The fundamentalist I talk to says our genes are messed up because of copy errors over time, that we are degrading from the original / perfect Adam and Eve.

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Anthong:

They’ve always got an excuse.

Have you tried asking your fundamentalist how his (or her) view lines up with the evolution of new traits?

Get him (or her) to review this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU-7d06HJSs

An Excerpt:

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For another example we’ve also identified an emerging population of tetrachromatic women who can see a bit of the normally invisible ultraviolet spectrum.

There’s also a family in Germany who were already unusually strong. But in one case, one of their children was born with a double copy of an anti-myostatin mutation carried by both parents. The result is a Herculean kiddo who was examined at only a few days old for his unusually well-developed muscles. By four years old, he had twice the muscle mass of normal children, and half the fat. Pharmaceutical synthesis of this mutation is being examined for potential use against muscular dystrophy or sarcopenia.

And then there’s a family in Connecticut who’ve been identified as having hyperdense, virtually unbreakable bones. A team of doctors at Yale traced the mutation to a gene that was the subject of an earlier study. In that study researchers showed that low bone density could be caused by a mutation that disrupts the function of a gene called LRP5. This clued them that a different mutation increased LRP5 function, leading to an opposite phenotype, that is, high bone density. According to their investigators, members of this family have bones so strong they rival those of a character in the Bruce Willis movie, ‘Unbreakable’.

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I’m sure that they will have a glib response. I’m just curious to see how deep the rot goes.

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hearsay will not gain respect in the field of science. first accounts and first hand testability of said feats of human changes offer no results. a current and more common trend of said genetic mutations or changes in the genome have more credibility. i would also add the excitement of a change like that does hamper our ability to look at science with a thorough analysis as our predecessors. not a nay sayer just a devils advocate approach to make a more salient case in our favor.

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Why? How much compassion and love was triggered in you in response to other human beings who have to deal with that kind of disorder/mutation?  If no one ever went through anything difficult…some people might care about others…but what do you think the percentage would be…that would realize and enact humanistic characteristics?

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The comments after this excellent piece are just scary.

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This is fascinating. Avise presents the aspect of one who has scaled Mount Everest only to take a final left turn where he should have gone right.

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I agree Acupuncturist. I read quite a few of the comments and finally stopped because I couldn’t believe the level of drivel. I’m most surprised because this was in a scientific publication.

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@Brother Mario

What a long-winded way of saying:

Blah blah blah, I’m not going to listen to anything! God is too perfect for you to wrap your heads around blah blah blah
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You mentioned absolutely nothing about the article itself.

How about I’m just going to assume god isn’t real until someone shows me a smidgen of proof that i can actually see/hold. Science doesn’t seem to have a problem doing that…

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