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Well, we're not Ninja turtles
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by The_Cynic | September 2, 2009 at 08:55 am
171 views | 46 Recommendations | 8 comments
Being a person who had a good few, and heated, debates about the "theory" of evolution - whether it is a scientific theory or just a theory - more evidence comes to light that we, humans, are just a bunch of mutants - as expected by yours truly.
Each of us has at least 100 new mutations in our DNA, according to research published in the journal Current Biology.
Scientists have been trying to get an accurate estimate of the mutation rate for over 70 years.
A populist rant on the so-called theory of evolution is that it is a mere theory so we can dismiss it because of that underpinning word.
We can't, but then that come down to who is saying what and to whom - and do most people have a real scientific education. Sciences is a hard subject - because of what it encompasses I would assume. A lot of data and not a lot of people with the ability to understand that data - unless you're a scientist.
Joseph Nadeau, from the Case Western Reserve University in the US, who was not involved in this study said: "New mutations are the source of inherited variation, some of which can lead to disease and dysfunction, and some of which determine the nature and pace of evolutionary change.
"These are exciting times," he added.
"We are finally obtaining good reliable estimates of genetic features that are urgently needed to understand who we are genetically."
Exciting times indeed!
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (8)
at 12:20 on September 2nd, 2009
A recent National Geographic special called The Human Family Tree collected samples from people in Queens and traced their ancestry through DNA sequencing to what the researchers believe were the first ancestors of all of us.
I do not want to debate evolution here, but their findings were rather interesting and in some cases surprising to even the participants who discovered they were related to people they otherwise would never have known.
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/human-family-tree
at 13:07 on September 2nd, 2009
Agreed. Exciting times. This will certainly bolster the evidence base.
at 14:06 on September 2nd, 2009
I forgot to mention that you can participate in the National Geographic Genographic project. For $99.00 you purchase a kit that includes the swab to collect a sample and mail it in. The price includes a report of your genetic ancestors.
at 15:54 on September 2nd, 2009
In traditional science, an unproven theorem was a hypothesis and, once proven, became a "theory".
Hence, we have a Theory of Evolution because it has been proven true, and the same for theory of relativity.
The general public and journalists with their middle-brow predilections are both convinced that theory is on a lower level than fact, whereas a theory becomes a theory not just by explaining an existing group of facts, as did other hypotheses, but by succeeding in predicting a new set of facts that the others failed to.
at 16:55 on September 2nd, 2009
Absolutely!
With the story linked, as was said in it - this brings us one step closer to proving the Theory of Evolution is, in fact, a fact.
at 19:28 on September 2nd, 2009
I always thought a theory just meant it had yet to be disproven-- in that the tests to the hypothesis supported the conjecture. Whereas a law such as gravity, is always and indeniably true.
at 18:25 on September 2nd, 2009
No, the theory of evolution is a theory because it is true. If it had not yet been proven, it would be an hypothesis.
The theory explains the facts, and is true because it explains the facts and predicts new facts that other hypotheses don't predict.
The problem with evolution is that it is not a laboratory science but more like a crime scene investigation where facts must be explained by processes in the light of other know processes and other facts.
at 10:33 on September 3rd, 2009
The next step after theory is a law.
Laws: implies exact formulation of the principle operating in a sequence of events in nature, observed to occur with unvarying uniformity under the same conditions.
Examples: the law of the conservation of energy
Boyle's law of thermodynamics
Newton's law of gravity; law of cooling; law of motion
Kepler's law of planatary motion
Pascal's law of physics