Bulletin -- Men Invented Humanity

The American Specator ^ | 10/10/06 | William Tucker

[Tarnsman]

Time magazine did one of those Evolution updates last week, "How We Became Human," on its cover. There wasn't too much new -- just how little we differ genetically from chimpanzees. Yet there was one sentence that stood out like a lightning bolt. It has enormous implications for understanding how human societies evolved and why they sometimes find it difficult to get along with each other. Here it is: The principle of gene-by-gene comparison [between species] remains a powerful one, and just a year ago geneticists got hold of a long-awaited tool for making those comparisons in bulk. Although the news was largely overshadowed by the impact of Hurricane Katrina... the publication of a rough draft of the chimp genome in the journal Nature immediately told scientists several important things. First they learned that overall, the sequences of base pairs that make up both species' [i.e., humans and chimps] genomes differ by 1.23% -- a ringing confirmation of the 1970 estimates -- and that the most striking divergence between them occurs, intriguingly, in the Y chromosome, present only in males. Did you see that? It deserves much more attention than Time was willing to give it. Basically, the point is that, in crossing the little evolutionary distance that exists between chimps and humans, most of the changes occurred in males. In other words, what differentiates us from our mammalian relatives is changes that have occurred in the male of the species.

[Tarnsman]

Interesting to say the least. Explains a lot. Love to see how the feminists react to this.

[Jeff Chandler]

Perfectly logical.

[Harrius Magnus]

Now this is an article just about every conservative can enjoy reading, a true delight! Thanks for the posting.

[kinoxi]

She made me do it...

[ASA Vet]

Man the Inventor

[Mrs Ivan]

It's a well reasoned article.

Unfortunately, I may now have to renew my subscription to Nature in order to read the genome comparison.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

[ltorto]

What is interesting is how our perceptions and interpretations are predicated upon our prejudices.

[dhuffman@awod.com]

Is 'prejudice' so much more than a synonym for knowledge? Knowledge disparaged is prejudice. And of 'bigotry'?

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

"So what does all this suggest for the present? First, it says that feminism, in its most obviously primitive forms, is undermining human evolution. Everywhere in the Western world, the emancipation of women has initially led to rising divorce rates and plummeting births. After intelligent consideration, however, many "second-generation" feminists have been able to handle both careers and families, which means the human family may be able to reconstitute itself on a more equitable basis."

Let's hear it for us guys. Feminism is destructive to our culture. I am not against equality and putting Women back in time when they were considered chattel, but feminism is selfish and self-destructive to our culture.

[doc30]

Ping!

[Moonman62]

They'll claim that they were the ones in charge of the selection process, and that men are no more than containers of genetic information.

[PatrickHenry]

Evolution Ping The List-O-Links

A conservative, pro-evolution science list, now with over 390 names. See the list's explanation, then FReepmail to be added or dropped. To assist beginners: But it's "just a theory", Evo-Troll's Toolkit, and How to argue against a scientific theory.

[VadeRetro]

If all the differences were really on the Y chromosome, women would still be chimpanzees. Then again, they DO mature faster. The human male has to have the longest maturation period among mammals at least, sometimes requiring most of the lifetime. That's a mark of being very evolved.

[Thombo2]

"Love to see how feminists react to this."Maybe someone ought to send a copy of this article to NOW.sarc:)

[trashcanbred]

What has changed is the role of males. Among chimps, males hang out in groups, form alliances, forage together, and do a lot of bickering over status. They do not participate at all in child rearing. By the time hunting-and-gathering tribes arrive, however, men have been folded into the family. Monogamy predominates and both parents participate in child rearing. The extraordinary innovation is "fatherhood," a role that doesn't really exist elsewhere in nature.

This part of the article is completely wrong. Look at the description of chimps. Tell me me that forming alliances and bickering over status doesn't happen in the corporate world.

Second the part about "fatherhood doesn't really exist elsewhere in nature". That again is wrong A Father's Day Top Ten (Animal Fathers)

[AZLiberty]

It's kind of odd to say that "feminism ... is undermining human evolution." Paraphrasing Forrest Gump, evolution is what evolution does. Feminism, carried out long enough, would ultimately result in a new form of man, or it will more likely cause the believers to become demographically irrelevant due to low birth rates.

Apart from the possibility of pandemic, man's evolution is no longer in the hands of "nature" but in the hands of man himself. What people choose -- be it feminism, Islam, science, and many other possibilities (note I don't say "or") -- will, in the long run, determine the biological nature of man.

[martin gibson]

Feminism is destructive to our culture.

a rat is a dog is a pig is a feminist (with profound apologies to rats, dogs and pigs).

[BJClinton]

Now this is an article just about every conservative can enjoy reading, a true delight!

Are you kidding? It has the "E" word in it so it just must have been the work of the devil.

[LiteKeeper]

The differences make the difference—differences in gene expression distinguish humans from other primates

by David A. DeWitt, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Creation Studies, Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia, USA

March 20, 2006

Ever since the time of Darwin, evolutionary scientists have noted the anatomical similarities between humans and the great apes including chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. Over the last few decades, molecular biologists have joined the fray, pointing out the similarities in DNA sequences. Previous estimates of genetic similarity between humans and chimpanzees suggested they were 98.5–99% identical.1 However, after the sequencing of the chimpanzee genome last year, the DNA similarity was fixed at 96%.2 (See Chimp genome sequence very different from man.) Now, a new study highlights important differences that go beyond the DNA sequence.

Yoay Gilad and colleagues published a paper in the prestigious science journal Nature in which they report an analysis of differences in gene expression among humans and other primates.3 Using a cDNA array (cDNA is complementary to mRNA and provides the exact code for proteins), they examined the expression of 907 genes in the liver from humans, chimpanzees, orangutans and rhesus macaques. They found a relatively large number of genes (110) that were expressed at different levels in humans and chimpanzees. In some cases, humans produce more of a particular gene product, and in other cases, less. This type of study of gene expression is quite different from those that investigate DNA sequences. Evolutionists themselves have suggested that gene regulation may be responsible for key differences between humans and chimpanzees.4
Chimpanzee Orangutan Rhesus macaque
Human
110

128

176
Chimpanzee
-

150

141
Orangutan
-

-

129

Comparison of the number of differentially expressed genes in various primates. Adapted from Gilad, Y., Oshlack, A., Smyth, G.K., Speed, T.P., and White, K.P. Expression profiling in primates reveals a rapid evolution of human transcription factors, Nature 440:242–245, 2006.

While the DNA sequence of a gene specifies the amino acid sequence of the protein, the expression level is the amount of the protein that is made. In other words, the DNA sequence spells out the code for producing a specific protein whereas the expression level is the number of copies that will be produced. The amount of protein that is produced can make a profound difference, and in some cases a more important difference than a change in the DNA sequence.

For example, the amount of melanin (dark pigment in the skin) can be altered by the amount of UV light exposure (the reason people “tan” in the summer). The DNA sequence that determines the proteins involved in melanin production does not change, but the amount of those proteins does change. An increase in the amount of protein can lead to an increase in the amount of melanin.

Often, the amount of a protein that is produced is determined by the functional equivalent of “thermostats” called transcription factors. Transcription factors are proteins that bind to DNA just in front of the sequence that codes for a particular gene. The transcription factors serve as molecular switches to determine whether a gene is turned on or off, and how much of each to make. Clearly, the control of gene expression is very important.

Yoay and colleagues compared the level of expression for the 907 gene products across the various primates. They suggested that the number of differentially expressed genes followed an evolutionary progression. Humans and chimpanzees allegedly diverged from a common ancestor 5 million years ago, orangutans 13 million years ago and Rhesus 70 million years ago. Therefore, humans should have the fewest number of differentially expressed genes with chimpanzees, then orangutans, and the most with the rhesus macaque.

While that trend is apparent (Table 1), there is a discrepancy. Chimpanzees are supposed to be more recently related to orangutans than rhesus macaques. However, chimpanzees have slightly more differentially expressed genes compared to orangutans than compared to rhesus. In addition, the orangutan has essentially the same number of differentially expressed genes with humans as with the rhesus macaques.

Although 60% of the genes had similar expression profiles across the different species, this still leaves 40% that are altered in at least one species relative to the others. For example, the researchers found 19 genes that were expressed differently by humans, but the same in each of the other species. Each species has certain genes that are expressed at different levels than in the other species.

There may be even more significant differences in gene expression in humans and the various primates. This study only compared the gene expression in adult livers. Other organs, especially the brain, are likely to show even more differences in gene expression than the liver. It is also possible that there are many other differences in gene expression during development. For example, some genes may be expressed differently at various times as a baby grows in the womb.

As a creationist, I believe that God made humans, chimpanzees, orangutans and rhesus macaques separately (but on the sixth day of creation week). While there is much similarity in DNA sequences and gene expression among them, there are also important differences. In this, as in other cases, the differences make the difference.
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References and notes

1. Wildman, D.E., Uddin, M., Liu, G., Grossman, L.I. and Goodman, M. 2003, Implications of natural selection in shaping 99.4% nonsynonymous DNA identity between humans and chimpanzees: Enlarging genus Homo, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100(12):7181–7188. Return to text.
2. The Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium 2005. “Initial sequence of the chimpanzee genome and comparison with the human genome.” Nature 437:69–87. Return to text.
3. Gilad, Y., Oshlack, A., Smyth, G.K., Speed, T.P., and White, K.P. Expression profiling in primates reveals a rapid evolution of human transcription factors. Nature 440:242–245, 2006. Return to text.
4. King, M.C. & Wilson, A.C. Evolution at two levels in humans and chimpanzees. Science 188:107–116, 1975. Return to text.

Available online at:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2006/0320differences.asp
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