Universal DNA Switch Shakes Up Biology

[TechBear_Seattle]

Seems to me to be a good argument in favor of evolution.

Universal DNA Switch Shakes Up Biology

The startling discovery that all forms of life on Earth use the very same mechanism to initiate a cell's division into twin daughter cells has caused somewhat of a commotion among biologists. It may not sound like much to the layman, but the discovery casts doubt on a number of long-standing and cherished biological models. But rather than it being a crisis in biology, it simply shows how science – in an era that some have dubbed the dawn of a "scientific dark age" – remains as vital and dynamic as ever.

When Richard Dawkins' The Ancestor's Tale was published, there was, and still is, much uncertainty about where on the evolutionary tree the large, complex cells known as eukaryotes resided. Eukaryote cells have walled nuclei with mitochondria, and make up the bodies of all animals and plants on Earth. Dawkins presents the development of eukaryotes as "one of the most momentous events in the history of life," and believes the biggest uncertainty about them is trying to work out where they fit in regard to the evolutionary tree of life. But while Dawkins explains that eukaryotes comprise all life on Earth, this is to the exclusion of "the true bacteria and the archaea," which both fall under the category of prokaryotes. Prokaryote DNA replication has always been considered quite different, because unlike the eukaryotes, whose DNA is contained within a membrane-bound nucleus, prokaryote DNA is not contained within a defined nucleus. The prokaryotes and eukaryotes are said to have split and developed into different domains of life millions of years ago.

But such is the uncertainty of pioneering science that this fundamental tenet of biology looks to be false. The recent discovery about eukaryotes and prokaryotes is that they all share in common what seems to be a fundamental mechanism. Furthermore, researchers say that this mechanism common to prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) and eukaryotes predates their split millions of years ago. If this is true, just what are differences that separate these 3 domains of life that we once considered so different? Can the differences be considered fundamental to each, or, in light of this recent discovery, are the differences merely superficial?

The article continues at http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/dna_switch.shtml

[unpossibles]

1. it would be a good argument

however, after trying to read through a RW forum debate on evolution vs. creation that I found on onegoodmove.org (and trust me, it is painful to read), I am starting to think that there is no argument that would convince some people.

There are folks out there who are convinced that the evidence for evolution has been faked, that the various dating methodologies are incorrect, and that logic proves God's existence somehow. They refuse to believe anything that goes against their dogma, yet claim the opposite, that we who believe in evolution are the dogmatic ones. scary stuff.

Anyway, this is a neat article. thanks for the link!

[n2doc]

3. The phrase "can't argue with faith" applies

It doesn't matter to some what evidence you provide, you won't be able to "prove" it. THey always say, "well ,lots of things have been disproven in science so why believe this?" and "Nothing in the Bible has ever been proven wrong". Can't prove something that is based only on belief.

[unpossibles]

4. but it went farther than that

they claimed that the majority of evidence proved God exists and that Creation is the only logical choice, based on the science and accumulated knowledge!

and have you ever noticed that you can usually replace "the bible" with "FOX" and that statement you made still works...?

It's the now infamous 23% club in action; facts cannot dissuade what someone "knows" to be true. Same thing, slightly different application.

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. My usual response to that is...

"No, you have it ALL wrong! The majority of evidence proves that Brahmah exists and that we are all just a dream dreaming itself! And my Holy Scriptures are much older than your Holy Scriptures, so they must be correct!"

But then, teasing fundies is rather like shooting fish in a barrel. A barrel with no water and lots of dead fish. Using an elephant gun.

[enough]

2. Very interesting, thanks!

[frogmarch]

6. Wonderful!

How exciting! Thanks for posting the article.

[Peace Patriot]

7. Where is Carl Sagan when you need him?! This article is NOT easy to

understand (for a non-scientist). Stretching my scientific understanding (and my understanding of the English language) to the limit, I got THIS from the article: It has taken us 10,000 years or so to discover that all life is one.

Fundamentalists can call it God. The rest of us can call it ORC (origin recognition complex).

The article has an easier to understand conclusion:

"Yes, science is alive and still kicking, and while this new discovery will probably lead to a re-appraisal of biological models, what is sure to result is an improved biological model that will fill what Intelligent Design, creationist and anti-science advocates like to call a 'gap.' As Dawkins says: 'Where science scores over alternative world views is that we know our uncertainty, we can often measure its magnitude, and work optimistically to reduce it.'"

The human race has always been divided between those who like certainty and those who like adventure. The homebodies and the explorers. The people who are comfortable with old-fashioned truths (home remedies, common wisdom, ancestor worship, Biblical, Koranic or other given guides to behavior and understanding), and the people who figure out how to start fires, how to smelt iron, how children are conceived, what eclipses are, and what's over the next hill. These two kinds of people often clash.

We need both.

My kid (as a baby) always used to stutter before some big developmental leap, like learning to read. During the stuttering period, he needed nurturing and understanding--grounding, security, patience, no pushing, unconditional love. But once he started reading, he needed no help--he was off and running. The stuttering ended abruptly, and he zoomed forward on the great intellectual adventure of finding out everything there is to know.

He was replicating the human race in its quite equal needs for a safe cave and a secure source of food and comfort, from which it has launched itself into the great adventure of discovering subatomic particles, supernovas, and all the territory in between.

So, be kind to fundamentalists. The sincere among them are worried about maintaining a safe cave, and common sense, and all that. The launching pad for human discovery. They are the classic conservatives.

Where we get into trouble is when their instinct for safety, along with the lower order of adventurism (soldiering) among some of us, are USED BY the radical greedbags and monsters among us to foment witchburnings and wars.

The ignorant but cunning assholes who have seized our government--men who have zero respect for the true adventurers, for instance, for the people who can figure out how to start fires, how to launch satellites, why eclipses happen, and what gobble-de-gook foreigners are speaking--are glib "know-nothings" who can concoct narratives in which our natural instincts for comfort and security, and lower order desire of acquisition (adventurism/soldiering) are all that's left of the human enterprise, and dictate a program of limited intellect, thievery and war.

Against them we have democracy, and magnificent statements about human potential and passionate commitment, such as that of Thomas Jefferson...

"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny imposed upon the mind of man." --Thomas Jefferson (inscribed around his statue in Washington DC)

A true adventurer. But he also tended his garden, created a beautiful place to live (Montecito), and relied on some given truths, such as the essence of Christian teaching (love thy neighbor) which he excerpted from the New Testament, leaving out the parts of it that he considered to be interpolated nonsense and powermongering, in that most interesting of tomes, the Jefferson Bible.

All life is one. And balance is the key to its survival and prosperity.