ICR article image.
Posted on 09/02/2014 7:50:15 AM PDT by fishtank
Darwin's Finches: Answers From Epigenetics
by Jeffrey Tomkins, Ph.D. *
Authentic speciation is a process whereby organisms diversify within the boundaries of their gene pools, and this can result in variants with specific ecological adaptability. While it was once thought that this process was strictly facilitated by DNA sequence variability, Darwin's classic example of speciation in finches now includes a surprisingly strong epigenetic component as well.1
Epigenetic changes involve the addition of chemical tags in an organism's genome without actually changing the genetic code. Both the DNA nucleotides and the proteins that DNA is wrapped around (called histones) can be chemically tagged by different types of controlling molecules that determine how genes are turned on and off. Thus, the epigenetic regulation of the genome can produce differences in traits without actually being related to changes in the DNA sequence itself. What's even more amazing is that these changes can be inherited over multiple generations. Thus, epigenetic changes unexpectedly facilitate variability and speciation within created kinds.
(Excerpt) Read more at icr.org ...
ICR article image.
So now the instructions in the genome are separate from the genome?
I realize that’s a simplification, but that’s like saying if a fast food restaurant reorganizes the meals in its number system, but didn’t change the order of the numbers, that the menu hasn’t actually changed.
#10 is no longer a burger and fries, now it’s a chicken sandwich.
No, It’s like saying that if a fast food franchisee notices that customers like pickles more than the corporate template calls for, when he opens a new restaurant he’ll order extra pickle deliveries rather than following the corporate template. Same thing goes for parking lot layout, interior paint schemes, art on the walls, etc.
If I breed two chihuahuas, I’m not going to get a generic dog.
...You’ll also never get anything BUT a dog.
NOVA | What Darwin Never Knew
Just as epigenetics will only give you a finch in the article.
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