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DARWIN DevolvesThe New Science About DNA
That Challenges Evolution
M ICH A EL J. BEH E
darwin devolves. Copyright © 2019 by Michael J. Behe. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Behe, Michael J., author.Title: Darwin devolves : the new science about DNA that challenges evolution / Michael J. Behe.Description: First edition. | New York, NY : HarperOne, 2019 | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2018034062 (print) | LCCN 2018040030 (ebook) | ISBN 9780062842688 (e- book) | ISBN 9780062842619 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780062842664 (paperback) | ISBN 9780062842688 (digital edition)Subjects: LCSH: Evolution (Biology) | DNA. | Molecular evolution. | Darwin, Charles, 1809–1882.Classification: LCC QH367.3 (ebook) | LCC QH367.3 .B427 2019 (print) | DDC 576.8—dc23LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018034062
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Figure 1.1. Our understanding of evolution is much less certain than our understanding of either economics or weather forecasting.
“ In an effort to make our economic reporting and projections more accurate, our resident weatherman will be delivering the economic news.”
Table 1.1. Levels of Explanation
Level Example Typical Application
Regular direct Newton’s laws Motion of a body
Regular indirect Ideal gas law Container of gas
Manageably irregular Statistical association Smoking and cancer; malaria and sickle- cell gene
Hopelessly irregular None Detailed long- term weather forecasting, evolution
Spandrels of intelligence Side effect of mind Traffic jams, stock market bubbles
Intelligent causes Intended effect of mind Complex machinery
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Figure 2.1. Leg gears of the planthopper. The bar marked “20 μm” is less than a thousandth of an inch in length. (From M. Burrows and G. Sutton, “Interacting Gears Synchronize Propulsive Leg Movements in a Jumping Insect,” Science 341 (2013): 1254–56. Reprinted with permission from AAAS.)
20 µm
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Figure 2.2. Some cells act as living fiber- optic cables to channel light to rod and cone cells in the retina.
Figure 2.3. Top: The magnetosome chain requires supporting cell structures to keep it in a line. Bottom: When a gene for supporting material is deleted, magnetosomes are in disarray.
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Figure 2.4. Wheels within wheels. Cross section of a proposed model for counterrotating flagellar gears. The larger gears represent closely grouped individual flagella (see Appendix, Fig. A.1, p. 287). The smaller, counterrotating gears represent fibrils that minimize friction. The large circle is the boundary of the structure.
Figure 2.5. Alternative splicing of messenger RNA can yield multiple proteins. The boxes on the top represent exons; the lines connecting them represent introns. Splicing can produce different arrangements of the exons, making different proteins, shown on the bottom.
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Figure 3.1. Amino- acid sequence of the first forty positions of the alpha chain of hemoglobin from various species. Each letter is the abbreviation for a different kind of amino acid (v for valine, l for leucine, etc.). Differences from the human sequence are capitalized. A space is added after each ten letters just to facilitate viewing.
Table 3.1. The Five Major Concepts of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
1. The nonconstancy of species (the basic theory of evolution)
2. The descent of all organisms from constant ancestors (branching evolution)
3. The gradualness of evolution (no saltations, no discontinuities)
4. The multiplication of species (the origin of diversity)
5. Natural selection
Table 3.2. Acceptance of Some of Darwin’s Theories by Early Evolutionists
Evolution Common Gradualness Populational Natural as Such Descent Speciation Selection
Darwin Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Haeckel Yes Yes Yes ? In part
Neo- Lamarckians Yes Yes Yes Yes No
T. H. Huxley Yes Yes No No No
de Vries Yes Yes No No No
T. H. Morgan Yes Yes No No Unimportant
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Figure 4.1. A frame from a session of the Game of Life depicting a “space rake” plus five “spaceships.” The relevance to biology is not apparent.
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Table 5.1. The Major Transitions in Evolution (after Maynard Smith and Szathmáry, 1995)
The major unanswered question in evolution is: What do the arrows represent?
Replicating molecules ➛ Populations of molecules in compartments
Independent replicators ➛ Chromosomes
RNA as gene and enzyme ➛ DNA and protein (genetic code)
Prokaryotes ➛ Eukaryotes
Asexual clones ➛ Sexual populations
Protists ➛ Animals, plants, fungi (cell differentiation)
Solitary individuals ➛ Colonies (nonreproductive castes)
Primate societies ➛ Human societies (language)
Figure 5.1. A giraffe walks near a termite mound. The DNA of the giraffe stores much more information than does the structure of the mound.
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Figure 6.1. Galápagos finch species exhibit limited variation.
Geospiza difficilis
Geospiza
fortis
Geospiza
fuliginosa
Platyspiza crassirostris
Geo
spiz
a m
agni
rost
risGeo
spiza
conir
ostris
Camarhynchus
hellobates
Cam
arhy
nchu
s pa
llidus
Camar
hync
hus
parvu
lus
Camarhynchus
pauperCamarhynchus
psittacula
Certhidea
olivacea
Pinaroloxias inornataGeospiza
scandens
EDGE
CRU
SH
ING BEAK PROBE AND CRUSH PROBING BEAK
MAI
NLY
PLANT FOOD M
AINLY ANIMAL FOOD
TIP BITING BEAK
Table 6.1. Classification of Galápagos Finches and Their Ancestor
Level Ancestor Descendant
Domain Eukaryota Eukaryota
Kingdom Animalia Animalia
Phylum Chordata Chordata
Class Aves Aves
Order Passeriformes Passeriformes
Family Thraupidae Thraupidae
Genus Unknown Geospiza, Camarhynchus, Certhidea, Pinaroloxias
Species Unknown Various
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Table 6.2. Classification of African Great Lake Cichlids and Their Ancestor
Level Ancestor Descendant
Domain Eukaryota Eukaryota
Kingdom Animalia Animalia
Phylum Chordata Chordata
Class Actinopterygii Actinopterygii
Order Perciformes Perciformes
Family Cichlidae Cichlidae ≈ The Family LineGenus Unknown Various
Species Unknown Various
Figure 6.2. Cichlids of Lakes Tanganyika and Malawi. Fish species that evolved independently converged on similar forms.
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Table 6.3. New Classifications Produced by Luxuriantly Evolving Groups
Species Genera Families Higher Classifications
Finches 14 4 0 0
Cichlids ~1500 ~75 0 0
Anoles ~300 3 0 0
Honeycreepers 55 24 0 0
Fruit flies ~1000 2 0 0
Beetles 239 1 0 0
Silverswords 50 3 0 0
Lobelias 126 6 0 0 The Family Line
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Figure 7.1. Mutations at many different points in a gene will break or damage it. Comparatively very few mutations might constructively improve a gene.
Figure 7.2. As cute as dogs are, much of the variation between breeds is due to devolution— to broken or degraded genes.
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Figure 8.1. Cartoon of a simple metal rod “evolving” into a more specialized tool, the hammer, as described in the text. The new, complex shape hinders it from evolving into other specialized tools, such as a fishing rod.
Table 8.1. Dollo’s Law Compared to Dollo’s Timeless Law
Dollo’s Law Dollo’s Timeless Law
Any evolutionary pathway from a past Any evolutionary pathway from a . . . complex functional state of a protein to complex functional state of a protein a significantly different future functional to a significantly different . . . functional state of the same protein is unlikely to state of the same protein is unlikely to be reversed by random mutation and be traversed by random mutation and natural selection. The more the states natural selection. The more the states differ, the much less likely that a differ, the much less likely that a reversible pathway exists. traversable pathway exists.
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Figure 8.2. The different individual geometric shapes on the left represent individual proteins that cannot bind to one another. In order to bind, their shapes would first have to be modified into complementary forms, represented by the jigsaw puzzle on the right. This is intended to illustrate the enormous evolutionary problem of making multiprotein molecular machines, even from individual preexisting proteins.
Figure 8.3. Pioneers missing different tools might settle in alternative environments, as discussed in the text.
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Figure 9.1. A common mechanical mousetrap needs multiple pieces that are themselves complex.
Figure 9.2. A complex gearbox. If a simple mousetrap is irreducible, so is virtually all complex machinery.
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Figure 9.3. Hemoglobin simplified. To highlight various features, different renderings of a protein can show different amounts of detail. Yet life requires all of the detail. (A) A space- filling model of the thousands of atoms of hemo-globin. (B) A less detailed model with line segments connecting Cα- carbons of successive amino- acid residues. (C) A simple cartoon depicting the four subunits of hemoglobin as geometric squares, each of which can bind one oxygen molecule.
A B C
Figure 9.4. Even the simplest mini– irreducibly complex features are huge headaches for Darwinism. (A) A hook- and- eye latch. (B) Two cysteine groups forming a disulfide bond.
A B
Figure 9.5. The water is rising quickly. Should the man wait for delivery of a complex pump that’s on a ten- year back order from the hardware store? Or should he punch a hole in the wall to let the water drain out?
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Figure A.1. The bacterial flagellum.
bushing L ringP ring
Hook (universal joint)Filament (propeller)
Outer membranePeptidoglycan layerPeriplasmic space
Inner (plasma) membrane
statorstudsC ring
S ringM ring rotorRod (drive shaft)
{
{{
Table A.1. Symptoms of Mice with Gene Knockouts
Lacking plasminogen Lacking fibrinogen Lacking both
Thrombosis No clotting No clotting
Ulcers Hemorrhage Hemorrhage
High mortality Death in pregnancy Death in pregnancy
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Figure A.2. The blood- clotting cascade seesaw, alternating between promoting and inhibiting coagulation. To change the balance, degrading one side would be very much quicker than strengthening the other side.
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c r e d i t s
Figure 1.1: Aaron Bacall, www.CartoonStock.com.Figure 2.2: From A. Reichenbach and A. Bringmann, “New Functions of Müller Cells,”
Glia 61 (2013): 651–78. Copyright John Wiley & Sons. Reprinted with permission.Figure 2.3: A. Komeili, “Molecular Mechanisms of Compartmentalization and
Biomineralization in Magnetotactic Bacteria,” FEMS Microbiology Review 36 (2012): 232–55. Permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
Figure 2.5: From J. Ruan et al., “Architecture of a Flagellar Apparatus in the Fast- Swimming Magnetotactic Bacterium MO-1,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 109 (2012): 20643–48. Reprinted with permission of the National Academy of Sciences.
Figure 4.1: David Eppstein, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.Figure 5.1: Simon Greig, Shutterstock.Figure 6.1: From P. R. Grant and B. R. Grant, How and Why Species Multiply: The
Radiation of Darwin’s Finches (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008). Republished with permission of Princeton University Press. Permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
Figure 6.2: From T. D. Kocher et al., “Similar Morphologies of Cichlid Fish in Lakes Tanganyika and Malawi Are Due to Convergence,” Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 2 (1993): 158–65. Permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
Figure 7.2: Liliya Kulianionak, Shutterstock.Figure 9.1: Ilin Sergey, Shutterstock.Figure 9.2: Yutanga, iStock.Figure 9.5: Schab, Shutterstock.Figure A.1: From D. Voet and J. G. Voet, Biochemistry, 2nd ed. (New York: Wiley, 1995).
Copyright © 1995 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reprinted with permission.Figure A.2: Gearstd, Shutterstock.
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