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Stem Cells, Pre-neoplasia, and Early Cancer of the Upper Gastrointestinal Tract

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It remains unclear when and where Charles Darwin had his transformative idea of
species evolution through random variation and selective retention. The legend goes
that the fi rst inklings of the idea came to him on board the Beagle during the ship’s
visit to the Galapagos Islands in the Eastern Pacifi c. Here he beheld fi nches with
differently shaped beaks, which suggested local adaptations to varying diets. However,
there are clear indications that the idea came to him several years before. Three years
before to be exact. Over dinner. Along the eastern coast of what is now Argentina.
The notebook entry above dates from the fi rst year of the Beagle’s voyage when
the ship was anchored near Bahia Blanca, an outpost some 700 km south from
Buenos Aires. The explorers ate whatever the hunters brought back from the fertile
Argentine Pampas, mostly deer, agoutis, armadillos, and rhea (which the budding
naturalist called “an ostrich”). At these sites Darwin and a helper set to work on the
soft rock to uncover fossils. At the fi rst site (Punta Alta) he recovered the remains of
no less than nine great mammals. Most of these Pleistocene giant mammals are
unique to the Americas, the most famous of which was a huge sloth called
Megatherium , and were hardly known at the time to science. In this setting Darwin
also recovered specimens of animals that reminded him of the armadillos that he
had had for dinner (reputed to taste terrible).

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Series Title

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Call Number

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Publisher

London : Springer., 2016

Collation

-

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

978-3-319-41388-4

Classification

NONE

Content Type

text

Media Type

computer

Carrier Type

online resource

Edition

-

Subject(s)

stem cells

Specific Detail Info

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Statement of Responsibility

Editors: Marnix Jansen, Nicholas A. Wright

Other Information

Cataloger

Jemadi

Source

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-319-41388-4.pdf?pdf=button

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