Discovery Institute's Blog, page 66

The Vitellogenin Pseudogene Story: Unequally Yolked

Synteny refers to how well chromosomal sequences from different species align with one another. Genes can be in the same general order and location between species, for example rat and mouse, or chimp and human. If they align well, evolutionists take the alignment as evidence for common ancestry. Sometimes, the gene sequences may be interrupted by deletions or insertions, and stop codons, which prevent the gene from making functional protein.

These "inactivated" genes are called pseudogenes...

Nile Crocodiles Turn Up in Florida; Did They Raft?

To the distress of South Floridians, several potentially man-eating Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus) have turned up in Florida waters, where they are not supposed to be. Nile crocs are far more aggressive than the American version, being responsible for 200 human deaths yearly on average in Africa.

From the AP story:

Step aside, Burmese python -- you may no longer be Florida's scariest invasive species. Researchers have confirmed that three Nile crocodiles were captured near Miami, and...

From Douglas Axe, a Sobering Take on the Limits of Genome Technology

Fueled by news of a closely guarded meeting at Harvard Medical School, the media abuzz are about the prospect of synthesizing a human genome. Biologic Institute's Douglas Axe, however, offers sobering reassurance.

Why sobering? Because both reporters and scientists have engaged in some giddy, tipsy speculations about what genome technology has in its power to do, now or ever. Dr. Axe writes at The Stream:

Biology has progressed to the point where bluffs about reinventing life can have a dis...

Functional Pseuodogenes and Common Descent

V.J. Torley and our colleague Cornelius Hunter have continued their discussion about common descent, a subject on which, as John West notes, advocates of intelligent design don't all agree. Airing such disagreements, if done in a respectful and substantive manner, is of course a healthy thing. Writing at Uncommon Descent, Dr. Torley raises an interesting point, directed at Dr. Hunter and citing theistic evolutionist Dennis Venema:

In the comments to one of your posts, you thanked a reader fo...

Leaving Evolution Skeptics Out of a Discussion of Suppressing Scientific Dissent

Political conservatives and their publications are currently engulfed by a civil war, so it's understandable if National Review's Jonah Goldberg is distracted. Email correspondents have been sending me his current article, "Who Are the Real Deniers of Science?"

In his discussion of the tactic of declaring unsettled science as "settled," do you notice anything missing? Everything he says is true, and familiar:

The Left has long claimed that it has something of a monopoly on scientific expert...

Listen: Did Darwin Plagiarize the Theory of Evolution?

On a new episode of ID the Future, Todd Butterfield talks with Michael Flannery, historian and expert on Alfred Russel Wallace, the co-founder of the theory of evolution.

Download the podcast by clicking here:

Professor Flannery responds to claims of new-found evidence that Darwin and Wallace stole the theory of natural selection from Patrick Matthews, explaining why these claims have little credibility or historical foundation.

Photo: Patrick Matthew, via Patrick Matthew Project.

Calcium: Maintaining the Right Proportions

Editor's note: Physicians have a special place among the thinkers who have elaborated the argument for intelligent design. Perhaps that's because, more than evolutionary biologists, they are familiar with the challenges of maintaining a functioning complex system, the human body. With that in mind, Evolution News is delighted to offer this series, "The Designed Body." For the complete series, see here. Dr. Glicksman practices palliative medicine for a hospice organization.

Evolutionary biolo...

No, Your Brain Isn't a Three-Pound Meat Computer

In all the latest sound and fury over Artificial Intelligence -- Will some future Terminator run us over like ants (as Michio Kaku worries)? Must we act quickly to prevent the rise of an evil AI overlord (per Elon Musk)? -- one notes an important, if unstated, assumption: Computers can be intelligent like humans are intelligent. If so, well, perhaps Kaku, Musk, and others are right to stoke fear and thus propel us to action to avert disaster.

On the other hand, if it's not possible, then, l...

As Eric Hedin Earns Tenure, It's Time to Set the Record Straight -- Again

Up until 2013, Eric Hedin, a Ball State University associate professor of astronomy and physics, taught an interdisciplinary honors course called Boundaries of Science. The course explored intelligent design, among other topics. Biologist Jerry Coyne and the Freedom From Religion Foundation caught wind of this and complained, accusing Hedin of proselytizing and teaching Christianity. Hedin was investigated, and Ball State cancelled the course, while releasing a statement prohibiting the teac...

What It Takes to Build a Nuclear Membrane

In the cartoon depictions of cells we often see, the nucleus looks about as complicated as a balloon. It's drawn as a thin membrane bubble surrounding the chromosomes. The balloon pops when the cell divides, then the cell blows new balloons around each daughter cell's DNA. What could be simpler?

Authors in Current Biology give a reality check by describing in detail the structure of the nuclear membrane. It's mind-boggling how sophisticated it is -- and they don't even get into the most mind...