a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype,
"first" form, or a main model that other statements, patterns of
behavior, and objects copy, emulate, or "merge" into. Informal synonyms
frequently used for this definition include "standard example", "basic
example", and the longer-form "archetypal example"; mathematical
archetypes often appear as "canonical examples".
the Platonic concept of pure form, believed to embody the fundamental characteristics of a thing.
the Jungian psychology
concept of an inherited unconscious predisposition, behavioral trait or
tendency ("instinct") shared among the members of the species; as any
behavioral trait the tendency comes to being by way of patterns of
thought, images, affects or pulsions characterized by its qualitative
likeness to distinct narrative constructs; unlike personality traits,
many of the archetype's fundamental characteristics are shared in common
with the collective & are not predominantly defined by the
individual's representation of them; and the tendency to utilize
archetypal representations is postulated to arise from the evolutionary
drive to establish specific cues corresponding with the historical
evolutionary environment to better adapt to it. Such evolutionary drives
are: survival and thriving in the physical environment, the relating
function, acquiring knowledge, etc. It is communicated graphically as
archetypal "figures".
a constantly-recurring symbol or motif in literature, painting,
or mythology. This definition refers to the recurrence of characters or
ideas sharing similar traits throughout various, seemingly unrelated
cases in classic storytelling, media, etc. This usage of the term draws
from both comparative anthropology and from Jungian archetypal theory.
Archetypes are also very close analogies to instincts,
in that, long before any consciousness develops, it is the impersonal
and inherited traits of human beings that present and motivate human
behavior. They also continue to influence feelings and behavior even after some degree of consciousness developed later on.
Etymology
The word archetype, "original pattern from which copies are made," first entered into English usage in the 1540s. It derives from the Latinnounarchetypum, latinization of the Greek noun ἀρχέτυπον (archétypon), whose adjective form is ἀρχέτυπος (archétypos), which means "first-molded", which is a compound of ἀρχήarchḗ, "beginning, origin", and τύποςtýpos, which can mean, among other things, "pattern", "model", or "type". It, thus, referred to the beginning or origin of the pattern, model or type.
Archetypes in literature
Function
Usage of archetypes in specific pieces of writing is a holistic approach,
which can help the writing win universal acceptance. This is because
readers can relate to and identify with the characters and the
situation, both socially and culturally. By deploying common archetypes
contextually, a writer aims to impart realism to their work.
According to many literary critics, archetypes have a standard and
recurring depiction in a particular human culture or the whole human
race that ultimately lays concrete pillars and can shape the whole
structure in a literary work.
Archetypal literary criticism argues that archetypes determine the form and function of literary works and that a text's meaning is shaped by cultural and psychological myths. Cultural archetypes are the unknowable basic forms personified or made concrete by recurring images, symbols, or patterns (which may include motifs such as the "quest" or the "heavenly ascent"; recognizable character types such as the "trickster", "saint", "martyr" or the "hero";
symbols such as the apple or the snake; and imagery) and that have all
been laden with meaning prior to their inclusion in any particular work.
The archetypes reveal shared roles universal among societies,
such as the role of the mother in her natural relations with all members
of the family. These archetypes create a shared imagery which is
defined by many stereotypes that have not separated themselves from the
traditional, biological, religious, and mythical framework.
The origins of the archetypal hypothesis date as far back as Plato. Plato's eidos, or ideas,
were pure mental forms that were said to be imprinted in the soul
before it was born into the world. Some philosophers also translate the
archetype as "essence" in order to avoid confusion with respect to
Plato's conceptualization of Forms.
While it is tempting to think of Forms as mental entities (ideas) that
exist only in our mind, the philosopher insisted that they are
independent of any minds (real).
Eidos were collective in the sense that they embodied the fundamental
characteristics of a thing rather than its specific peculiarities. In
the seventeenth century, Sir Thomas Browne and Francis Bacon both employ the word archetype in their writings; Browne in The Garden of Cyrus (1658) attempted to depict archetypes in his usage of symbolic proper-names.
The concept of psychological archetypes was advanced by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, c. 1919. Jung has acknowledged that his conceptualization of archetype is influenced by Plato's eidos, which he described as "the formulated meaning of a primordial image by which it was represented symbolically." According to Jung, the term archetype is an explanatory paraphrase of the Platonic eidos, also believed to represent the word form. He maintained that Platonic archetypes are metaphysical ideas, paradigms, or models, and that real things are held to be only copies of these model ideas. However, archetypes are not easily recognizable in Plato's works in the way in which Jung meant them.
In Jung's psychological framework, archetypes are innate, libidinally collective schemas, universal prototypes for idea-sensory impression images and may be used to interpret observations. A group of memories and interpretations associated with an archetype is a complex
(e.g. a mother complex associated with the mother archetype). Jung
treated the archetypes as psychological organs, analogous to physical
ones in that both are morphological constructs that arose through evolution. At the same time, it has also been observed that evolution can itself be considered an archetypal construct.
My
views about the 'archaic remnants', which I call 'archetypes' or
'primordial images,' have been constantly criticized by people who lack
sufficient knowledge of the psychology of dreams and of mythology. The
term 'archetype' is often misunderstood as meaning certain definite
mythological images or motifs, but these are nothing more than conscious
representations. Such variable representations cannot be inherited. The
archetype is a tendency to form such representations of a motif—representations that can vary a great deal in detail without losing their basic pattern.
While
there are a variety of categorizations of archetypes, Jung's
configuration is perhaps the most well known and serves as the
foundation for many other models. The four major archetypes to emerge
from his work, which Jung originally terms primordial images,
include the anima/animus, the self, the shadow, and the persona.
Additionally, Jung referred to images of the wise old man, the child,
the mother, and the maiden.
He believed that each human mind retains these basic unconscious
understandings of the human condition and the collective knowledge of
our species in the construct of the collective unconscious.
Neo-Jungian concepts
Other authors, such as Carol Pearson
and Margaret Mark, have attributed 12 different archetypes to Jung,
organized in three overarching categories, based on a fundamental
driving force. These include:
Ego types:
Innocent
Orphan/regular guy or gal
Hero
Caregiver
Soul types:
Explorer
Rebel
Lover
Creator
Self types:
Jester
Sage
Magician
Ruler
Other authors, such as Margaret Hartwell and Joshua Chen, go further to give these 12 archetypes families 5 archetypes each.
They are as follows:
Innocent Family:
Innocent
Child
Dreamer
Idealist
Muse
Citizen Family:
Citizen
Advocate
Everyman
Networker
Servant
Hero Family:
Hero
Athlete
Liberator
Rescuer
Warrior
Caregiver family:
Caregiver
Angel
Guardian
Healer
Samaritan
Explorer Family:
Explorer
Adventurer
Pioneer
Generalist
Seeker
Rebel Family:
Rebel
Activist
Gambler
Maverick
Reformer
Lover Family:
Lover
Companion
Hedonist
Matchmaker
Romantic
Creator Family:
Creator
Artist
Entrepreneur
Storyteller
Visionary
Jester Family:
Jester
Clown
Entertainer
Provocateur
Shapeshifter
Sage Family:
Sage
Detective
Mentor
Shaman
Translator
Magician Family:
Magician
Alchemist
Engineer
Innovator
Scientist
Sovereign Family:
Sovereign
Ambassador
Judge
Patriarch
Ruler
Other uses of archetypes
There
is also the position that the use of archetypes in different ways is
possible because every archetype has multiple manifestations, with each
one featuring different attributes.
For instance, there is the position that the function of the archetype
must be approached according to the context of biological sciences and
is accomplished through the concept of the ultimate function. This pertains to the organism's response to those pressures in terms of biological trait.
Dichter's application of archetypes
Later in the 1900s, a Viennese psychologist named Dr. Ernest Dichter
took these psychological constructs and applied them to marketing.
Dichter moved to New York around 1939 and sent every ad agency on
Madison Avenue a letter boasting of his new discovery. He found that
applying these universal themes to products promoted easier discovery
and stronger loyalty for brands.
Pantheism is the philosophical and religious belief that reality, the universe, and nature are identical to divinity or a supreme entity. The physical universe is thus understood as an immanentdeity, still expanding and creating, which has existed since the beginning of time. The term pantheist
designates one who holds both that everything constitutes a unity and
that this unity is divine, consisting of an all-encompassing, manifested
god or goddess. All astronomical objects are thence viewed as parts of a sole deity.
Another definition of pantheism is the worship of all gods of every religion. But this is more precisely termed omnism.
Pantheist belief does not recognize a distinct personal god, anthropomorphic
or otherwise, but instead characterizes a broad range of doctrines
differing in forms of relationships between reality and divinity.
Pantheistic concepts date back thousands of years, and pantheistic
elements have been identified in various religious traditions. The term pantheism was coined by mathematician Joseph Raphson in 1697 and since then, it has been used to describe the beliefs of a variety of people and organizations.
Pantheism was popularized in Western culture as a theology and philosophy based on the work of the 17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza, in particular, his book Ethics. A pantheistic stance was also taken in the 16th century by philosopher and cosmologist Giordano Bruno.
Pantheism derives from the Greek word πᾶν pan (meaning "all, of everything") and θεός theos (meaning "god, divine"). The first known combination of these roots appears in Latin, in Joseph Raphson's 1697 book De Spatio Reali seu Ente Infinito, where he refers to "pantheismus".
It was subsequently translated into English as "pantheism" in 1702.
Definitions
Pantheists believe that the universe itself and everything in it forms a single, all-encompassing deity.
There are numerous definitions of pantheism, including:
the belief that everything is part of an all-encompassing, immanent
God, and that all forms of reality may then be considered either modes
of that Being, or identical with it; and
a non-religious philosophical position maintaining that the Universe
(in the sense of the totality of all existence) and God are identical.
History
Pre-modern times
Early
traces of pantheist thought can be found within animistic beliefs and
tribal religions throughout the world as an expression of unity with the
divine, specifically in beliefs that have no central polytheist or monotheist personas. Hellenistic theology makes early recorded reference to pantheism within the ancient Greek religion of Orphism, where pan (the all) is made cognate with the creator God Phanes (symbolizing the universe), and with Zeus, after the swallowing of Phanes.
The Catholic Church has long regarded pantheistic ideas as heresy. Sebastian Franck was considered an early Pantheist. Giordano Bruno, an Italian friar who evangelized about a transcendent and infinite God, was burned at the stake in 1600 by the Roman Inquisition. He has since become known as a celebrated pantheist and martyr of science.
The Hindu philosophy of Advaita Vedanta is thought to be similar to pantheism. The term Advaita (literally "non-secondness", but usually rendered as "nondualism", and often equated with monism) refers to the idea that Brahman alone is ultimately real, while the transient phenomenal world is an illusory appearance (maya) of Brahman. In this view, jivatman, the experiencing self, is ultimately non-different ("na aparah") from Ātman-Brahman, the highest Self or Reality. The jivatman or individual self is a mere reflection or limitation of singular Ātman in a multitude of apparent individual bodies.
Baruch Spinoza
The philosophy of Baruch Spinoza is often regarded as pantheism.
In the West, pantheism was formalized as a separate theology and
philosophy based on the work of the 17th-century philosopher Baruch
Spinoza. Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese descent raised in the Sephardi Jewish community in Amsterdam.
He developed highly controversial ideas regarding the authenticity of
the Hebrew Bible and the nature of the Divine, and was effectively
excluded from Jewish society at age 23, when the local synagogue issued a herem against him. A number of his books were published posthumously, and shortly thereafter included in the Catholic Church's Index of Forbidden Books.
In the posthumous Ethics, he opposed René Descartes' famous mind–body dualism, the theory that the body and spirit are separate. Spinoza held the monist
view that the two are the same, and monism is a fundamental part of his
philosophy. He was described as a "God-intoxicated man," and used the
word God to describe the unity of all substance. This view influenced philosophers such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who said, "You are either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all." Spinoza earned praise as one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy and one of Western philosophy's most important thinkers.
Although the term "pantheism" was not coined until after his death, he
is regarded as the most celebrated advocate of the concept. Ethics was the major source from which Western pantheism spread.
18th century
The first known use of the term "pantheism" was in Latin ("pantheismus") by the English mathematician Joseph Raphson in his work De Spatio Reali seu Ente Infinito, published in 1697. Raphson begins with a distinction between atheistic "panhylists" (from the Greek roots pan, "all", and hyle,
"matter"), who believe everything is matter, and Spinozan "pantheists"
who believe in "a certain universal substance, material as well as
intelligence, that fashions all things that exist out of its own
essence."
Raphson thought that the universe was immeasurable in respect to a
human's capacity of understanding, and believed that humans would never
be able to comprehend it. He referred to the pantheism of the Ancient Egyptians, Persians, Syrians, Assyrians, Greek, Indians, and Jewish Kabbalists, specifically referring to Spinoza.
The term was first used in English by a translation of Raphson's work in 1702. It was later used and popularized by Irish writer John Toland in his work of 1705 Socinianism Truly Stated, by a Pantheist. Toland was influenced by both Spinoza and Bruno, and had read Joseph Raphson's De Spatio Reali, referring to it as "the ingenious Mr. Ralphson's (sic) Book of Real Space". Like Raphson, he used the terms "pantheist" and "Spinozist" interchangeably. In 1720 he wrote the Pantheisticon: or The Form of Celebrating the Socratic-Society
in Latin, envisioning a pantheist society that believed, "All things in
the world are one, and one is all in all things ... what is all in all
things is God, eternal and immense, neither born nor ever to perish." He clarified his idea of pantheism in a letter to Gottfried Leibniz in 1710 when he referred to "the pantheistic opinion of those who believe in no other eternal being but the universe".
In the mid-eighteenth century, the English theologian Daniel Waterland
defined pantheism this way: "It supposes God and nature, or God and the
whole universe, to be one and the same substance—one universal being;
insomuch that men's souls are only modifications of the divine substance." In the early nineteenth century, the German theologian Julius Wegscheider defined pantheism as the belief that God and the world established by God are one and the same.
Between 1785–89, a controversy about Spinoza's philosophy arose between the German philosophers Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (a critic) and Moses Mendelssohn (a defender). Known in German as the Pantheismusstreit (pantheism controversy), it helped spread pantheism to many German thinkers.
A letter written in 1886 by William Herndon, Abraham Lincoln's law partner, was sold at auction for US$30,000 in 2011. In it, Herndon writes of the U.S. President's evolving religious views, which included pantheism.
"Mr. Lincoln's religion is too well
known to me to allow of even a shadow of a doubt; he is or was a Theist
and a Rationalist, denying all extraordinary – supernatural inspiration
or revelation. At one time in his life, to say the least, he was an
elevated Pantheist, doubting the immortality of the soul as the
Christian world understands that term. He believed that the soul lost
its identity and was immortal as a force. Subsequent to this he rose to
the belief of a God, and this is all the change he ever underwent."
The subject is understandably controversial, but the content of the
letter is consistent with Lincoln's fairly lukewarm approach to
organized religion.
Comparison with non-Christian religions
Some
19th-century theologians thought that various pre-Christian religions
and philosophies were pantheistic. They thought Pantheism was similar to
the ancient Hinduism philosophy of Advaita (non-dualism).
19th-century European theologians also considered Ancient Egyptian religion to contain pantheistic elements and pointed to Egyptian philosophy as a source of Greek Pantheism. The latter included some of the Presocratics, such as Heraclitus and Anaximander. The Stoics were pantheists, beginning with Zeno of Citium and culminating in the emperor-philosopher Marcus Aurelius. During the pre-Christian Roman Empire, Stoicism was one of the three dominant schools of philosophy, along with Epicureanism and Neoplatonism. The early Taoism of Laozi and Zhuangzi is also sometimes considered pantheistic, although it could be more similar to panentheism.
In the late 20th century, some declared that pantheism was an underlying theology of Neopaganism, and pantheists began forming organizations devoted specifically to pantheism and treating it as a separate religion.
Albert Einstein is considered a pantheist by some commentators.
Dorion Sagan, son of scientist and science communicator Carl Sagan, published the 2007 book Dazzle Gradually: Reflections on the Nature of Nature, co-written with his mother Lynn Margulis.
In the chapter "Truth of My Father", Sagan writes that his "father
believed in the God of Spinoza and Einstein, God not behind nature, but
as nature, equivalent to it."
In 2009, pantheism was mentioned in a Papal encyclical and in a statement on New Year's Day, 2010, criticizing pantheism for denying the superiority of humans over nature and seeing the source of man's salvation in nature.
There are multiple varieties of pantheism and various systems of classifying them relying upon one or more spectra or in discrete categories.
Degree of determinism
The philosopher Charles Hartshorne used the term Classical Pantheism to describe the deterministic philosophies of Baruch Spinoza, the Stoics, and other like-minded figures. Pantheism (All-is-God) is often associated with monism (All-is-One) and some have suggested that it logically implies determinism (All-is-Now). Albert Einstein explained theological determinism by stating, "the past, present, and future are an 'illusion'".
This form of pantheism has been referred to as "extreme monism", in
which – in the words of one commentator – "God decides or determines
everything, including our supposed decisions." Other examples of determinism-inclined pantheisms include those of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Hegel.
However, some have argued against treating every meaning of "unity" as an aspect of pantheism,
and there exist versions of pantheism that regard determinism as an
inaccurate or incomplete view of nature. Examples include the beliefs of
John Scotus Eriugena, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and William James.
Degree of belief
It
may also be possible to distinguish two types of pantheism, one being
more religious and the other being more philosophical. The Columbia
Encyclopedia writes of the distinction:
"If the pantheist starts with the belief that the one great
reality, eternal and infinite, is God, he sees everything finite and
temporal as but some part of God. There is nothing separate or distinct
from God, for God is the universe. If, on the other hand, the conception
taken as the foundation of the system is that the great inclusive unity
is the world itself, or the universe, God is swallowed up in that
unity, which may be designated nature."
Form of monism
A diagram with neutral monism compared to Cartesian dualism, physicalism and idealism
Philosophers and theologians have often suggested that pantheism implies monism.
For the Aztecsteotl was the metaphysical omnipresence creating the cosmos and all its contents from within itself as well as out of itself. This is conceptualized in a kind of monistic pantheism as manifest in the supreme god Ometeotl, as well as a large pantheon of lesser gods and idealizations of natural phenomena.
Other
In
1896, J. H. Worman, a theologian, identified seven categories of
pantheism: Mechanical or materialistic (God the mechanical unity of
existence); Ontological (fundamental unity, Spinoza); Dynamic; Psychical
(God is the soul of the world); Ethical (God is the universal moral
order, Fichte); Logical (Hegel); and Pure (absorption of God into
nature, which Worman equates with atheism).
In 1984, Paul D. Feinberg,
professor of biblical and systematic theology at Trinity Evangelical
Divinity School, also identified seven: Hylozoistic; Immanentistic;
Absolutistic monistic; Relativistic monistic; Acosmic; Identity of
opposites; and Neoplatonic or emanationistic.
Demographics
Prevalence
According to censuses of 2011, the UK was the country with the most Pantheists. As of 2011, about 1,000 Canadians identified their religion as "Pantheist", representing 0.003% of the population. By 2021, the number of Canadian pantheists had risen to 1,855 (0.005%). In Ireland, Pantheism rose from 202 in 1991, to 1106 in 2002, to 1,691 in 2006, 1,940 in 2011. In New Zealand, there was exactly one pantheist man in 1901. By 1906, the number of pantheists in New Zealand had septupled to 7 (6 male, 1 female). This number had further risen to 366 by 2006.
Age, ethnicity, and gender
The 2021 Canadian census
showed that pantheists were somewhat more likely to be in their 20s and
30s compared to the general population. People under 15 were about four
times less likely to be pantheist than the general population.
The 2021 Canadian census also showed that pantheists were less
likely to be part of a recognized minority group compared to the general
population, with 90.3% of pantheists not being part of any minority
group (compared to 73.5% of the general population). The census did not
register any pantheists who were Arab, Southeast Asian, West Asian, Korean, or Japanese.
In Canada (2011), there was no gender difference in regards to pantheism.
However, in Ireland (2011), pantheists were slightly more likely to be
female (1074 pantheists, 0.046% of women) than male (866 pantheists,
0.038% of men). In contrast, Canada (2021) showed pantheists to be slightly more likely to be male, with men representing 51.5% of pantheists.
Comparison of pantheists in Canada against the general population (2021)
General population
Pantheists
Total population
36,328,480
1,855
Gender
Male
17,937,165 (49.4%)
955 (51.5%)
Female
18,391,315 (50.6%)
895 (48.2%)
Age
0 to 14
5,992,555 (16.5%)
75 (4%)
15 to 19
2,003,200 (5.5%)
40 (2%)
20 to 24
2,177,860 (6%)
125 (6.7%)
25 to 34
4,898,625 (13.5%)
405 (21.8%)
35 to 44
4,872,425 (13.4%)
380 (20.5%)
45 to 54
4,634,850 (12.8%)
245 (13.2%)
55 to 64
5,162,365 (14.2%)
245 13.2%)
65 and over
6,586,600 (18.1%)
325 (17.5%)
Ethnicity
Non-minority
26,689,275 (73.5%)
1,675 (90.3%)
South Asian
2,571,400 (7%)
20 (1.1%)
Chinese
1,715,770 (4.7%)
45 (2.4%)
Black
1,547,870 (4.3%)
45 (2.4%)
Filipino
957,355 (2.6%)
10 (0.5%)
Arab
694,015 (1.9%)
0 (0%)
Latin American
580,235 (1.6%)
25 (1.3%)
Southeast Asian
390,340 (1.1%)
0 (0%)
West Asian
360,495 (1%)
0 (0%)
Korean
218,140 (0.6%)
0 (0%)
Japanese
98,890 (0.3%)
0 (0%)
Visible minority, n.i.e.
172,885 (0.5%)
0 (0%)
Multiple visible minorities
331,805 (0.9%)
15 (0.8%)
Canadian pantheist population by percentage (2011 National Household Survey)
Related concepts
Nature worship
or nature mysticism is often conflated and confused with pantheism. It
is pointed out by at least one expert, Harold Wood, founder of the Universal Pantheist Society,
that in pantheist philosophy Spinoza's identification of God with
nature is very different from a recent idea of a self identifying
pantheist with environmental ethical concerns. His use of the word nature
to describe his worldview may be vastly different from the "nature" of
modern sciences. He and other nature mystics who also identify as
pantheists use "nature" to refer to the limited natural environment (as opposed to man-made built environment).
This use of "nature" is different from the broader use from Spinoza and
other pantheists describing natural laws and the overall phenomena of
the physical world. Nature mysticism may be compatible with pantheism
but it may also be compatible with theism and other views. Pantheism has also been involved in animal worship especially in primal religions.
Nontheism
is an umbrella term which has been used to refer to a variety of
religions not fitting traditional theism, and under which pantheism has
been included.
Panentheism
(from Greek πᾶν (pân) "all"; ἐν (en) "in"; and θεός (theós) "God";
"all-in-God") was formally coined in Germany in the 19th century in an
attempt to offer a philosophical synthesis between traditional theism
and pantheism, stating that God is substantially omnipresent in the physical universe but also exists "apart from" or "beyond" it as its Creator and Sustainer.
Thus panentheism separates itself from pantheism, positing the extra
claim that God exists above and beyond the world as we know it.
The line between pantheism and panentheism can be blurred depending on
varying definitions of God, so there have been disagreements when
assigning particular notable figures to pantheism or panentheism.
Pandeism is another word derived from pantheism, and is characterized as a combination of reconcilable elements of pantheism and deism.
It assumes a Creator-deity that is at some point distinct from the
universe and then transforms into it, resulting in a universe similar to
the pantheistic one in present essence, but differing in origin.
Panpsychism is the philosophical view that consciousness, mind, or soul is a universal feature of all things. Some pantheists also subscribe to the distinct philosophical views hylozoism (or panvitalism), the view that everything is alive, and its close neighbor animism, the view that everything has a soul or spirit.
Ideas resembling pantheism existed in Eastern religions before the 18th century (notably Hinduism, Confucianism, and Taoism).
Although there is no evidence that these influenced Spinoza's work,
there is such evidence regarding other contemporary philosophers, such
as Leibniz, and later Voltaire.In the case of Hinduism, pantheistic views exist alongside panentheistic, polytheistic, monotheistic, and atheistic ones.
Spirituality and new religious movements
Pantheism is popular in modern spirituality and new religious movements, such as Neopaganism and Theosophy.
Two organizations that specify the word pantheism in their title formed
in the last quarter of the 20th century. The Universal Pantheist
Society, open to all varieties of pantheists and supportive of
environmental causes, was founded in 1975. The World Pantheist Movement is headed by Paul Harrison,
an environmentalist, writer and a former vice president of the
Universal Pantheist Society, from which he resigned in 1996. The World
Pantheist Movement was incorporated in 1999 to focus exclusively on
promoting naturalistic pantheism – a strict metaphysical naturalistic version of pantheism, considered by some a form of religious naturalism. It has been described as an example of "dark green religion" with a focus on environmental ethics.
Meiotic drive is a type of intragenomic conflict, whereby one or more loci within a genome will affect a manipulation of the meiotic process in such a way as to favor the transmission of one or more alleles
over another, regardless of its phenotypic expression. More simply,
meiotic drive is when one copy of a gene is passed on to offspring more
than the expected 50% of the time. According to Buckler et al., "Meiotic
drive is the subversion of meiosis so that particular genes are
preferentially transmitted to the progeny. Meiotic drive generally
causes the preferential segregation of small regions of the genome".
Meiotic drive in plants
The first report of meiotic drive came from Marcus Rhoades who in 1942 observed a violation of Mendelian segregation ratios for the R locus - a gene controlling the production of the purple pigment anthocyanin in maize kernels - in a maize line carrying abnormal chromosome 10 (Ab10). Ab10 differs from the normal chromosome 10 by the presence of a 150-base pair heterochromatic region called 'knob', which functions as a centromere during division (hence called 'neocentromere') and moves to the spindle poles faster than the centromeres during meiosis I and II. The mechanism for this was later found to involve the activity of a kinesin-14 gene called Kinesin driver (Kindr). Kindr protein is a functional minus-end directed motor, displaying quicker minus-end directed motility than an endogenous kinesin-14, such as Kin11. As a result Kindr
outperforms the endogenous kinesins, pulling the 150 bp knobs to the
poles faster than the centromeres and causing Ab10 to be preferentially
inherited during meiosis
Meiotic drive in animals
The unequal inheritance of gametes has been observed since the 1950s, in contrast to Gregor Mendel's First and Second Laws (the law of segregation and the law of independent assortment),
which dictate that there is a random chance of each allele being passed
on to offspring. Examples of selfish drive genes in animals have
primarily been found in rodents and flies. These drive systems could
play important roles in the process of speciation. For instance, the proposal that hybrid sterility (Haldane's rule) may arise from the divergent evolution of sex chromosome drivers and their suppressors.
Meiotic drive in mice
Early
observations of mouse t-haplotypes by Mary Lyon described numerous
genetic loci on chromosome 17 that suppress X-chromosome sex ratio
distortion.
If a driver is left unchecked, this may lead to population extinction
as the population would fix for the driver (e.g. a selfish X
chromosome), removing the Y chromosome (and therefore males) from the
population. The idea that meiotic drivers and their suppressors may
govern speciation is supported by observations that mouse Y chromosomes
lacking certain genetic loci produce female-biased offspring, implying
these loci encode suppressors of drive.
Moreover, matings of certain mouse strains used in research results in
unequal offspring ratios. One gene responsible for sex ratio distortion
in mice is r2d2 (r2d2
– responder to meiotic drive 2), which predicts which strains of mice
can successfully breed without offspring sex ratio distortion.
Meiotic drive in flies
A stalk-eyed fly
Selfish chromosomes of stalk-eyed flies have had ecological consequences. Driving X chromosomes lead to reductions in male fecundity and mating success, leading to frequency dependent selection maintaining both the driving alleles and wild-type alleles.
Multiple species of fruit fly are known to have driving X chromosomes, of which the best-characterized are found in Drosophila simulans. Three independent driving X chromosomes are known in D. simulans,
called Paris, Durham, and Winters. In Paris, the driving gene encodes a
DNA modelling protein ("heterochromatin protein 1 D2" or HP1D2), where the allele of the driving copy fails to prepare the male Y chromosome for meiosis. In Winters, the gene responsible ("Distorter on the X" or Dox) has been identified, though the mechanism by which it acts is still unknown.
The strong selective pressure imposed by these driving X chromosomes
has given rise to suppressors of drive, of which the genes are somewhat
known for Winters, Durham, and Paris. These suppressors encode hairpin
RNAs which match the sequence of driver genes (such as Dox), leading host RNA interference pathways to degrade Dox sequence. Autosomal suppressors of drive are known in Drosophila mediopunctata, Drosophila paramelanica, Drosophila quinaria, and Drosophila testacea, emphasizing the importance of these drive systems in natural populations.
The screw-worm fly was the first pest successfully eliminated from an area through the sterile insect technique, by the use of an integrated area-wide approach.
The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a method of biological insect control, whereby overwhelming numbers of sterileinsects are released into the wild. The released insects are preferably male, as this is more cost-effective and the females may in some situations cause damage by laying eggs in the crop, or, in the case of mosquitoes,
taking blood from humans. The sterile males compete with fertile males
to mate with the females. Females that mate with a sterile male produce
no offspring, thus reducing the next generation's population.
Sterile insects are not self-replicating and, therefore, cannot become
established in the environment. Repeated release of sterile males over
low population densities can further reduce and in cases of isolation
eliminate pest populations, although cost-effective control with dense
target populations is subjected to population suppression prior to the
release of the sterile males.
Sterilization is induced through the effects of x-ray photonirradiation
on the reproductive cells of the insects. SIT does not involve the
release of insects modified through transgenic (genetic engineering)
processes. Moreover, SIT does not introduce non-native species into an ecosystem.
History
The use of sterile males was first described by the Russian geneticist A.S. Serebrovsky in 1940, but the English-speaking world came up with the idea independently, and applied it practically around the 1950s. Raymond Bushland and Edward Knipling
developed the SIT to eliminate screw-worms preying on warm-blooded
animals, especially cattle; this was effective because female
screw-worms mate only once. The larvae of these flies invade open wounds
and eat into animal flesh, killing infected cattle within 10 days. In
the 1950s, screw-worms caused annual losses to American meat and dairy
supplies that were projected at above $200 million. Screw-worm maggots
can also parasitize human flesh.
Entomologist Edward F. Knipling
Bushland and Knipling began searching for an alternative to chemical pesticides in the late 1930s when they were working at the United States Department of Agriculture Laboratory in Menard, Texas.
At that time, the screw-worm was devastating livestock herds across the
American South. Red meat and dairy supplies were affected across
Mexico, Central America, and South America.
Knipling developed the theory of autocidal control – breaking the
pest's reproductive cycle. Bushland's enthusiasm for Knipling's theory
sparked the pair to search for a way to rear flies in a "factory"
setting, and to find an effective way to sterilize flies.
Their work was interrupted by World War II, but they resumed their efforts in the early 1950s with successful tests on the screw-worm population of Sanibel Island, Florida. The sterile insect technique worked; near eradication was achieved using X-ray-sterilized flies.
Successes
The map shows the current (orange) and former (yellow) distribution area and the approximate seasonal spread of the screw-worm fly.
In 1954, the technique was used to eradicate screw-worms from the 176-square-mile (460 km2) island of Curaçao, off the coast of Venezuela. Screw-worms were eliminated in seven weeks, saving the domestic goat herds that were a source of meat and milk.
During the late 1950s to the 1970s, SIT was used to control the
screw-worm population in the US. In the 1980s, Mexico and Belize
eliminated their screw-worm problems with SIT. Eradication programs
progressed across Central America in the 1990s, followed by the
establishment of a biological barrier in Panama
to prevent reinfestation from the south. The map shows the current and
former distribution area and the approximate seasonal spread of the screw-worm fly.
In 1991, Knipling and Bushland's technique halted a serious
outbreak of New World screw-worm in northern Africa. Programs against
the Mediterranean fruit fly in Mexico, Florida and California use the SIT to maintain their fly-free status. The technique was used to eradicate the melon fly from Okinawa and in the fight against the tsetse fly in Africa.
The technique has suppressed insects threatening livestock,
fruit, vegetable, and fiber crops. The technique was lauded for its
environmental attributes: it leaves no residues and has no (direct)
negative effect on nontarget species.
The technique has been a boon in protecting the agricultural
products to feed the world's human population. Both Bushland and
Knipling received worldwide recognition for their leadership and
scientific achievements, including the 1992 World Food Prize. The technique were hailed by former U.S. Secretary of AgricultureOrville Freeman as "the greatest entomological achievement of the 20th century."
South Australia
has since 2016 been producing tens of millions of sterile fruit flies a
week during peak summer months, as part of a program to control and
eventually eradicate the horticultural pests.
African trypanosomiasis
Sleeping sickness or African trypanosomiasis is a parasitic disease in humans. Caused by protozoa of genus Trypanosoma and transmitted by the tsetse fly, the disease is endemic in regions of sub-Saharan Africa,
covering about 36 countries and 60 million people. An estimated 50,000 –
70,000 people are infected and about 40,000 die every year. The three
most recent epidemics occurred in 1896 -1906, 1920, and 1970.
Studies of the tsetse fly show that females generally mate only
once (occasionally twice). Studies found this process to be effective in
preventing the scourge.
The Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly, Ceratitis capitata, Wiedemann) was eradicated from the northern part of Chile and southern parts of Argentina, Peru
and Mexico. It is being suppressed by SIT in fruit-producing areas of
Croatia, Israel, South Africa, Spain, and the United States.
Fruit fly species, including Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata), Caribbean fruit fly (Anastrepha suspensa) and Mexican fruit fly (Anastrepha ludens) in Americas, Queensland fruit fly (Bactrocera tryoni) in Australia, the oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) in Hawaii, and several other Bactrocera spp. across Australia, Asia, and Oceania: FAO/IAEA lists 39 different SIT facilities (DIR-SIT) across the globe, aiding the retrieval of information on mass production and on radiation doses (IDIDAS).
It includes data on both the radiation dose required for the
disinfestation of generic commodity groups and the radiation dose used
to induce sterility for pest control through the SIT.
History of transboundary shipment of sterile insects
Transboundary
shipment of sterile insects has taken place on a continuous basis for
60 years (since 1963). The total number of sterile insects shipped has
been estimated at more than one trillion in thousands of shipments
across borders to 23 recipient countries from 50 sterile insect
factories in 25 countries. During this long period and many precedents,
no problems associated with possible hazards have been identified, and
thus the shipment of sterile insects have never been subjected to any
regulatory action. The table shows the history of transboundary shipments which started in 1963 with the shipments of sterile Mexican fruit fly (Anastrepha ludens, Loew), from Monterrey, Mexico, to Texas, US.
Drawbacks
Naturally
low population periods or repeated pesticide treatment are sometimes
required to suppress populations before the use of sterile insects.
Sex separation can be difficult,
though this can be easily performed on a large scale where genetic
sexing systems have been developed as for the Mediterranean fruit fly.
Radiation, transport and release treatments can reduce male mating fitness.
The technique is species-specific. For instance, the technique must
be implemented separately for each of the 6 economically important
tsetse fly species.
Mass rearing and irradiation require precision processes. Failures have occurred when unexpectedly fertile breeding males were released.
Area-wide approach is more effective, as migration of wild insects from outside the control area could recreate the problem.
The cost of producing sufficient sterile insects can be prohibitive in some locations but decreases with economies of scale.
Conclusion and perspectives
Biotechnological approaches based on genetically modified organism (transgenic
organisms) are still under development. However, since no legal
framework exists to authorize the release of such organisms in nature,
sterilization by irradiation remains the most used technique. A meeting
was held at FAO headquarters in Rome, 8 to 12 April 2002 on "Status and
Risk Assessment of the Use of Transgenic Arthropods in Plant
Protection". The resulting proceedings of the meeting have been used by the North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO) to develop NAPPO Regional Standard No. 27
on "Guidelines for Importation and Confined Field release of Transgenic
Arthropods", which might provide the basis for the rational development
of the use of transgenic arthropods.
Economic benefits
Economic
benefits have been demonstrated. The direct benefits of screwworm
eradication to the North and Central American livestock industries are
estimated to be over $1.5 billion/year, compared with an investment over
half a century around $1 billion. Mexico protects a fruit and vegetable
export market of over $3 billion/year through an annual investment
around $25 million. Medfly-free status has been estimated to have opened
markets for Chile's fruit exports up to $500 million. When implemented
on an area-wide basis and a scaled rearing process, SIT is
cost-competitive with conventional control, in addition to its
environmental benefits.
Related techniques in plants
A similar technique to SIT has recently been applied to weeds using irradiated pollen, resulting in deformed seeds that do not sprout.
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