Ev`o`lution Pronunciation: ĕv``lūshŭn
n. 1. The act of unfolding or unrolling; hence, any process of growth or development; as, the evolution of a flower from a bud, or an animal from the egg.
2. A series of things unrolled or unfolded.
3. (Geom.) The formation of an involute by unwrapping a thread from a curve as an evolute.
4. (Arith. & Alg.) The extraction of roots; - the reverse of involution.
5. (Mil. & Naval) A prescribed movement of a body of troops, or a vessel or fleet; any movement designed to effect a new arrangement or disposition; a maneuver.
Those evolutions are best which can be executed with the greatest celerity, compatible with regularity.
- Campbell.
6. (Biol.) A general name for the history of the steps by which any living organism has acquired the morphological and physiological characters which distinguish it; a gradual unfolding of successive phases of growth or development.
7. (Biol.) That theory of generation which supposes the germ to prexist in the parent, and its parts to be developed, but not actually formed, by the procreative act; - opposed to epigenesis.
8. (Metaph.) That series of changes under natural law which involves continuous progress from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous in structure, and from the single and simple to the diverse and manifold in quality or function. The process is by some limited to organic beings; by others it is applied to the inorganic and the psychical. It is also applied to explain the existence and growth of institutions, manners, language, civilization, and every product of human activity. The agencies and laws of the process are variously explained by different philosophrs.
Evolution is to me series with development.- Gladstone
addition, advance, approximation, beautification, change, developing, development, differentiation, division, elaboration, embellishment, equation, evolvement, evolving, extrapolation, flowering, formation, growing, growth, integration, interpolation, inversion, involution, maturation, multiplication, notation, perfection, phylogeny, practice, production, progress, progression, proportion, reduction, refinement, ripening, seasoning, subtraction, transformation, unfolding, upgrowth
Evolution
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Evolution is the change in the inherited characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.[1][page needed]
Life on Earth originated and then evolved from a universal common ancestor approximately 3.7 billion years ago. Repeated speciation and the divergence of life can be inferred from shared sets of biochemical and morphological traits, or by shared DNA sequences. These homologous traits and sequences are more similar among species that share a more recent common ancestor, and can be used to reconstruct evolutionary histories, using both existing species and the fossil record. Existing patterns of biodiversity have been shaped both by speciation and by extinction.[2][page needed]
Charles Darwin was the first to formulate a scientific argument for the theory of evolution by means of natural selection. Evolution by natural selection is a process that is inferred from three facts about populations: 1) more offspring are produced than can possibly survive, 2) traits vary among individuals, leading to differential rates of survival and reproduction, and 3) trait differences are heritable.[3] Thus, when members of a population die they are replaced by the progeny of parents that were better adapted to survive and reproduce in the environment in which natural selection took place. This process creates and preserves traits that are seemingly fitted for the functional roles they perform.[4] Natural selection is the only known cause of adaptation, but not the only known cause of evolution. Other, nonadaptive causes of evolution include mutation and genetic drift.[5]
In the early 20th century, genetics was integrated with Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection through the discipline of population genetics. The importance of natural selection as a cause of evolution was accepted into other branches of biology. Moreover, previously held notions about evolution, such as orthogenesis and "progress" became obsolete.[6] Scientists continue to study various aspects of evolution by forming and testing hypotheses, constructing scientific theories, using observational data, and performing experiments in both the field and the laboratory. Biologists agree that descent with modification is one of the most reliably established facts in science.[7] Discoveries in evolutionary biology have made a significant impact not just within the traditional branches of biology, but also in other academic disciplines (e.g., anthropology and psychology) and on society at large.[8][9]
Ad`ap`tation
n. 1. The act or process of adapting, or fitting; or the state of being adapted or fitted; fitness.
2. The result of adapting; an adapted form.
Nachtmusik, about-face, absolute music, accommodation, accord, accordance, acquiescence, adaption, adjusting, adjustment, agreement, air varie, aleatory, aleatory music, alignment, alteration, amelioration, apostasy, arrangement, assimilation, attunement, bearings, betterment, biological evolution, break, chamber music, chamber orchestra, change, change of heart, changeableness, coaptation, compliance, composition, conditioning, conformance, conformation other-direction, conformity, congruity, consistency, constructive change, continuity, conventionality, conversion, coordination, correspondence, defection, degeneration, degenerative change, descant, deterioration, deviation, difference, discontinuity, disorientation, divergence, diversification, diversion, diversity, electronic music, enablement, equipment, etude, exercise, fit, fitting, flexibility, flip-flop, furnishing, genesis, gradual change, harmonization, harmony, horotely, improvement, incidental music, instrumental music, instrumentation, integration, intonation, invention, keeping, line, malleability, melioration, mitigation, modification, modifying, modulation, natural selection, nocturne, obedience, observance, ontogenesis, ontogeny, opus, orchestration, orientation, orthodoxy, overthrow, phrasing, phylogenesis, phylogeny, physiogenesis, physiogeny, piece, pliancy, preparation, production, program music, qualification, radical change, re-creation, realignment, reconcilement, reconciliation, redesign, reform, reformation, regulation, remaking, renewal, reshaping, resolution, restructuring, reversal, revival, revivification, revolution, ricercar, score, setting, shift, solution, sonata, sonatina, squaring, strictness, string orchestra, string quartet, study, sudden change, suiting, suspension, switch, synchronization, tachytely, theme and variations, timing, tone painting, total change, traditionalism, transcription, transition, trio, tuning, turn, turnabout, uniformity, upheaval, variation, variety, violent change, work, worsening
Cancer
n. 1. (Zool.) A genus of decapod Crustacea, including some of the most common shore crabs of Europe and North America, as the rock crab, Jonah crab, etc. See Crab.
2. (Astron.) The fourth of the twelve signs of the zodiac. The first point is the northern limit of the sun's course in summer; hence, the sign of the summer solstice. See Tropic.
3. (Med.) Formerly, any malignant growth, esp. one attended with great pain and ulceration, with cachexia and progressive emaciation. It was so called, perhaps, from the great veins which surround it, compared by the ancients to the claws of a crab. The term is now restricted to such a growth made up of aggregations of epithelial cells, either without support or embedded in the meshes of a trabecular framework.
Cancer cells
cells once believed to be peculiar to cancers, but now know to be epithelial cells differing in no respect from those found elsewhere in the body, and distinguished only by peculiarity of location and grouping.
Cancer root
(Bot.) the name of several low plants, mostly parasitic on roots, as the beech drops, the squawroot, etc.
benign tumor, blast, blight, callosity, callus, canker, carcinoma, corn, cyst, dry rot, excrescence, fungosity, fungus, growth, intumescence, malignant growth, metastatic tumor, mildew, mold, mole, morbid growth, moth, moth and rust, must, neoplasm, nevus, nonmalignant tumor, outgrowth, pest, proud flesh, rot, rust, sarcoma, smut, tumor, verruca, wart, wen, worm
Cancer is a class of diseases characterized by out-of-control cell growth. There are over 100 different types of cancer, and each is classified by the type of cell that is initially affected.
Cancer harms the body when damaged cells divide uncontrollably to form lumps or masses of tissue called tumors (except in the case of leukemia where cancer prohibits normal blood function by abnormal cell division in the blood stream). Tumors can grow and interfere with the digestive, nervous, and circulatory systems, and they can release hormones that alter body function. Tumors that stay in one spot and demonstrate limited growth are generally considered to be benign.
More dangerous, or malignant, tumors form when two things occur:
1. a cancerous cell manages to move throughout the body using the blood or lymph systems, destroying healthy tissue in a process called invasion
2. that cell manages to divide and grow, making new blood vessels to feed itself in a process called angiogenesis.
When a tumor successfully spreads to other parts of the body and grows, invading and destroying other healthy tissues, it is said to have metastasized. This process itself is called metastasis, and the result is a serious condition that is very difficult to treat.
In 2007, cancer claimed the lives of about 7.6 million people in the world. Physicians and researchers who specialize in the study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer are called oncologists.
What causes cancer?
Cancer is ultimately the result of cells that uncontrollably grow and do not die. Normal cells in the body follow an orderly path of growth, division, and death. Programmed cell death is called apoptosis, and when this process breaks down, cancer begins to form. Unlike regular cells, cancer cells do not experience programmatic death and instead continue to grow and divide. This leads to a mass of abnormal cells that grows out of control.
Genes - the DNA type
Cells can experience uncontrolled growth if there are damages or mutations to DNA, and therefore, damage to the genes involved in cell division. Four key types of gene are responsible for the cell division process: oncogenes tell cells when to divide, tumor suppressor genes tell cells when not to divide, suicide genes control apoptosis and tell the cell to kill itself if something goes wrong, and DNA-repair genes instruct a cell to repair damaged DNA.
Cancer occurs when a cell's gene mutations make the cell unable to correct DNA damage and unable to commit suicide. Similarly, cancer is a result of mutations that inhibit oncogene and tumor suppressor gene function, leading to uncontrollable cell growth.
Carcinogens
Carcinogens are a class of substances that are directly responsible for damaging DNA, promoting or aiding cancer. Tobacco, asbestos, arsenic, radiation such as gamma and x-rays, the sun, and compounds in car exhaust fumes are all examples of carcinogens. When our bodies are exposed to carcinogens, free radicals are formed that try to steal electrons from other molecules in the body. Theses free radicals damage cells and affect their ability to function normally.
Genes - the family type
Cancer can be the result of a genetic predisposition that is inherited from family members. It is possible to be born with certain genetic mutations or a fault in a gene that makes one statistically more likely to develop cancer later in life.
Here goes a crazy country kid. Nonadaptive causes of evolution include mutation and genetic drift, by looking at cancer and what it is, cancer is mutation and genetic drift. Living organisms combat mutation and genetic drift. Four key types of gene are responsible for the cell division process: oncogenes tell cells when to divide, tumor suppressor genes tell cells when not to divide, suicide genes control apoptosis and tell the cell to kill itself if something goes wrong, and DNA-repair genes instruct a cell to repair damaged DNA. I do not see evolution in these natural defenses. What I do see in the world is adaptation. The fox through natural selection will begot, a fox, better adapted to survive in an ever changing world, the whole time never changing from a fox. The fox was Created a fox and will stay a fox, just better adapted to carry on as a fox.
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