A new report supports my view that the "theory of evolution" should be reconsidered conceptually (I'm not arguing that it's "wrong," but that it's presented too abstractly):
QUOTE: Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have shown for the first time that a genetic malfunction found in marine crustaceans called copepods likely explains why populations of animals that diverge and eventually reconnect produce weak "hybrid" offspring...
For the past several years, Ellison and Burton have been studying copepods of the species Tigriopus californicus, animals about one millimeter in length that live in coastal intertidal habitats. The researchers produced hybrid specimens in the laboratory by mating animals from San Diego, Los Angeles and Santa Cruz, Calif. At their home between high and low tides, these copepods experience rapid changes in their environment, such as when rainwater dilutes tide pools and the animals are forced to "up-regulate," or activate, specific genes to produce the energy required to manage the stress caused by the rapid change in salinity levels.
Ellison and Burton found that hybrids were incapable of turning on the required genes, and traced this "gene regulation" malfunction to mitochondria, the location inside cells where energy is generated. They further pinned the problem area to a single enzyme, called "RNA polymerase," for the failed trigger.
"In hybrids we found that these genes don't turn on in response to stress, which means the animals don't have enough energy, and that leads to low survivorship," said Burton.
Burton said the study demonstrates how evolution continually molds the interactions of genes in animal populations.
"When populations are hybridized, genes that normally work well within populations are forced to interact with genes from other populations, sometimes leading to dramatic incompatibilities," said Burton. "When the incompatibility affects something as central as cellular energy production, as in Tigriopus, it is not surprising that hybrids show slower growth and reduced reproduction and survivorship..." UNQUOTE.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081013132625.htm
Here, we see that there is an actual mechanism involved, that is, energy production. However, as the scientists point out, while there may be reduced reproduction and survivorship, but that doesn't mean there is none at all. Moreover, they demonstrate the problem with how "experts" articulate this concept by saying that "evolution" is doing something, though the reality is whatever it is, exactly. There are mechanisms at work, so why not just talk about them, rather than talk in abstractions (and notice they assume you know what they mean when they use this term)? They've become prisoners of textbook notions, and when that happens, scientific "progress" can grind to a halt, as has occurred in so many areas of various biomedical fields. |
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