Posted on 12/07/2005 5:47:32 PM PST by neverdem
A Conversation With Michael R. Rose
In the 1970's, Michael R. Rose made scientific history with experiments manipulating the life spans of fruit flies.
Through selective breeding, Dr. Rose was able to create a long-lived line of creatures he called Methuselah flies. He then put his research into reverse and developed flies with much shortened life spans.
All this was accomplished within 12 generations by accelerating the evolutionary processes in a laboratory setting.
These days Dr. Rose, who is 50, breeds fruit flies at the University of California, Irvine, where he is a professor of evolutionary biology. From there, he also directs the Intercampus Research Program on Experimental Evolution for the University of California system.
Dr. Rose, who was born in Canada, was in New York recently to promote his book "The Long Tomorrow: How Advances in Evolutionary Biology Can Help Us Postpone Aging."
Q. You are an evolutionary biologist by profession. As a researcher trained mostly in Canada and England, are you astonished by the American battles over Darwinism?
A. Not since coming to California. In 1987, the first day I ever gave a class at Irvine, there was a riot in my classroom. I was introducing the basic principles of evolution, and pandemonium broke out - yelling, students pounding the tables. That was the day I learned about evolution in America.
Recently, I was watching President Bush speak on the potential bird flu epidemic. Pandemic bird flu is exactly a question of evolutionary biology because grave danger will come only if the virus evolves into a form that can spread from human to human.
Of course, Bush couldn't use the word evolution. There were a few key points where I was waiting for him to use the word. Nope! The virus would "develop" the ability to move from...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Evolution ping
Thanks.
"Recently, I was watching President Bush speak on the potential bird flu epidemic. Pandemic bird flu is exactly a question of evolutionary biology because grave danger will come only if the virus evolves into a form that can spread from human to human.
Of course, Bush couldn't use the word evolution. There were a few key points where I was waiting for him to use the word. Nope! The virus would "develop" the ability to move from.."
Yep, that would be a problem if the President accidentally used the word evolution - that would cost him politically.
It would?
At Thanksgiving dinner we were just sharing fond memories of my great to the 23rd power aunt Drosophila and yeah I know that's where all us Melagansters get our homeobox gene array,but my squadron leader genetic great to the 13th power birthmother says I got my multifaceted bug eyes directly from auntie Drosophila.
"It would?"
I believe it would hurt the President to admit that much working science that we depend on to save lives depends on evolution - evolution is not very popular these days.
Fruit flies? I didn't know tree huggers we worth anything.
Fruit flies? I didn't know tree huggers we worth anything.
You may be right.
Hey, sounds like intelligent design to me!!
Really, this is quite interesting. A great leap forwards in science...
But why did you pick FRUIT FLIES?! Those hideous things live long enough already!
Page me when they turn into Democrats.
No kidding. Of course, if he could just cross the flies with Democrats, we could clean out Congress, the State Department and the Supreme Court with one can of Raid.
(For those that are semantically challenged, this post is meant as sarcasm/good-natured jest/satiric riposte/ironic comment/raucous humor/stupid joke. Okay?)
Yep, just like cows, dogs, domestic cats, and many agricultural plants. Evolution has been modified by human intellect for thousands of years. Philosophically, the interesting question is how one can measure or detect the difference between an intelligently designed and/or modified organism -- like Rose's fruit flies -- and one that evolved without any known intelligent input. In general, it doesn't appear that you can.
And these fruit flies have evolved into what?, other than different kinds of flies.
FYI, I am not a religious crackpot.
Oh, brother. Are we back to fruitflies again? What a pantload.
1st graders repeat after me:
"selective breeding = artificial selection"
VERY GOOD CLASS! Now, repeat after me:
"artificial selection does NOT equal evolution!"
VERY GOOD, CLASS!
Out of all the hundreds of thousands of generations of fruit flies bred to study "evolution" we still have .... fruit flies.
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