Proof of Evolution?


Maybe not, but certainly evidence.

ID supporters often claim that there is no, zero, not any, evidence, that evolution happens (often they claim that unguided evolution is impossible). I suppose if they said there was "insufficient" evidence, or "a lack of compelling" evidence, at least there'd be room for argument. But to say there's no evidence? You'd have to be a complete, utter…well, let's not get personal.

Anyway, it's probably true that there's no single piece of evidence that decisively proves Darwinian evolution through random mutation and natural selection. But when you've got countless little pieces of evidence that support a theory, and no evidence to contradict it, you've got a compelling theory.

One of the groups of evidence for evolution is that there is a hierarchy of traits, be they versions of a protein or gene, a particular anatomical structure, a particular grouping of characteristics, which closely related species have more in common than more distantly related species. When these groupings of traits, biochemical, genetic, or anatomical, all track each other perfectly, the evidence becomes overwhelming for Darwinian evolution through common descent. For example, the myosin protein, which is ubiquitous in muscle tissue (it's what allows muscle cells to contract) and in cells generally, is present in at least 37 variants, all coded by variations on the same group of genes. If you compare the similarities and differences in myosin proteins (and hence in the genes that code for it), you can derive a hierarchical evolutionary tree. And—unsurprisingly, if you believe in Darwinian evolution—such a tree matches evolutionary trees constructed by an analysis of other genes and proteins, anatomical analysis, and reference to the fossil record.

But what does Intelligent Design have to say about this? Does ID have any kind of hypothesis whatsoever that would elucidate why more closely-related organisms have more similar myosin variants than more distantly-related organisms?

I'm waiting…

Posted: Thu - September 8, 2005 at 11:41 PM          

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