"A press release from the University of Chicago posted by Newswise confirms .....Using “molecular time travel,” they concluded that the function of a particular protein depended on two prior unlikely mutations. They did not hesitate to generalize their findings to the whole of evolutionary theory:
“This very important protein exists only because of a twist of fate,” said study senior author Joe Thornton, PhD, professor of ecology & evolution and human genetics at the University of Chicago. “If our results are general – and we think they probably are – then many of our body’s systems work as they do because of very unlikely chance events that happened in our deep evolutionary past,” he added.
Indeed, they could say no less, if Darwinian evolution is limited to unguided, natural processes. To say otherwise would bring in deterministic teleology or intelligent design, both of which are anathema to modern secular biology.
The authors go on to emphasize that contingency goes down to the atomic level, not just the biological level. Contingency accounts for the diversity of life, they say.
The authors go on to emphasize that contingency goes down to the atomic level, not just the biological level. Contingency accounts for the diversity of life, they say.
While most prior discussions of historical contingency in evolution have focused on external events such as asteroid impacts, mass extinctions, climate change, Thornton and Harms showed that the intrinsic complexity of proteins as physical objects also makes evolution depend profoundly on low-probability chance events." CreationEvolutionHeadlines
In the beginning God created.... Genesis 1:1 (No room for "chance" there. It was a deliberate designed creation)
In the beginning God created.... Genesis 1:1 (No room for "chance" there. It was a deliberate designed creation)
