10191 views

Evidence for Evolution, Part I

I've gotten tired of explaining why Intelligent Design and Creationism are wrong, why they are not supported by the data, how their supporters misrepresent facts or lie, and why they are not science. So now I've decided to show evidence for evolution. In this simple experiment I analyze codon usage in the alpha and beta chains of hemoglobin. The theory of evolution makes a simple prediction: codons not subject to bias should be preserved in closely related species even though there is no selective pressure to do so. ID and creationism make no predictions about this data. God, the designer, could have kept the codons the same or could have switched them. ID and creationism are indifferent since we cannot know the reasoning of god, and that is why they are not testable. The argument presented here is not circular. I define human, chimp, and rhesus monkey as closely related based on a wealth of other data (they were believed to be close relatives before we even understood what DNA was). Finally, what I don't show in the video is that the codon usage for glutamic acid in these proteins in chicken (a very distant relative of primates) is not preserved. 3 of the 9 conserved glutamic acid residues use different codons compared with primates. This has a probability of roughly 25%. Telling us that given enough time random mutations will cause non-functional regions of DNA to diverge. In the end, this data supports evolution because the theory made a prediction and the data confirms that prediction. Plain and simple. DNA sequences from completed genomes are available online for everyone to play with. So go ahead. Look at it for yourself. To download this video go to: http://www.mediafire.com/?4jyydlmwh2j If you wish to translate this video you can download the PowerPoint file from: http://www.mediafire.com/?m2ctctzzzfz Learn the facts, spread the truth, and most importantly, Think About It.

You need to login to download this video.
login or signup