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To: exDemMom
So many biochemical observations support the theory; please enlighten me as to the experimental data or observations which disprove it?

One example is Mendellian genetics. Because any allele has only half a chance of being passed on to the next generation, the spread of even favorable mutations is pretty much impossible. In addition, a gene is so complicated that the creation of new ones, coding for new faculties, new phenotypes, is also practically impossible.

48 posted on 03/25/2002 4:40:26 AM PST by gore3000
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To: gore3000
Mendellian genetics does not disprove evolution. Approximately one in ten thousand DNA bases will be mutated every time a cell undergoes division. Usually, there are repair enzymes to fix it; but if it is not fixed, and the mutation is in a germ cell, there is a small chance it will be a mutation in a gene. Many mutations have no effect. Most mutations are deleterious. If it is bad enough, it is lethal, and fertilization of that gamete cannot lead to a live birth. A very few mutations are favorable. If favorable, they give a survival advantage to the organism, which allows it more of a chance to reproduce, which helps to sustain the favorable mutation. It doesn't take very many generations for a favorable mutation to spread throughout a population. That is classic Darwinism.

As for your other point, that new functions cannot arise by chance: proteins only contain a handful of structures. It is by mixing and matching the structures that are there that new functions arise. Proteins that act as environmental sensors of oxygen, of "xenobiotics" (environmental compounds ingested or absorbed by the organism), or light sensors have a common structure and are present in organisms as varied as plants, insects, bacteria, and animals. Organisms are constantly shuffling genes and parts of genes; it is how we believe that novel functions arise. Now, as to how the proteins originally arranged themselves into functional structures, or how thousands of proteins work together to sustain life... these are questions which make many scientists wonder about intelligent design. If there was a creation event, it had to happen billions of years ago, and involved simple organisms such as viruses (which are not truly alive) or bacteria.

78 posted on 03/25/2002 6:17:50 PM PST by exDemMom
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