One of the charges commonly levelled against evolutionary theory by antievolutionists is that evolution is some kind of unquestionable dogma.
This allegation would be a major surprise to anyone who is familiar with the recent history of evolutionary theory. Indeed, REAL scientists are comfortable with the notion that theories are constantly challenged and amended. Evolutionary theory is questioned by countless studies published in peer-reviewed journals on a weekly basis. This is especially true since the advent of modern techniques for genetic analysis, such as full genome sequencing and comparative genomics.
In a recent Boston Globe article, the results of a new study are revealed:
Comparative genomics, as this young science is known, is having a huge impact on biology, helping scientists answer many of science's deepest questions. It promises, for example, to shed light on how our genes make us prone to diseases, and how the genes of pathogens make them deadly.
"It has created a revolution in our ability to understand biology," said Steven Brenner, a computational biologist at the University of California at Berkeley.
Before comparative genomics, some researchers worried that they might never understand early animal evolution well. It's like watching a card game a mile away through a telescope. The details can be blurry.
"You have to look over this long distance to something that was relatively quick," Dunn said. "A lot of people wondered if we could ever find out how the major groups of animals are related to each other."
Dunn and his colleagues have now shown that they can.
"It has created a revolution in our ability to understand biology," said Steven Brenner, a computational biologist at the University of California at Berkeley.
Before comparative genomics, some researchers worried that they might never understand early animal evolution well. It's like watching a card game a mile away through a telescope. The details can be blurry.
"You have to look over this long distance to something that was relatively quick," Dunn said. "A lot of people wondered if we could ever find out how the major groups of animals are related to each other."
Dunn and his colleagues have now shown that they can.
As the rest of the article confirms, even though new data has led researchers to readjust our understanding of the relationships between existing animal groups, evolutionary theory still provides the best explanation for the patterns observed in the data. Some branches of the tree of life have been cut off and grafted in new places, but the overall shape of life is obviously still a branching tree.
I teach high school Zoology and I am excited and intrigued by such refinements in our understanding. If future studies confirm these results, it looks like I will have to reconsider the way my class is organized and adjust my teaching to incorporate this new evidence.
As I was writing this entry, I used the thesaurus in Microsoft Word to look up an antonym for the word "dogma." Unfortunately, none were offered.
Therefore, if I may, I would like to offer a suggestion:
Science.
posted by Jeremy Mohn
