You see exDemMom, if only one of us has science degrees, it is I. So you may think my question is "ridiculous" possibly out of ignorance.
All animals have some characteristic number of chromosome pairs. We humans have 23 pairs. To be sure some people are born with 24 pairs, but so far as I am aware none ever has any grandchildren. So since I expect that you believe animals started out with just one chromosome pair you have to explain how we gradually got from 24 or 22 pairs or whatever to 23 pairs.
And I didn't say anything about Genesis. I don't pretend to know how we got here. I can only be certain that some explanations are not true, and one of those is the one attributed to Darwin.
ML/NJ
All animals have some characteristic number of chromosome pairs. We humans have 23 pairs. To be sure some people are born with 24 pairs, but so far as I am aware none ever has any grandchildren. So since I expect that you believe animals started out with just one chromosome pair you have to explain how we gradually got from 24 or 22 pairs or whatever to 23 pairs.
And I didn't say anything about Genesis. I don't pretend to know how we got here. I can only be certain that some explanations are not true, and one of those is the one attributed to Darwin.
Let's see--if you truly do not literally believe the creation story as presented in Genesis, then do you believe that life was seeded here by extraterrestrials? And if you don't believe that improbable story, either, then why not just accept the scientific evidence? There's a ton of it out there, from paleontology to astronomy to geology to biology of many disciplines. You don't have to look for supernatural explanations to explain the evidence that's all around.
And, pray tell, what exactly is your "science degree" in?
Your question *was* ridiculous, stunningly so. Asking a scientist if she believes that complex organisms can just pop into existence--please, tell me you understand that there is nothing scientific about such a scenario?
As for the chromosome number, that isn't as important as having the proper number of genes, and that those genes exist in pairs. Chromosome numbers can change by chromosome fusion or breakage--as long as the number of paired genes isn't altered, there is no reason a human with a broken chromosome can't survive--as long as both parts of the broken chromosome have a centromere, so the DNA replicates. The characteristic of having two small instead of one large chromosome would probably be lost fairly quickly--unless that person is a member of a small isolated population, in which case the trait could spread over the whole population. The same would also be true of a chromosome fusion event. What you're thinking of, the people with an extra chromosome, or "trisomy", is deleterious because some genes exist in triplicate instead of in pairs. When there are 3 of the gene, too much of the gene product is made, and that has a ripple effect over the entire metabolism of the cell (and thus, the organism). If a piece of a chromosome is deleted, then there is only one copy of some genes, and not enough of the gene product is made--also bad.