The anti-evolution nuts have another whole crisis on their hands thanks to global warming. The new field of resurrection ecology is allowing scientists to have a window into Earth's past.
What's happening in Siberia's thawing permafrost and Greenland's melting glaciers sounds borderline supernatural. Ancient viruses, bacteria, plants, and even animals have been cryogenically frozen there for millennia—and now, they are waking up.
Like anything today this is being sensationalized. How else do you get chronic TV viewers interested? Yet there is something remarkable about it. Read on below for more.
It is a happening we should have expected, I guess, but I am surprised by it.
Cryofreezing is best known for its appearances in science fiction, but self-styled "resurrection ecologists" are now showing the world just how real it is. In 2012, scientists germinated flowers from a handful of 32,000 year old seeds excavated from the Siberian tundra. Last year, researchers hatched 700-year old eggs from the bottom of a Minnesota lake, while another team resuscitated an Antarctic moss that had been frozen since the time of King Arthur. Bacteria, however, are the uncontested masters of cryogenics—one bug, at least, was alive and kicking after 8 million years of suspended animation.
As we toy with the ecosystem using genetic engineering, nature may be toying with us. You can be assured that my colleagues have no reservations about doing some toying with this new material.
But this simple example illustrates the essential promise that resurrection ecology holds. Scientists can now study how ancient genes behave in a modern environment, and perhaps run experiments that recreate evolution itself.
I have written a lot here about how reductionist science can lose sight of the systems nature of their objects of study by isolating them and thinking what they learn about them in isolation is reality. It is a fragment of reality without the complex interactions the contextual system provides.
Evolution is still very poorly understood by most people including scientists. Every organism has always been part of an ecosystem from the start and those ecosystems were part of a larger system. This hierarchical aspect of evolution is very often ignored with the focus on species.
In my opinion (not so humble), the influence of the reductionist philosophy is growing in spite of all we have done to show its limits. It is a viscious circle due to the overwhelming glut of information and our limited capacity to handle it.
The tone of this article exemplifies my point. Where is there any consciousness of the fact that these ancient species were part of something larger? Where is there any hint that science that ignores the context is a best incomplete and often misleading?
As interesting as these new findings may be they do highlight the dangers of partial knowledge and unchecked playing around with nature. It can possibly be almost dangerous as destroying the planet. I hope you don't misunderstand me. I am not anti progress. I am for enlightened progress.