Scientists find sea sponges share human genes

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Mankind may be descended from apes but Australian scientists have found proof of links much closer to the sea floor, with a study revealing that sea sponges share almost 70 percent of human genes.
Genetic sequencing of sea sponges from the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef showed the ancient marine animal shared many of its genes with humans, including a large number typically associated with disease and cancer.

Lead researcher Bernard Degnan, of the University of Queensland, said the findings "would shed light on a whole range of different things," and could lay the foundation for breakthroughs in cancer and stem cell research.

"Sponges have what's (considered) the 'Holy Grail' of stem cells," Degnan told AFP.

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www.breitbart.com... 1

If there is actually something to evolution, then it would make sense that we would have all evolved from first the sea.

I just think that the kids are going to love being related to Sponge Bob.

reply to post by antar


Just goes to show that even after 3 billion years of evolution we are still interconnected and more alike with animals than we think. Of course Creationists would probably find a way to spin this to their own needs.

To me it just shows how related all life is and how we've only begun to scratch the surface of what genetics will tell us about ourselves and about the rest of life on this planet.

Some things are just too funny to resist.

Dare I say that this would account for mankinds' affinity for sponging off one another?

(Sorry, it was just TOO punny!)

As a fairly firm believer in at least a form of evolutionary theory, this makes perfect sense to me. It does not take a huge percentage of the genome to make a huge difference in the organism, just a significant number of individual genes changed. It's long been posited that life of all kinds originated in the oceans, and that we're all, farther back than apes, descended from fish-like creatures and then from smaller sea life.

I'm sure I was subliminally influenced by the title, but am I the only one that sees a blue stick shaped human figure lying on its back with its arms raised up and even feet? Nice find and quite interesting!

Originally posted by Titen-Sxull
reply to post by antar

 

Just goes to show that even after 3 billion years of evolution we are still interconnected and more alike with animals than we think. Of course Creationists would probably find a way to spin this to their own needs.

To me it just shows how related all life is and how we've only begun to scratch the surface of what genetics will tell us about ourselves and about the rest of life on this planet.

Come on, now... Evolution?
The fact that sponges have human genes tells me that a hot alien babe took a sponge bath in the ocean and then went on to create
humans. Think about it.

Here is the "The Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticceli, 1485.

Everyliving thing shares the same DNA ! The same material building blocks simply depends on the combination and coding as to how it is assembled .

Originally posted by Three_moons
I'm sure I was subliminally influenced by the title, but am I the only one that sees a blue stick shaped human figure lying on its back with its arms raised up and even feet? Nice find and quite interesting!

OMG it's Gumby!!! You've found Gumby! Too late. He drowned.

I wonder how much deeper the oceans would be if there were
no sponges living in them! lol Steven Wright

[edit on 7-8-2010 by Starbug3MY]

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LOL, you guys had some very witty and fun responses to this article as I had hoped for.

Although it seems like a new age concept, our interdependency goes back to the beginning of our origins regardless of the path you take to realize it.

Mother Earth in Ancient Religion

Mother Earth
By Sanjay Kali

Mother earth consists of the biosphere and other physical components of earth like atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere coupled together to form a dynamic interacting system. This complex and dynamic system is under great threat because of the despicable activities of humanity from last 300 years in the name of industrialization and material progress.

I see the connection as every single cell and atom which we breathe as being an infinite source of exchangeable energy.

Man is the only state which with self awareness and mind energy uses time as a medium for 'isness'. The rest of existence simply lives in the 'now'.

If man could figure this one out it would enable him to be simultaneously living in all dimensions and therefore see his past present and future at once, rather than the occasional Shamanistic, Religious, Spiritual 'glimpses' it would invoke a knowing which would assist all sentient beings past present and future to move forward in the evolutionary scale.

It is like when you sit beneath the majestic redwoods and feel their divine presence, or a sunset on a pristine sandy white shore line, if the mind is not present other than as a servant, a witness, and silence descends upon you it is possible to melt into and become part of the surroundings.

With that experience in mind it is not hard to come to the conclusion that we are part of the sea and genetically connected to life there.


Feminine environmentalism

The unabashed selfish consumption of earth’s natural resources in the name of industrialization and rampant pollution of every component of earth has in fact given rise to a counter movement with a strong focus on feminine environmentalism and which worships earth as “mother”. In fact the feminization of the environment movement has helped in awakening the ancient tradition of paganism which symbolizes earth as mother.

There is an exercise where you lay down on earth, and laying on your stomach, holding your arms out to hug the earth, you tune into the state when as a newborn you were held on your Mothers breast.

With eyes closed and breathing consciously in and out, connecting with the heartbeat of Mother earth, you become her Earth Child.

Sometimes this helps clear out residule negative energy from past, and also helps create a keen sense of oneness with all creation. We are not seperate but all of the workings of society from the time we are born move against nature and from the truth of our connectedness.

The Gaia belief

In fact feminine environmentalism is not a new phenomenon but it is in actuality the rekindling of the original ancient religion. The original ancient religion stands on the belief that the feminine principle is the source of all creation including the universe. In this context the role of Gaia since life began was to give birth. The Gaia belief emphasises on the fact that Gaia is of this universe and on earth she is the source of life everlasting and is absolutely alive as a being. According to this tradition it is proclaimed that Gaia gave birth to humankind and we are a part of her. The Gaia movement challenges the boundaries of our soul, it tells us to work with diligence and persistence to save our environment, our lives, our future and our earth. In fact the Gaia movement states that we are the only one who can control our rate of self-destruction and therefore we are our only saviours.

Ancient traditions, religions and paganism

As I said before the original religion is present within much of the environmental movement and it acts as the spiritual foundation for this movement. In this regard we need to look closely to the teachings and philosophies of the pantheism of pagan religions and its close associations with Mother Nature from the very early days. It is time that we look outside our narrow world to see the richness and diversity of so many traditions throughout the world. Many of these ancient traditions and religions of the world had evolved in close proximity with nature with a belief of living as one with nature rather than against nature. Therefore safeguarding one’s environment and growing with it is the founding philosophy of these traditions and religions.

The unsuccessful attempts to dominate the nature

The idea of controlling and mastering nature looks fascinating but in actuality it has led to chaos and misery. It is not just today that humanity is trying to dominate nature with its so called technological advances. Actually this kind of attempt had begun a few thousand years ago with the concept of a remote master God, an overseer of Gaia.

www.thenewageblog.com...






[edit on 8-8-2010 by antar]

reply to post by Titen-Sxull


Your post makes me wonder just how much geneticists know, that they do not think we are ready to understand or hear.

reply to post by Solasis


Once while enjoying Dynamic Meditation, in the cathartic stage I actually devolved and then from some form of stardust continued on forward like an instantaneous merging or flash of an instant, to the present me whom you know.

It was one of the most profound experiences of my life and during the forward evolution, millions of lives and forms were experienced.

One of the most important places, lives I recalled was not being some special Empress or Queen, but the 'feeling' of having been among the first to step out of the ocean, we were sort of like large Salamanders, moving by nature from the sea to the forested areas and beyond. It was an milestone in our evolutionary process.

Euuu it gets worse:

Sponge genes surprise
Primitive animals have untapped genetic potential

The common ancestor of all animals may have resembled a certain absorbent, yellow, porous someone who lives in a pineapple under the sea.

The evidence lies in the genes, not the pants.

A complete genetic catalog of the sponge Amphimedon queenslandica suggests that the first animals already had a complex kit of genetic tools at their disposal. Sponges harbor between 18,000 and 30,000 genes — roughly the same number as humans, fruit flies, roundworms and other animals, an international team of researchers reports in the Aug. 5 Nature.

www.sciencenews.org...

Of course we're all interdependent to some extent. Anyone who thinks otherwise isn't all too intuitive, and certainly not insightful.

The thing is.. we don't really know that this is entirely natural. Because of various man-made activities in the last several decades, genes have been swapping from species to species, kingdom to kingdom.. I'm not saying that this must be the case in this specific instance, but the fact is that we are seeing many mutant organisms popping up as the years go on, and lots of signs point towards franken-sciences let lose in the wild. Soficrow has a lot of threads on these types of things. She could shed a lot more light on the subject than I can atm in my semi-drunken state.

reply to post by unityemissions


Thanks I will U2U her and see what she can tell us. I agree the thought of what can happen to each of us as the pollution and GMOS, ect ect ect, continue to bombard us, still more validation we are all in this together.

I do have my theories but that gets into the alien/ufo genre.

As far as drinking, you sound fine to me, have a great evening my friend.

Aha! That explains my mother in law who slightly resembles a whale, and the squidish sucking power of my girlfriend!



....*Hides*

Hi antar, unityemissions. Miss you.

...Haven't been here for a long time, just finished re-reading "Overshoot" by Mona Clee (incredibly related/relevant to this thread), logged in, found your message and link. Ain't synchronicity wunnerful?!

...I'm thinking earth's creatures have MUCH more in common than genes...

Originally posted by 13th Zodiac
Everyliving thing shares the same DNA ! The same material building blocks simply depends on the combination and coding as to how it is assembled .

Erm. Sort of, but not quite.

All life is made from the same few amino acids, which are organized differently to make different proteins according to genetic codes provided by DNA and RNA.

DNA is deoxyribonucleic acid - it is/contains genetic instructions or "code."


RNA is ribonucleic acid...

...very similar to DNA, but differs in a few important structural details: ....messenger RNA carries information from DNA to structures called ribosomes. ....There are many RNAs with other roles – in particular regulating which genes are expressed...

imo - the really interesting thing is that 2 proteins can have exactly the same chemistry (amino acids), but a completely different effect/function if the shapes are different.

Cool, dontcha think?

reply to post by Titen-Sxull


"Keep your friends close, and your anemones closer"

reply to post by soficrow


Hey Sophie! Be sure to teach us all more as you pull this all together. I have instinct about this but you have a way of putting my senses into words! Glad to see you return, you have been missed.