{"id":1825,"date":"2013-04-11T18:40:30","date_gmt":"2013-04-11T17:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theskepticalzone.com\/wp\/?p=1825"},"modified":"2014-06-23T00:47:23","modified_gmt":"2014-06-22T23:47:23","slug":"knocking-out-evolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/theskepticalzone.com\/wp\/knocking-out-evolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Knocking Out Evolution?"},"content":{"rendered":"

DennisJones at UncommonDescent has published an argument<\/a> that Behe’s irreducible complexity has resisted all attempts at refutation.<\/p>\n

…The only logic fallacy would be to draw a conclusion while resisting further examination. Such is not the case with irreducible complexity. The hypothesis has endured 17 years of laboratory research by molecular biologists, and the research continues to this very day.<\/p>\n

An irreducibly complex system is one that
\n(a) the removal of a protein renders the molecular machine inoperable, and
\n(b) the biochemical structure has no stepwise evolutionary pathway.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how one would set up examination by using gene knockout, reverse engineering, study of homology, and genome sequencing:<\/p>\n

I. To CONFIRM Irreducible Complexity:<\/p>\n

Show:<\/p>\n

1. The molecular machine fails to operate upon the removal of a protein.<\/p>\n

AND,<\/p>\n

2. The biochemical structure has no evolutionary precursor.<\/p>\n

II. To FALSIFY Irreducible Complexity:<\/p>\n

Show:<\/p>\n

1. The molecular machine still functions upon loss of a protein.<\/p>\n

OR,<\/p>\n

2. The biochemical structure DOES have an evolutionary pathway<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My (limited) understanding is that (1) will nearly always be confirmed.<\/p>\n

The problem is confirming (2), the assertion that there is no evolutionary pathway.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The first problem I see is in methodology. There is no reason to believe that gene knockout is equivalent to stepping backward in the history of the protein. The first clue would be that knocking out the protein, by definition, disables the function in a way that would require a specific point mutation to restore. I don’t know of anyone in biology — even Behe — who believes this is the way proteins evolve. In fact, my understanding is that Behe doesn’t argue that proteins can’t evolve. This is simply a pointless experiment.<\/p>\n

Then there is the larger problem of demonstrating no pathway at all. Douglas Axe seems to have taken a whack at that, but I am unaware that he has tested any realistic evolutionary scenarios, as has Thornton.<\/p>\n

To explain my point of view I need to digress a bit and discuss three dimensional chess. Fans of Star Trek might recall the three tiered chessboard that allows jumping pieces up or down as well as through the usual grid.<\/p>\n

When discussing evolution you need to be able to envision many dimensions, not just one or two or three.<\/p>\n

A typical discussion of evolutionary change invokes just one dimension: the string of bases along a strand of DNA. Modify one, and you change or disable a function.<\/p>\n

Except that somewhere in that 17 years since Behe expounded irreducible complexity, the picture has become more complicated. We now know that the majority of positions on a protein coding string can be changed to any arbitrary value without drastically modifying the fold.<\/p>\n

So even in the one dimensional case, there are many paths to any current configuration. But to represent functional space, you need to consider all the possible equivalent strings. You need to be able to jump from one to any other.<\/p>\n

And having jumped to another string (neutral mutation) you have subtly altered the game.<\/p>\n

In the Lensky experiment, at least two neutral mutations occurred prior to any change in function. These mutations had no noticable effect on function, but were necessary to enable the functional mutations. Evolution jumped to another board in another dimension.<\/p>\n

The assertion that there is no evolutionary pathway is hollow if it does not test all possible pathways. I have not seen anyone at UD give any attention to the multidimensionality implied by neutral mutations. They seem completely enamored of isolated islands and never mention multidimensional connected space.<\/p>\n

Is it reasonable to believe that evolution can negotiate multiple dimensions? Check out the Lensky experiment.<\/p>\n

I hope some folks here can add some links to relevant research and flesh out this argument. Or correct anything stupid I may have said.<\/p>\n

And perhaps someone would like to address the rest of Behe’s argument, that complex functions require multiple genes or proteins, and this cannot be reached incrementally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DennisJones at UncommonDescent has published an argument that Behe’s irreducible complexity has resisted all attempts at refutation. …The only logic fallacy would be to draw a conclusion while resisting further examination. Such is not the case with irreducible complexity. The … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/theskepticalzone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/theskepticalzone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/theskepticalzone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theskepticalzone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theskepticalzone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/theskepticalzone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1825\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/theskepticalzone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theskepticalzone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/theskepticalzone.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}