Reading: Pääbo, Svante. "Of Bears, Conservation Genetics, And the Value of Time Travel". PNAS Vol. 97, No. 4 (February 2000): 1320-1321. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.97.4.1320

Pääbo, Svante and Johannes Krause. "Genetic Time Travel". Genetics Vol. 203, No. 1 (2016): 9-12. https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.116.187856

Römpler, Holger, Claudia Stäubert, Doreen Thor, Angela Schulz, Michael Hofreiter and Torsten Schöneberg. "G Protein-Coupled Time Travel: Evolutionary Aspects of GPCR Research". Molecular Interventions Vol. 7, No.1 (February 2007): 17-25. https://doi.org/10.1124/mi.7.1.5

 

In the seventh meeting, we mainly discussed the process we went through in 2020-2021, regarding COVID-19, and how it affected us and the world.

One participant claimed that they react very differently to the notion of hugging – either partaking or watching the act – then they did before the pandemic. Others agreed that their reactions to physical social interaction changed as well. Another participant said they feel "naked" going outside without a mask.

Another wondered if time froze in March 2020, and then the paths diverged. They wondered how they adjusted to a different time stream; and if we all, in fact, adjusted to a different time stream since that point in time, due to how ludicrous reality came to feel.

Moving to the subject at hand – genetics – we wondered once more on the way language manifests connection through the idea of family (and as such – genetic ties between people). There's mother tongue and a sister language; one article mentioned a "superfamily" of proteins; and, of course, the genealogical connections between different universes (Parent Universe and Child Universe). One member brought up the popular saying, "you can't change your parents"; some things are fixated, integral and do not change.

The first article discusses the temporal aspect of the study of population genetics in conservation biology. It asks how do we define the periods, and how do we know we're managing a population to its best interest, genetically?

The third article discusses G-protein Coupled Receptors (GPCR), claiming "disadvantageous mutations in GPCR are removed from a population through purifying selection", and that different choices and circumstances lead to different outcomes.

In the context of genetics, inclinations and different time periods, one member shared that they found the usage of different social inclinations in people – specifically, the utility of having Extroverts and Introverts. Before the pandemic, the member, who tends towards being an introvert, didn't see the point in this character trait, in comparison to the friendly and outgoing extroverts. However, since the pandemic, the positive aspects of introverts came to light; among them, that they took to quarantine and staying at their homes better than extroverts. Introverts and their social inclinations were enabled by the time-period; which showcases the importance of diversity within a group, in the context of different human inclinations and traits.

We discussed how humans have evolved, and that they did so rather differently in comparison to other animals. An honorary mention was given to crocodiles, who remained more or less the same through the ages. Humans, in comparison, need sunscreen as to not suffer burns from sunlight. Trees, and the different rings of their trunks, were also brought-up as a transecting through time, allowing it to be inspected, as every different layer and ring in the tree trunk signals a different period and events the tree experienced.