. Therefore, unless you reduce the population of cockroaches down to 0 or the bottleneck number from which point on the damage from inbreeding will cripple the species forever, you are eventually going to force an evolutionary change. You are literally introducing a new hazard and waiting on them to evolve.
You won't eradicate an insect quickly enough for that to not happen. There's simply too many of them, and they reproduce too quickly.
https://archive.is/Z2Ylg
So ... this just reminded me that I hate humans.
We have known how evolution works for over a century — Origin of Species is 160 years old — or at least well enough to know that this would happen.
And if cockroaches evolve that fast, imagine how quickly bacteria are adapting to antibiotics.
This article invoked more awe than hatred toward cockroaches in me. Actually, I don't really hate them, so only awe. Maybe that's why the title felt more clickbaity than what I feel like I expect from The Atlantic content-wise - for people who hate them, it might feel like an okay title. Anyway, I'm glad the article 'redeemed' itself with the very last sentence, which tipped the respect-hate scale back to a neutral position, which was tilted the other way by the title.