Evolution: a different view with loss of traits; more Behe (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, January 02, 2019, 23:33 (2151 days ago) @ David Turell
edited by David Turell, Thursday, January 03, 2019, 00:00

Another review of his book, which arrives soon:

https://evolutionnews.org/2018/12/2-of-our-top-stories-of-2018-behes-darwin-devolves-to...

"All studies demonstrated the same basic results. First, the vast majority of adaptive mutations degrade or outright disable genes. For instance, the gene most strongly associated with the difference in blunt-beak verses pointed-beak finches is called ALX1. The only variation in it throughout all finch species is two mutations that both impair function. Similarly, the E. coli strains that best adapt to strong selective pressures primarily disable genes that are not immediately needed for survival. Behe labels this result the First Rule of Adaptive Evolution:
Break or blunt any gene whose loss would increase the number of offspring.

"This rule is easy to understand. Random mutations can far more easily break a gene than enable some new function, so solutions to challenges that involve breaking a gene will predominate. An analogy Behe uses is a person whose house is filling up with water due to a leaky pipe. The available options are to break a hole in the wall to allow the water to escape or wait for a pump to be delivered that happens to be on a ten-year backorder. The obvious solution would be to break a hole in the wall.

"Second, mutations that modify a function are far fewer and represent trivial changes. For instance, the most widely publicized result from Lenski’s lab was the appearance of strains of E. coli that were able to eat citrate. However, the bacteria already have this ability. It is normally switched off in the presence of oxygen. The fortunate bacteria obtained an alteration that allowed them to access citrate in all conditions. The third observation is that mutations which initiate new functions or modify existing ones still usually lead to the loss of significant quantities of genetic information. In the previous example, the citrate-eating bacteria developed additional mutations which resulted in the loss of function in several other genes. In the end, the strains fine-tuned their metabolism to the new environment, but at the expense of losing the ability to survive in the original one.

***

"The big picture conclusions of all studies is that evolutionary processes are only capable of driving changes at the level of species and genera, but not at the level of families or higher. Stated differently, evolution produces a limited number of changes and then no further significant change is possible. For instance, the adaptations seen in the cichlid fish in Lake Victoria over 15,000 years closely match those seen in the cichlid fish in the other lakes after several million years. The same limited number of changes repeated themselves over and over. In addition, all modifications represent minor alterations of the same cichlid body plan.

"The evidence commonly cited to argue for evolution’s ability to drive large-scale transformations is almost always circular. Biologists regularly identify similarities and differences between two groups and then assume those differences are the result of natural selection, mutations, and related processes. However, this conclusion is not based on any actual hard evidence. It is simply assumed. As Behe demonstrates, all empirical data point to the conclusion that evolution is only capable of producing minor alterations of existing designs but nothing truly novel. Evolutionists must now to an even greater extent disconnect their grand narratives from empirical data and confine them to the realm of their unrestrained imaginations. "

Comment: This description of Behe's conclusions fits my theory that all the needed information for evolution was put into original life DNA.