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(We are ignoring the comments of P. Christou, as they bear little relationship to the actual article that we submitted, and was published in your Journal. Our remarks are directed to the critiques from Hull, R., Covey, S. N. and Dale, P. of The John Innes Centre, and from Oliver Rautenberg of Biolinx.)

Since Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, the idea of descent with modification came to dominate systematics, and so the study of morphology became subgugated to the reconstruction of phylogenies. Reinstating the organism in the theory of evolution (Ho & Saunders, 1979; Webster & Goodwin, 1982) leads to a project inrational taxonomy (Ho, 1986, 1988a), which attempts to classify biological forms on the basis of transformations on a given dynamical structure. Does rational taxonomy correspond to thenatural system that Linnaeus and his contemporaries as well as all pre-Darwinian morphologists had in mind? Here, we examine how rational taxonomy and the natural system can coincide in the dynamics of processes generating forms during development, which conferexclusivity, genericity androbustness to the forms that do exist. We use the example of segmentation, especially inDrosophila, as an illustration to explore the implications of rational taxonomy for evolution and systematics, and the relationship between ontogeny and phylogeny.

Immunohistological analysis of the expression of lactase protein in adults with hypolactasia has been carried out using monoclonal antibodies. Eight different antibodies that recognize at least three distinct epitopes on the lactase protein each gave the same result. Strong brush border staining was observed in all the lactase-persistent adults. No staining at all was detected in 9 of the hypolactasic subjects. In the remaining 12 individuals a mosaic pattern of expression was observed: small patches of enterocytes stained strongly, whereas the surrounding areas showed no staining at all. Sucrase-isomaltase, in contrast, showed no such mosaicism in these or in any of the other individuals. The mosaicism observed in the 12 hypolactasic individuals suggests that the differentiation of the columnar cells along the villus is not homogeneous. Furthermore, the existence of two patterns of expression of the lactase protein in the lactase-deficient individuals (i.e., absence of protein and mosaicism), if characteristic of the entire length of the intestine of the individuals tested, would suggest the existence of two phenotypes of adult-type hypolactasia in the population studied.

Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and it is accelerating, says the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report. Eleven of the past twelve years are among the warmest since records began. Sea levels are rising faster than predicted. Heavy rains, droughts and heat waves are more frequent, and happening over larger areas of the globe. It will be considerably worse as the century progresses, IPCC predicts, and has “very high confidence” that human activities are to blame, most of all, in burning fossil fuels. The good news is we can do a lot to mitigate global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The extensive evidence presented in our Report, Food Futures Now, documents how organic agriculture and localised food (and energy) systems can potentially compensate for all greenhouse gas emissions due to human activities, and free us entirely from fossil fuels. Organic agriculture can guarantee cleaner, safer environment, greater biodiversity, more nutritious healthier foods, higher income and independence for farmers and more employment opportunities. It can regenerate local economies, revitalize local, indigenous knowledge and create social wealth., Zadnje izvješće Međuvladinog odbora za klimatske promjene (IPCC) naglašava opasnost globalnog zagrijavana planete. Jedanaest od zadnjih dvanaest godina najtoplije je od kada se vrše meteorološka opažanja. Razina mora raste brže no što se predviđalo. Na velikim područjima planete sve su češće klimatske nepogode (orkani, suše i vrućine). IPCC iznosi, da su za klimatske promjene odgovorne ljudske aktivnosti i spaljivanje fosilnih goriva. Međutim, čovjek može učiniti dosta, da smanjenjem emisije ‘stakleničkih plinova’ smanji globalno zatopljenje. U radu su iznesena opsežna iskustva o tome kako ekološka poljoprivreda, te lokalni sistem proizvodnje hrane i energije, mogu umanjiti emisiju ‘stakleničkih plinova’, potpuno nas osloboditi od ovisnosti o fosilnim gorivima, osigurati veći dohodak i nezavisnost farmera, više radnih mjesta, više nutritivno vrjednije hrane, a uz to čišći okoliš i povećanu biološku različitost.

The quest for a rational taxonomy of living forms began in the 17th century. Since the general acceptance of Darwin's theory of descent with modification, however, students of morphology became preoccupied with a systematics based on the genealogy of groups; and the rise of molecular phylogenies in recent years results in a further decline in the science of morphology. Reconstructing phylogenies by itself brings us no closer to the goal of rational taxonomy, which is to uncover the natural order inherent in the forms of living things. It is proposed that the rational taxonomy of forms should be derived from a study of development, much as von Baer had envisaged. To illustrate the method, a set of segmentation abnormalities in Drosophila larvae (previously exposed to either vapour) is considered, which can be individually classified as distinct disturbances in the process responsible for establishing normal segmental pattern. The process consists of a hierarchy of four successive bifurcations dividing the embryo's body first into two parts, then four, eight, and finally 16 subdivisions or segments. This gives rise to a taxonomic map of all possible transformations which contains the "phylogeny" of the actual forms and provides a natural system for classifying them. Attempts to recover the "true" phylogeny by various numerical methods are summarized and their implications for the validity of the basic assumptions of contemporary systematics discussed.

Our regulators are ignoring the precautionary principle, manipulating and corrupting science, sidestepping the law, and helping to promote genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the face of massive public opposition and damning evidence piling up against the safety of genetically modified (GM) food and feed.

The organism is a dynamic liquid crystalline continuum with coherent motions on every scale. Evidence is presented that biological (interfacial) water, aligned and moving coherently with the macromolecular matrix, is integral to the liquid crystallinity of the organism; and that the liquid crystalline continuum facilitates rapid intercommunication throughout the body, enabling it to function as a perfectly coherent whole

Schrodinger [Schrodinger, E., 1944. What is Life? Cambridge University Press, Cambridge] marvelled at how the organism is able to use metabolic energy to maintain and even increase its organisation, which could not be understood in terms of classical statistical thermodynamics. Ho [Ho, M.W., 1993. The Rainbow and the Worm, The Physics of Organisms, World Scientific, Singapore; Ho, M.W., 1998a. The Rainbow and the Worm, The Physics of Organisms, 2nd (enlarged) ed., reprinted 1999, 2001, 2003 (available online from ISIS website www.i-sis.org.uk)] outlined a novel "thermodynamics of organised complexity" based on a nested dynamical structure that enables the organism to maintain its organisation and simultaneously achieve non-equilibrium and equilibrium energy transfer at maximum efficiency. This thermodynamic model of the organism is reminiscent of the dynamical structure of steady state ecosystems identified by Ulanowicz [Ulanowicz, R.E., 1983. Identifying the structure of cycling in ecosystems. Math. Biosci. 65, 210-237; Ulanowicz, R.E., 2003. Some steps towards a central theory of ecosystem dynamics. Comput. Biol. Chem. 27, 523-530]. The healthy organism excels in maintaining its organisation and keeping away from thermodynamic equilibrium--death by another name--and in reproducing and providing for future generations. In those respects, it is the ideal sustainable system. We propose therefore to explore the common features between organisms and ecosystems, to see how far we can analyse sustainable systems in agriculture, ecology and economics as organisms, and to extract indicators of the system's health or sustainability. We find that looking at sustainable systems as organisms provides fresh insights on sustainability, and offers diagnostic criteria for sustainability that reflect the system's health. In the case of ecosystems, those diagnostic criteria of health translate into properties such as biodiversity and productivity, the richness of cycles, the efficiency of energy use and minimum dissipation. In the case of economic systems, they translate into space-time differentiation or organised heterogeneity, local autonomy and sufficiency at appropriate levels, reciprocity and equality of exchange, and most of all, balancing the exploitation of natural resources--real input into the system--against the ability of the ecosystem to regenerate itself.

The use of synthetic inhibitors of metalloproteinases (SIMP) or medroxyprogesterone (MP) can prevent or significantly delay the ulceration of alkali-injured corneas by influencing collagen degradation. We have examined the remodeling of rabbit corneal stroma following alkali injury and have assessed the effect of SIMP and MP treatment. Following a defined alkali injury to the rabbit cornea, animals were divided into three subgroups, one group treated with topical beta-mercaptomethyl tripeptide (SIMP), one treated by subconjunctival injection of MP and one treated with a control solution. The corneal tissue was taken at 3 days, 1, 2, 3, 4, 9 and 26 weeks after alkali injury and prepared for light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A quantitative measurement of birefringence, in terms of the optical path difference (OPD), was made using a modified polarized microscopy technique based on the analysis of interference colours. The results showed that SIMP effectively prevented deep corneal ulceration. MP could delay the ulceration and the corneas treated with MP appeared to have better transparency than the other groups. There was a significant difference of the OPD between the anterior (5.8 +/-0.3 nm) and posterior (7.8 +/-0.4 nm) stroma of the normal cornea (P0.001). The OPD values from the central corneas from alkali-injured eyes were generally lower than normal during the first 4 weeks and then gradually recovered to the normal level or above, except for the posterior stroma of the MP-treated eyes. We found that the OPD changes were very dependent on the presence of corneal lesions. The stroma near corneal ulceration, scar tissue, calcified stroma and the retro-corneal collagen layer showed a significant reduction of birefringence (lower OPD values). These OPD values remained much lower than normal up to the end of the experiment. TEM showed disrupted corneal stroma in all three groups, with thinner scar tissue in the MP group. The fibril diameters did not change significantly 3 days and 1 week after the alkali burns (27.1+/-2.3 nm in the control group, 27.3+/-2.2 nm in the SIMP group and 27.7+/-2.1 nm in the MP group) and there were no differences compared with 29.7+/-1.7 nm of the normal cornea (P0.05). After 2 weeks of tissue remodeling, the fibril diameters in alkali-injured corneas showed a large variation (the range was between 11.5 and 80 nm) with a bimodal distribution, especially in the control group. The technique presented here for birefringence evaluation can provide an alternative way to monitor wound healing and tissue remodeling, both visually and quantitatively.

Delayed luminescence from ox Achilles' tendons is found to depend on the order parameters of the collagen fibres and on both water content and the temperature, which affect those parameters.

This paper examines the effect of changes in membrane potential on the critical parameters of delayed luminescence of Acetabularia acetabulum. We show that these parameters are altered by changes in membrane potential in ways that may reflect concomitant changes in energy storage and energy coupling.

Hodgson (1993) and Ormerod (1994) are the latest among a string of economists to declare their own discipline “in crisis” within the past 15 years. And like the others before them, they trace the crisis to the mechanistic foundations of modern western science itself. They call for an alternative, organicist approach to economics. Precisely the same critique of neo(classical) Darwinian theory of evolution has been taking place since the 1970s (see Saunders, and Oyama, this volume; Ho/Saunders 1984; Ho/Fox, 1988; Ho 1996a), with a “new organicism” emerging (see Ho 1996b and references therein) which explicitly affirms Whitehead’s (1925) view that nature cannot be understood except in terms of a theory of the organism that participates in knowing and in constructing reality. This happy coincidence in the evolution of ideas entices me to explore more tangible links between a tentative theory of the organism and sustainable economic systems.