Chapter 2:: What Is Balancing Life? - A Review (3c)

So now we come to the fun part of chapter 2 – Jillian's lies concerning viruses. 

No – viruses are not proteins.

The genetic material of a virus is enclosed in a protein shell called a capsid, but it is not a protein. If Jillian would have read and understood her own citation,  she would know this statement is false.

A virus is a small parasite that cannot reproduce by itself. Once it infects a susceptible cell, however, a virus can direct the cell machinery to produce more viruses. Most viruses have either RNA or DNA as their genetic material. The nucleic acid may be single- or double-stranded. The entire infectious virus particle, called a virion, consists of the nucleic acid and an outer shell of protein. The simplest viruses contain only enough RNA or DNA to encode four proteins. The most complex can encode 100 – 200 proteins.

No – a viron is the “entire infectious virus particle.”

We are not computers. We do not operate on data and viruses do not upgrade us.

WTF does administrative decentralization have to do with anything? There is no such thing as “devolution” in the biological sciences. A species either evolves or it doesn't. A species either survives or it becomes extinct. Evolution does not have a conscious end goal in mind. It is driven solely by natural processes – ie survival of the fittest or reproductive success.

We will come back to her notion of energy a bit later, but keep this in mind.

Pay very close attention to what she does next.

Whather citation actually states.

Viruses are microscopic parasites, generally much smaller than bacteria. They lack the capacity to thrive and reproduce outside of a host body.

Predominantly, viruses have a reputation for being the cause of contagion,,,

No where is it mentioned that viruses cause evolution. In fact evolution isn't even mentioned in said citation.

IOWs, Jillian pulled this from her ass!! BUT Jillian isn't wrong per se, it's just her citation doesn't support her claim, The only mention of evolution is in regards to Mimiviruses. Mamaviruses and Megaviruses. “It is not known how these large viruses evolved.”

But as I stated, Jillian is not incorrect, viruses do impact evolution by driving adaption; they don't “cause” evolution . For example, human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs.

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are a family of viruses within our genome with similarities to present day exogenous retroviruses. HERVs have been inherited by successive generations and it is possible that some have conferred biological benefits. However, several HERVs have been implicated in certain cancers and autoimmune diseases. This article demystifies these retroviruses by providing an insight into HERVs, their means of classification, and a synopsis of HERVs implicated in cancer and autoimmunity. Furthermore, the biological roles of HERVs are explored.

(See also:: Human Endogenous Retroviruses Are Ancient Acquired Elements Still Shaping Innate Immune Responses)

Or transposons which “copy (or cut) and paste themselves in different parts of your genetic material, and in so doing are able to cause real-time changes in your genetic makeup. Most of the time, these transposons go unnoticed. But over billions of years, they have played an integral role in evolution.”

Jillian doesn't clarify what she is speaking to and further confuses the subject.

Either Jillian can't read or comprehend what she reads, or she is intentionally being deceitful. I am convinced it is the latter as she is speaking to human evolution. Her citation clearly states “viral evolution.”

Viral evolution refers to the heritable genetic changes that a virus accumulates during its life time, which can arise from adaptations in response to environmental changes or the immune response of the host. Because of their short generation times and large population sizes, viruses can evolve rapidly.

Her source, https://www.nature.com/subjects/viral-evolution again, a topic collation of articles concerning viral evolution.

Where does this cite state RNA viruses are more communicable?

(Her source:: http://www.differencebetween.net/science/health/difference-between-dna-and-rna-viruses/)

What it actually states.

RNA or ribonucleic acid is a nucleic polymer acid that performs a significant role in translating the genetic code from the DNA to protein products. It is found in the nucleus and cytoplasm. It is usually a single- stranded molecule with shorter nucleotide chains. The sugar present is ribose. Several RNA viruses instill the RNA to the host cell and skip the DNA host for duplication and decoding. DNA here acts as a pattern for RNA virus then transcribes it into viral proteins. Some RNA viruses embed transcriptase enzyme that transfer RNA virus to DNA virus and combine into the host DNA. Then it follows the DNA replication process. Replication usually happens in the cytoplasm. Mutation is the major cause of changes in the genetic code of the viruses. In RNA mutation is higher because RNA. polymerase is likely to commit errors. They are unstable and replace the protein coat that can bluff the immune system.

Jillian is “confusing” what a DNA virus v what a RNA virus is. This passage is speaking to how RNA viruses replicate in the cell as compared to the previous passage of DNA replication. It is not talking about being communicable.

Ah, the old ID canard that “DNA is like a computer or DNA is like computer code or DNA is like data on a hard drive.” Argument by analogy always fails.

To borrow from Smilodon's Retreat,

Genetic information is in no way stored, retrieved, processed or translated by the cell like a computer would treat digital information. There’s no CPU, for example. The CPU stores basic operating instructions that tells what it can do, logically speaking. Things like AND, XOR, and other logic and calculation functions are inherit in the CPU. Not so much with the cell, which must create the things that work on the things to make the things. Similarly, there is no “data” vs. “instructions” in the cell. It can all be both.

Cells and DNA don’t work in discrete steps (further removing the digital aspect). At any one time in a cell, hundreds (if not thousands) of alleles may be being read, copied, repaired, or changed. Dozens of mRNA strands are produced and being read simultaneously. Not the pseudo-simultaneous of a computer, which works so fast, we can’t perceive the steps, but actually at the same time (also so fast that we can’t perceive the steps). At two base pairs per second, it would take you 95 years to copy your DNA. Every cell in your body can do it in 8 hours.

It gets worse. Computers run off of code. If someone argues that DNA is that computer code, then they don’t understand how DNA works.

Make a change in a computer code and the whole thing likely crashes. Make a change in a DNA code and you might make it run better. The change probably won’t have any effect at all (what with non-coding regions and the resilient nature of our protein construction system). DNA can repair it’s code (sometimes). DNA can have code from completely different systems (viruses) inserted and will be perfectly fine, unless the virus kills the organism, but the DNA will work until the rest of the cell runs out of fuel.

DNA can be massively rearranged and it can have no effect on the system. Chromosomes can combine (as they did in our ancestors after the chimpanzee line split off)  with no ill effects. Genes can be moved to different places on other chromosomes with no ill effects (as long as the whole thing got moved).

As a fellow critic so aptly pointed out, (a wee bit of foreshadow).

So that's why she keeps pushing the virus upgrade and viruses are evolution. She thinks destroying viruses will somehow stop humans evolving? So you mustn't make antibodies because they fight the virus which must be allowed to continue for evolution to continue.

Plain and simple, we are not computers. Viruses have the potential to kill and if one were to be exposed to as many iterations of CV-19 as Jillian claims, they would be dead or damn near dead. (They sure as hell wouldn't be pumping out FBLive videos 4-8 times per day, 7 days a week.)

Sooo,,, not sure what to make of this.

For someone who claims the dictionary is full of facts, Jillian obviously doesn't know how to use it. Combustible means capable of catching fire and burning.

So after reading this passage numerous times and looking at her source (http://hosting.astro.cornell.edu/academics/courses/astro201/hydrogen_burn.htm)

I have come to the conclusion Jillian is just making shit up!! WTF does the fusion of “4 hydrogen nuclei (protons) into a single helium nucleus (2 protons + 2 neutrons),” have to do with Jilly Juice. This is hydrogen burning which takes place in stars (our sun).  (And yes, the above is Jillian's entire source.)

Now color me purple, but I think Jillian believes we photosynthesize - the process by which green plants and certain other organisms transform light energy into chemical energy. Humans do not photosynthesize. Our body’s demand for glucose is higher than photosynthesis can accommodate. Simply put, we can’t photosynthesize because we don’t have any of the biological equipment necessary. No amount of bio-hacking will change that fact.

Humans and plants haven't shared a common ancestor for hundreds of millions of years. Nearly everything about our biology is fundamentally different. (Doesn't mean they haven't tried.)

So to prevent confusion, I will stop here as Jillian then begins a discussion on fungi, mycoviruses, bacteriophages, and parasites. And no we are not done with chapter 2.