[allmendream]

How can epigenetics derive genetic variation? You have ONCE AGAIN failed to explain how a mechanism that TURNS GENES OFF, can make an entirely NEW gene that makes a NEW gene product. Epigenetics cannot arrive at genetic variation, only phenotypic variation. Moreover epigenetics has nothing to do with “directed mutations” nor has anyone ever shown that mutations can be “directed”.

And the part about dice and God has nothing to do with biology. You are still avoiding the question. I wonder why.

[GodGunsGuts]

Does this ring a bell???

According to classical evolutionary theory, phenotypic variation originates from random mutations that are independent of selective pressure. However, recent findings suggest that organisms have evolved mechanisms to influence the timing or genomic location of heritable variability. Hypervariable contingency loci and epigenetic switches increase the variability of specific phenotypes; error-prone DNA replicases produce bursts of variability in times of stress. Interestingly, these mechanisms seem to tune the variability of a given phenotype to match the variability of the acting selective pressure. Although these observations do not undermine Darwin’s theory, they suggest that selection and variability are less independent than once thought.

http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0092867407001213