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petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala
@petinozappala.bsky.social
28 followers 9 following 160 posts
hopefully monstruous evolutionary biologist transitioning into HPS 🇦🇷 in 🇩🇪 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/M-Alejandra-Petino-Zappala
www.researchgate.net
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petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Aug 28
Today @dsbrooks.bsky.social and I hosted our symposium about conceptual ambiguity at #epsa25, with talks by us, Freek Oude Maatman and Markus Eronen (no pictures of me but you can see my intro slide) 😉
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Reposted by M. Alejandra Petino Zappala
dsbrooks.bsky.social
Daniel S. Brooks @dsbrooks.bsky.social · Jul 29
My paper on the history of biological organization was accepted at HOPOS! The paper looks at organicist efforts in the first half of the 20th century to elevate organization in biology as a central practical and theoretical notion. #hpbio #philbio #histbio www.researchgate.net/publication/...
(PDF) The Problem of Organization in Biology and Its Reception in Mainstream Philosophy of Science in the Mid-20th Century
PDF | In the early to mid-20th century, English-speaking organicist biologists strongly advocated the idea of organization in biological phenomena as a... | Find, read and cite all the research you ne...
www.researchgate.net
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petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Jul 22
yesterday at #ishpssb2025‬ I presented my work on JM Rendel's attempts to reunite genetics and developmental biology!
You can read the paper here:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Jun 25
Thanks to you for your talk and the discussions during the breaks! Amazing workshop really
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Jun 21
I was thrilled to take part in the 43rd Altenberg workshop on Conrad Hal Waddington at the KLI! Thanks to @alejandrofabregastejeda.com and @fvergara-silva.bsky.social for being such great organizers! (pun very much intended)
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petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · May 1
sorry about chaos, previous posts can be found in the horrible place previously known as twitter: twitter.com/petinozappala
hopeful monster (academia's version) (@PetinoZappala) / X
hopeful monster (academia's version) (@PetinoZappala) / X
x.com
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
Salió publicado nuestro Informe técnico sobre evaluación genética preimplantatoria en Argentina, volumen para el que he contribuido un ensayo sobre PGT-P (test genético poligénico preimplantatorio):
https://t.co/bKSokaHsCr https://t.co/deqNDZY2Vf
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
(The pictures used in this thread were taken by Joe Felsenstein and reproduced with his permission).
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
Finally, the main historical point: it is quite widely contended that Waddington left no heirs and that attempts to include development into evolutionary biology were almost non existent until the 80s (with Evo-Devo)…
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
He also said in 1983 that “the early impact of these findings on evolutionary theory seems now to be forgotten”. This is partly true, but I also show some of these ideas appeared in genetics books without proper citation. 👀
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
More interestingly, he proposed that a severe (genetic or environmental) disruption could disturb development and lead to “outbursts of radically new forms” in populations. Such forms could give rise to new populations. Sounds familiar?
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
A really interesting detail are the implications of this model for macroevolution. Rendel sadly did not expand on this more than a couple of paragraphs in his book, but he explained canalization in terms of organisms as integrated systems.
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
Canalization exists because the developmental system is controlled to buffer a certain amount of variation. However, when the perturbations are great, phenotypic variation will appear.
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
Rendel explained that genetic and environmental changes caused variation in ‘Make’. However, there is a range in which changes in ‘Make’ do not result in phenotypic change. This is the canalized range. https://t.co/4yaX9TtoeQ
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
Even coming from genetics, Rendel did stress that changes in ‘Make’ could be caused by genetic and environmental factors in ways that were impossible to differentiate. He used a very interesting metaphor to describe this: https://t.co/EZlF03x5ln
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
Reasons for this might be that the model was quite complex, abstract and statistically difficult to analyze. He also posited a theoretical variable he called “Make” which was at the time impossible to quantify directly. https://t.co/SZqUUcj8Cy
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
Rendel is mostly cited as someone who empirically studied the phenomenon of phenotypic canalization during his years in Edinburgh, under Waddington. Later he went to CSIRO (Australia) where he worked on breeding, for what he is also quite recognized there. https://t.co/nZWEMdHgTf
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
My first historical paper is out in SHPS!! In my stay in @RotoRub I analyzed the theoretical contributions of James Meadows Rendel, a figure mostly known by his experimental work, to genetics and evolutionary biology:
https://t.co/xQ0xLB55IZ
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
No podemos dejar pasar confusiones que pueden avalar ideas vetustas y dañinas sobre la genética como determinante de las características y/o formas de vida de las personas, la posibilidad de su desarrollo y mucho menos del determinismo biológico como causa de la pobreza.
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
Por lo tanto no existe tal cosa como una "genética de la pobreza". El artículo de PNAS, de hecho, nunca se refiere a modificaciones en la secuencia ni ningún tipo de cambio genético heredable.
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
En el artículo “Socioeconomic inequalities in molecular risk for chronic diseases observed in Young adulthood” de Shanahan y colaboradores (PNAS) se habla de cambios en la expresión de los genes y su correlato con la desigualdad socioeconómica.
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
Desde el plantel docente del curso de Genética Humana de @Exactas_UBA expresamos nuestra preocupación por las versiones periodísticas acerca de la "genética de la pobreza" y explicamos por qué son una interpretación equivocada de un hallazgo científico:
https://t.co/KM4ItXyFl1
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
teaching w/xkcd: type I error inflation https://t.co/QJ2QA8ZO1D
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
teaching w/memes:
no correlation 😶 - yes correlation 🙂 https://t.co/AZ4pSz2xrP
petinozappala.bsky.social
M. Alejandra Petino Zappala @petinozappala.bsky.social · Dec 8
Hoy presenté el trabajo que hicimos junto con @santiagombv1 y @GuilleFolguera en el taller "Una triple hélice" en memoria de Richard Lewontin ✊
https://t.co/dB5hqQQI7C