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New York City - 10:36 am on an overcast day. America Airlines 822, bound for Paris, has recently taken-off and is now at 5,000 ft. The captain has just received instructions to ascend to 15,000 ft. As the plane begins its ascent it suddenly explodes, killing all 230 passengers and crew. You are an NTSB agent assigned to investigate the explosion. What are your initial hypotheses about the cause of the explosion? 2009 Pew Trust Survey, 2009 False Dichotomy I • You must choose evolution or God • Evolution and belief in God are not incompatible • Theistic evolution - An omniscient, omnipotent God could put in motion the events that lead to evolution. False Dichotomy I • You must choose evolution or God • Many Christian and Jewish sects would disagree 188 Wisconsin Clergy (2004) Roman Catholic Church (1981) American Jewish Committee Roman Catholic Church (1996) American Jewish Congress Unitarian Universalist Association (1977) American Scientific Affiliation Unitarian Universalist Association (1982) Central Conference Of American Rabbis United Church Board For Homeland Ministries Episcopal Bishop Of Atlanta, Pastoral Letter United Methodist Church Episcopal Church, General Convention United Presbyterian Church In The U.S.A. (1982) Episcopal Church, General Convention (2006) United Presbyterian Church In The U.S.A. (1983) Lexington Alliance Of Religious Leaders The Lutheran World Federation National Council of Jewish Women Center For Theology And The Natural Sciences General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) (2002) • No where does the bible deny the existence of evolution. In crossing a heat h, sup pose I pitch ed m y foot against a stone , and were asked how the stone came to be there ; I might possibly answer , t hat, for any th ing I knew to the contrary , it h ad lain there for ever: nor w ould it perh aps be very easy to show the absurd ity of this answer. But suppose I ha d found a wat ch upon the ground, and it should be inquire d how the wat ch happ ened to be in that place ; I shou ld hardl y th ink of the answer which I h ad before given , that , for any t h ing I knew , the wat ch m ight have always been there. Yet why should no t t his answer serve for the watch as well as for the stone ? why is it not as ad missible in the seco nd case, as in the first ? For this reason , and for no other , viz. th at, wh en we come to inspect the watch , we perceive (what we could not disco ver in the stone) th at its several parts are fra med and put together for a purpose , e . g. that the y are so for med and ad justed as to produc e motio n, and that m ot ion so regul ated as to po int out the h our of the day; tha t, if the differ ent part s had been d iffere ntly shap ed fro m what they are , of a differen t size fro m what t hey are , or pla ced after any o ther m anner , or in any other orde r, tha n th at in whic h they are p laced , e ither no motion at all wo uld have been carried on in the m achine , or none whic h wou ld have answered the us e that is now served by it. To reckon up a few of the pla inest of these parts , and of their offices , all tending to one result: -- We see a cylindrical box containing a coiled elas tic spr ing , which , by its endeavour to relax itself , turns round the box. We next observe a flexi ble ch ain (artificially wr ought for the sake of flexure) , comm unicating the action of the spring fro m the box to the fusee. We the n find a series of wheels , the teeth of which cat ch in, and apply t o, each other , co nduc ting the m ot ion fr om the fusee to th e balanc e, and fro m the balance to the poi nter ; and at th e same time, by the size and shape of those wheels , so regulat ing that m otion , as to ter minate in causing an index , b y an equable and m easured progression , to pass over a given spac e i n a given time. We take n otice that the wheels are m ade of brass in order to keep the m fro m rust ; the spr ings of stee l, no othe r metal being so elastic ; that over t he face of the watch there is placed a glass , a material employed in no other part of the work , but in the roo m of whi ch , if there had be en any other than a transparent substanc e, th e h our could no t be seen with out open ing the case. This m echanis m being observed (it requires indeed an exa min ation of th e instru ment, and perhaps some previo us kn owledge of the subje ct, t o perceive and understa nd it ; but be ing once, as we have said, observed and understood ), th e inference , we thi nk, is ine vitabl e, th at the watc h must have had a maker : tha t there m ust have existed , at some time, and at some place or o ther , an arti ficer or artificers who for med it for the pur pose which we fin d it actually to answer ; who comprehe nded its construct ion , and desi gned its use. ” – pp 1-3 “I know no b etter m eth od of introduc ing so large a subject , than that of comparing a sing le thi ng with a single th ing ; an eye, for exa mpl e, with a telescope . As far as the exa minati on of th e instru ment goes , there is precisely the same proof that the eye was m ade for vision , as th ere is that the telescope was made for assisting it. They are made upo n the same prin ciples ; bot h being a djuste d to the laws by which the trans mission and refracti on of rays of lig ht are regulated. ” – p g. 18 -Wiliam Paley, Natural Theology, 1802 Harriet (177 years young) "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” - Theodosius Dobzhansky -Woese, Micro. Rev., 1987 Mechanisms of Evolution • Natural Selection (Darwinism) - individuals with favorable variations (traits) better survive and reproduce. • Genetic Drift What is Evolution? • Variation exists in all populations • Variation is inherited • Evolution is heritable changes in a population over many generations. • Descent with modification • Evolution is change in allelic frequency Mechanisms of Evolution • Natural Selection (Darwinism) individuals with favorable variations (traits) better survive and reproduce. • The genes (inherited variation) of the successful individuals increase in frequency in subsequent generations. • Survival of the fittest • Genetic Drift Elena/Lenski experiment • Science, 1996 An experiment in evolution Growth without antibiotic No growth with antibiotic An experiment in evolution a mutation occurs in one cell! Grow trillions of bacteria! Overnight! Antibiotic Selected for the Resistance Mutatio Growth on plates with antibiotics Bacteria evolve new abilities • 2,4-D is a man-made herbicide. • 2,4-D Didn’t exist even 100 years ago. • 2,4-D is degrade by some bacteria • Bacteria evolved the ability to degrade it. That is they increased the information pool. Sucralose utilization by bacteria maybe a newly evolved ability Increasing the lifespan of fruitflies Fruit Fly Longevity 12 No. of Fruitflies 10 8 6 4 2 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Age (days) Mean age at death: Early reproducers: 14.4 ± 7.6 days Late reproducers: 21.3 ± 7.9 days Two-tailed t-test with equal variance P = 0.001 Kuru - a prion disease Pr Pc (normal) (misfolded) Kuru - a prion disease Observed Genotypic Freq. in South Fore’ MM = 0.221 MV = 0.514 VV = 0.264 Obs. Genotypic Frq. in South Fore’ Cannibals MM = 0.133 MV = 0.767 VV = 0.1 • Hedrick, Science, 2003 Figure 15.12b Figure 15.12a Alleles Randomly Fixed Founder Effect • small founding populations have less allelic diversity Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis) • Clegg, et al, 2002 Silvereye colonization • Clegg, et al, 2002 Founder Effect on Allelic Diversity of the Silvereye