From: me22over7@gmail.com   
      
   On 24/12/2025 7:27 am, John Harshman wrote:   
   > On 12/22/25 11:16 PM, MarkE wrote:   
   >> This is a rejection of gene-centric causal supremacy, and an argument   
   >> for multi-level, bidirectional causation and information sourcing. The   
   >> cell (zygote in the first instance) in its entirety e.g. proteins,   
   >> RNA, sugars etc and their structural arrangement (cytoplasm,   
   >> organelles, membrane etc) and interactions regulate and control gene   
   >> expression. The distribution of these in the cell represent essential   
   >> "analogue" information. That's where I think the unaccounted   
   >> information is to be found.   
   >   
   > That doesn't work. For one thing, almost all the information about   
   > different sorts of cells doesn't reach the germ line, other than through   
   > the genome that gives rise to those sorts. The ovum does contain certain   
   > maternal proteins and transcripts that help to get development going,   
   > but those are specified by the maternal genome, and the rest of the   
   > zygote's cellular contents are quickly recycles using transcription and   
   > translation from the zygote's genome. Whether a zygote turns into a   
   > chimp or a human is determined by the contents of its genome, not all   
   > that other stuff.   
   >   
   > You're just avoiding the question, which I will repeat:   
   >   
   > But how many genetic changes do you think were necessary to turn the   
   > human-chimp ancestor into a modern human? Give me a ballpark.   
   >   
      
   Much more than "a few thousand", i.e. orders of magnitude.   
      
   But don't avoid the undergirding question I'm asking: what is the total   
   and necessary information content of the zygote to produce a human?   
      
   You seem to be asserting that just the functional genome is sufficient,   
   i.e. ~80 megabytes. Am I understanding you correctly?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)