Project approach
Biological evolution is not a fact that occurs in a linear way, however, the transhumanist theory is proposed as an international cultural and intellectual movement that has as its ultimate goal to transform the human condition through the development and manufacture of widely available technologies that "improve human capabilities ¨, both physically and psychologically or intellectually, which is linked to the paradigm of scientific and technological development that includes the evolution of man in a linear way. So, from science itself and specifically, from the study of genomics questions this scientific paradigm: there is evidence that evolution does not necessarily follow a linear development, that there are random mutations as a result of conditions other than an "improvement" of organisms or adaptation to the environment.
Transhumanism looks to the future by considering evolution in a linear fashion while being optimistic about technology and the normal science paradigm. We also know that environmental conditions and catastrophes such as pathogenic organisms that emerge suddenly are factors about which there is no absolute certainty regarding the future. In this sense, the evolution of man in transhumance faces the unpredictable and random. From this perspective, is it possible then to think that the improvements in man, as transhumane, could be in an involution (or regressive evolution) as the evidence shows has happened in various species? In that sense, when we talk about improving man, who or how decides what are the undesirable characteristics and genes of man? Who decides who will be technologically and genetically improved and those who are not? (And what if future circumstances are in favor the unimproved?)
Hence, it is possible to recreate a fictional world that contemplates landscapes inverse to those thought from a linear vision of evolution, where those who believed themselves to be the "unimproved" are those who have the greatest advantage in landscapes of darkness, of depths in the sea in which the posthuman has had to adapt due to some catastrophic circumstance of the world as we know it, a posthuman adapted to the depths ((of the sea (or to depths and landscapes of “moles".)
Odioica is conceived as an artistic project that aims to recreate and reflex a posthuman being as a Symbiotic biological/machine.The prototype is going to be development with biomaterials, softrobotics, experimental biology techniques an IA and the landscapes and structures with 3D modeling & printing to reflect a possible future and the posthumans that inhabit them.
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Involution & lost of genes
Could it be that in the evolutionary course, what it is about is simply going from a numerically great anteriority to a numerically inferior but qualitatively and structurally different posteriority?
Viewing gene loss as an evolutionary force is a counterintuitive idea; for it is easier to think that only when we gain something—genes, in this case—can we evolve.
lost of genes is a kind of an evolutionary paradox. The chordate O. dioica, for example, despite losing many genes —some essential for embryonic development and the design of the body plan of the phylum—, maintains a typical chordate body plan, with organs and structures (heart, brain, thyroid , etc.) that can be considered homologous to those of vertebrates. this apparent contradiction, is defined as the inverse paradox of evolutionary developmental biology.
Oikopleura
When a tunicate is a larva, its identity as a chordate is indisputable. As a larva, a tunicate is a tadpole-like creature with a long tail supported by a notochord, and a head-like body possessing a mouth and an anus. When it is time for metamorphosis, the larva glues itself headfirst to a species-specific appropriate substrate, its mouth and anus become its inhalant and exhalant tubes, respectively, its pharynx becomes a large, basket-like structure, and its tail and notochord are reabsorbed into nothingness. The freeswimming salps forego cementing their heads, in order to, instead, bloat into gelatin sculptures.
The paedomorphic larvaceans are named so because they resemble and are descended from larval tunicates that never metamorphosized. Larvaceans secrete strands of mucus from glands in their head which they weave into complex, brain-shaped orbs using water currents generated by their ever-beating tails in a profoundly sophisticated manner similar to the ritual of creating a bolus of cotton candy. This structure, termed a “house,” is used to filter edible particles, in the case of Oikopleura dioica, unicellular algae, of a particular size out of water currents generated by the aforementioned ever-beating tail. Once the house is too clogged, or too damaged to be of further use, the builder abandons it to build another. In the case of the 1 millimeter long O. dioica, this means the animal will build a 4 millimeter diameter house created once every three to four hours over the course of a five day life cycle.
Once abandoned, these mucus “houses” then contribute a substantial portion of “marine snow,” a semi-eternal rain of macabre manna that feeds everything, directly or indirectly, caught in its descent to the sea floor.
Ecology
Larvaceans play a significant role in moving carbon from the upper part of the ocean down into the deep sea. They build balloon-like mucus structures called “houses,” which concentrate food by filtering tiny particles out of the surrounding seawater. These particles contain organic carbon, some of which originated as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Over time their filters become overloaded with particles, and the larvacean abandons its house. The discarded houses collapse and sink rapidly to the seafloor, carrying carbon into the deep sea. Once on the seafloor, this carbon is consumed by animals or buried in seafloor sediment. The buried carbon is unlikely to return to the atmosphere for millions of years.
Katija, K., Sherlock, R.E., Sherman, A D, Robison, B. H. (2017). New technology reveals the role of giant larvaceans in oceanic carbon cycling. Science Advances 03 May 2017: Vol. 3, no. 5, e1602374 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1602374
habitat
An example og this kind of living beings is Bathochordaeus and is considered a giant among larvaceans iT has in common with Odioica the house they buiding. The giant larvacean’s claim to fame is the huge mucous house it builds. The house is made up of two filters and basically functions as an elaborate feeding apparatus. They eat tiny particles of dead or drifting plants and animals that float through the water column. The outer filter traps larger particles too big for the animal to eat, while the inner filter guides smaller food particles into the larvacean’s mouth. Eventually the filters get clogged and the larvacean abandons them. The sinking houses, packed with food particles, provide an important source of food for animals living on the seafloor.
Odioica genomics
Oikopleura dioica is characterized by its simplified life habit and anatomical organization. It has a tiny genome, the smallest ever found in a chordate. Its life cycle is extremely short - about 5 days - and it can be maintained in the laboratory over many generations. Embryos and adults are transparent and consist of a small number of cells. The anatomy of juveniles and adults has been described in detail. Cleavage pattern, cell lineages, and morphogenetic movements during embryogenesis have also been comprehensively documented. A draft genome sequence is now available. These features make this organism a suitable experimental model animal in which genetic manipulations would be feasible, as in Drosophila and Caenorhabditis elegans. In this review, I summarize a hundred years' knowledge on the development throughout the life cycle of this organism. Oikopleura is an attractive organism for developmental and evolutionary studies of chordates. It offers considerable promise for future genetic approaches.
Development of the appendicularian Oikopleura dioica: culture, genome, and cell lineages
Hiroki Nishida 1
Sketches on Poshuman body
Posthumanism/Humanism/transhumanism
Critical Posthumanismn
*Notes from David Roden Seminar
Sketch00: Involution Theory
Sketch 01:
Deconstruccion of an human body
Sketch 02:
Symbiótic Diodica softrobotics "werable"
Sketch 03:
Odioica´s House
Sketch 03:
odiodica: anatomy, habitat, movement
O.Dioica´s houses
Experimental biomaterials:
Bioplastics
Microbial cellulose:
Materials:
*200ml vinegar
*200ml kombucha
*200 grm sugar
*1000 ml water
*Green Té 3 bags
*1 scoby
microorganismos: bacterias Medusomyces gisevi y Bacterium xylinum, levaduras, Gluconobacter oxydans,Saccharomyces ludwigii, S. cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Pichia fermentans y Zygosaccharomyces bailii
P. Mayser, «The yeast spectrum of the "tea fungus kombucha"», en revista Mycoses, volumen 38, número 7-8, págs. 289-295
