[Virginia-American]

freedumb2003: There are already DNA markers that point us clearly at a common origin to many animals.

editor-surveyor: That is an opinion advanced only by those whose minds are so warped that they can't see the use of modular design by our creator. Why would he not use the same method to do the same job in most of his creatures? Your statement is utterly anti-god at it's foundation.

Please explain the "modular design" that makes people and the other apes incapable of synthesizing ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). The fact is, that if a single base pair were added to your genome, you'd never need vitamin C again. Every thing's present, except that one base pair.

The interesting thing is, the exact same base pair, inserted in the right place in the chimp or gorilla genome, would let them make ascorbic acid.

The standard biology explanation for this state of affairs is obvious.

The ID or creationist explanation ... well, the hypothetical designer could have done a better job of quality control.

I Mean, what exactly is the point of reusing the same defective part in a dozen or more species? It pays to perform unit testing if you're doing modular construction!

Actually, there is another creationist hypothesis:

[Garden of Eden, Adam just 'fessed up]

The Lord: So you like fruit, eh! I'll fix it so you'll have to eat some every day!
< zapp !>
Er, sorry about that Mr. Ape, ...

[freedumb2003]

I *knew* my PL/1 reference would be lost.

If we can't understand references from 25 years ago, how can we understand them from 2500 years ago?

[ImaGraftedBranch]

Before you mock God regarding ascorbic acid, you better know ALL of its usage conditions in the human body (hint: including the brain).
I won't wait for an answer. I doubt you'd look it up. You are too busy mocking your Creator.

[editor-surveyor]

"Please explain the "modular design" that makes people and the other apes incapable of synthesizing ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). The fact is, that if a single base pair were added to your genome, you'd never need vitamin C again"

I'm sure that I have addressed this a few times before. Ascorbic acid, by itself is not what has classically been called 'vitamin C.' Ascorbic acid is merely a preservative, and has been found in studies to be incapable of curing scurvy, for example. The real vitamin c is a group of polyphenols found in many acidic fruits, and together they cure many things. No animal has yet been identified that produces a single one of the polyphenols that constitute 'vitamin C' even though some of them do produce ascorbic acid. How any of this could support the failed theory of evolution is beyond me. You are reaching in the dark.

[Quark2005]

The fact is, that if a single base pair were added to your genome, you'd never need vitamin C again.

Evidence not only of intelligent design, but that we were "set up" for the Fall! If we had that base pair, we wouldn't need to eat fruit, and good ol' Adam and Eve wouldn't have needed to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge!! </s>