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Control sequences which modulate the expression of genes were identified long ago. The differential expression of genes accounts for a vast variation in phenotype. As it turns out, (and there was an article discussed on FR, recently), much of the difference between chimp and human brains can be attributed to the differential expression of the same genes.

Quite correct - as far as it goes. However, what is important about gene expression is the mechanism for it. This is not a random mechanism, far from it. It is a very specific mechanism which tells each and every cell what genes to express and when. It is a mechanism which controls the actions of each and every cell throughout the organism's life. It is a mechanism which controls everything from the embryo's development to the time a person dies. Nothing random about it. In fact, it means that every part of an organism is tightly controlled by a set of instructions embeded in the genome. What this means is that a new gene is useless until it is coded into the organism's program to do something. This makes the arising of favorable new functions in a stochastic way totally impossible. It shows that evolution is totally impossible.

Gore3000:<I>Quite correct - as far as it goes. However, what is important about gene expression is the mechanism for it. This is not a random mechanism, far from it. It is a very specific mechanism which tells each and every cell what genes to express and when. It is a mechanism which controls the actions of each and every cell throughout the organism's life. It is a mechanism which controls everything from the embryo's development to the time a person dies. Nothing random about it. In fact, it means that every part of an organism is tightly controlled by a set of instructions embeded in the genome. What this means is that a new gene is useless until it is coded into the organism's program to do something. This makes the arising of favorable new functions in a stochastic way totally impossible. It shows that evolution is totally impossible.</I>

Scientists routinely take genes out and put foreign genes into mice. For many of the changes, the animals don't cease to develop but instead show a different phenotype than the wild type mouse. I agree with a lot of what you said above until you start with the supposition that the genome isnt plastic and cant adapt to a change in its information content.