Recent Problems in Evolution - 2003
Table of Contents
- Stick insects evolved and lost wings at least four times
- Vital function found for mammalian A sequence of DNA that is very similar to a normal gene but that has been altered so it is not expressed.pseudogene
- Ancient human Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNA shows humans did not evolve from Neandertals
- Mammalian Conserved Non-Genic Sequences (CNGs)
Stick insects evolved and lost wings at least four times
Evolutionists have assumed that wings evolved only once in insects. Evolutionary theory states that once an evolutionary trait is lost, its genetic code will rapidly degenerate, since there is no longer selective pressure to prevent Having a harmful of bad effect.deleterious Permanent structural alterations in DNA, consisting of either substitutions, insertions or deletions of nucleotide bases.mutations to the gene(s) which encode the trait. A newly published study brings this idea into question, since it suggests that wings appeared and disappeared in phasmids (stick insects) at least four times. Since the study covered only 14 of the 19 known sub-families of phasmids, it is possible that wings reappeared even more times.
Evolutionists attempt to explain this unusual data through the turning off of the master control genes that direct the development of both wings and legs. However, the study failed to show that the development of wings was completely (or even partly) controlled by the same genes that control the development of legs. Until that is shown, the evolutionary explanation is pure speculation. The existence of even one gene that codes exclusively for any part of wing development or structure would invalidate the evolutionary explanation, since its destruction through random A permanent structural alteration in DNA, consisting of either a substitution, insertion or deletion of nucleotide bases.mutation would be virtually guaranteed during the millions of years between the appearance of the different species of phasmids.
Whiting, M.F., S. Bradler, and T. Maxwell. 2003. Loss and recovery of wings in stick insects Nature 421, 264�267.
Vital function found for mammalian A sequence of DNA that is very similar to a normal gene but that has been altered so it is not expressed.pseudogene
Sequence of DNA that are very similar to normal genes but that has been altered so they are not expressed.Pseudogenes are regions of DNA that does not carry the information necessary to make a protein.non-coding Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNA ( Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNA that does not code for functional An organic compound made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain, joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of the adjacent amino acid residues.protein) that have been apparently duplicated from functional genes. In an article on this site, I had speculated a couple years ago that Sequence of DNA that are very similar to normal genes but that has been altered so they are not expressed.pseudogenesmight be involved in some kind of gene regulatory function. However, until last month, no function had been found for any A sequence of DNA that is very similar to a normal gene but that has been altered so it is not expressed.pseudogene. But, in an extreme case of serendipity, investigators had inadvertently inserted their target gene into a mouse A sequence of DNA that is very similar to a normal gene but that has been altered so it is not expressed.pseudogene. They wouldn't have known that they had done this except that 80% of the mice from that one line died of multi-organ failure. Instead of discarding the "bad" line of mice, the scientists investigated to find out why the mice had died. What they found was that the mouse A sequence of DNA that is very similar to a normal gene but that has been altered so it is not expressed.pseudogene was regulating the expression of its corresponding functional gene. Not only did the A sequence of DNA that is very similar to a normal gene but that has been altered so it is not expressed.pseudogene serve a function - it was required for the survival of the mice! Alas, the last the of the evolutionists' "junk" Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNA has been shown to be functional.
Hirotsune, S., Yoshida, N., Chen, A., Garrett, L., Sugiyama, F., Takahashi, S., Yagami, K., Wynshaw-Boris, A., and Yoshiki, A. 2003. An expressed A sequence of DNA that is very similar to a normal gene but that has been altered so it is not expressed.pseudogene regulates the messenger- Ribonucleic acid: a chemical that directs the manufacture of proteins and sometimes codes for the genetic material within certain organisms.RNA stability of its homologous coding gene. Nature 423: 91-96.Lee, J. T. 2003. Molecular biology: Complicity of gene and A sequence of DNA that is very similar to a normal gene but that has been altered so it is not expressed.pseudogene [News and Views] Nature 423: 26-28.
Ancient human Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNA shows humans did not evolve from Neandertals
A new study has examined the Genetic material found in mitochondria, the organelles that generate energy for the cell.mtDNA The order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequences of two Cro-Magnon specimens dated to 23,000 and 25,000 years old. One specimen (Paglicci-25) had no The order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequence differences from the modern reference The order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequence, and the other (Paglicci-12) only one Replacement of one nucleotide in a DNA sequence by another nucleotide or replacement of one amino acid in a protein by another amino acid.substitution. It is remarkable that so little change in the The order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequence had occurred over the last 23,000 years. The ancient Cro-Magnon Genetic material found in mitochondria, the organelles that generate energy for the cell.mtDNA and modern European Genetic material found in mitochondria, the organelles that generate energy for the cell.mtDNA differed by only 2-3 Two nucleotides on opposite complementary DNA or RNA strands that are connected via hydrogen bonds.base pairs on average (see table below). This difference is even less than that observed among modern Europeans! In contrast, these ancient modern humans differed from nearly contemporary Neandertals by an average of 24 Two nucleotides on opposite complementary DNA or RNA strands that are connected via hydrogen bonds.base pairs.
| Individual | Modern Europeans | Neandertals | ||||||
| Mean | Min. | Max. | s.d. | Mean | Min. | Max. | s.d. | |
| Paglicci-25 | 2.3 | 0 | 11 | 1.8 | 24.5 | 23 | 28 | 2.4 |
| Paglicci-12 | 3.2 | 0 | 10 | 1.7 | 23.5 | 22 | 27 | 2.4 |
| Modern Europeans | 4.4 | 0 | 18 | 2.3 | - | - | - | - |
According to the authors of the study:
"Although only six HVRI The order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequences of ancient a.m.h [anatomically modern humans] and four The order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequences of Neandertals are available to date, the sharp differentiation among them represents a problem for any model regarding the transition from archaic to modern humans as a process taking place within a single evolving human lineage."
Caramelli, D., C. Lalueza-Fox, C. Vernesi, M. Lari, A. Casoli, F. Mallegnii, B. Chiarelli, I. Dupanloup, J. Bertranpetit, G. Barbujani, and G. Bertorelle. 2003. Evidence for a genetic discontinuity between Neandertals and 24,000-year-old anatomically modern Europeans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 100: 6593-6597.
Mammalian Conserved Non-Genic Sequences (CNGs)
A study of 191 DNA that does not carry the information necessary to make a protein.non-coding The order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequences of human One of the threadlike "packages" of genes and other DNA in the nucleus of a cell. Different kinds of organisms have different numbers of chromosomes. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, 46 in all: 44 autosomes and two sex chromosomes. Each parent contributes one chromosome to each pair, so children get half of their chromosomes from their mothers and half from their fathers.chromosome 21 revealed that they were more identical among 14 mammalian species than Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNA that codes for Organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain, joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of the adjacent amino acid residues.proteins. The data suggested that these regions serve some vital function among diverse mammalian species. The study indicates yet another function for "junk" Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNA.
Dermitzakis, E. T., A. Reymond, N. Scamuffa, C. Ucla, E. Kirkness, C. Rossier, and S. E. Antonarakis. 2003. Evolutionary Discrimination of Mammalian Conserved Non-Genic Sequences (CNGs) Science 302: 1033-1035.
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Last Modified May 11, 2004
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