Universal Genetic Code – Another Darwinian Icon Falls

When it comes to genetics, stop does not always mean stop. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.



Joel Kontinen

Evolutionist Karl Giberson lamented that 2013 was a terrible year for evolution. It seems that 2014 is on its way to becoming an even worse year for dogmatic Darwinians.

Richard Dawkins, for instance, has used the universality of the genetic code as an argument for evolution.

A recent paper in Science busted this icon:

“The canonical genetic code is assumed to be deeply conserved across all domains of life with very few exceptions. By scanning 5.6 trillion base pairs of metagenomic data for stop codon reassignment events, we detected recoding in a substantial fraction of the >1700 environmental samples examined. We observed extensive opal and amber stop codon reassignments in bacteriophages and of opal in bacteria. Our data indicate that bacteriophages can infect hosts with a different genetic code and demonstrate phage-host antagonism based on code differences.”

Conserved is evo-speak for no change. Stop codons are three-letter words that instruct the ribosome to stop making a particular protein.

The researchers noticed that sometimes stop might actully mean go. Genetic codes turned out to be much more varied than they had assumed.

And Darwinians lost an icon.

Source:

Ivanova, Natalia N. et al. 2014. Stop codon reassignments in the wild. Science 344 (6186): 909–913 (23 May).

Richard Dawkins’ View of the Genetic Code Is Badly Outdated

Richard Dawkins needs to learn new facts in his old age. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.



Joel Kontinen

Richard Dawkins has often, for instance in his books The Blind Watchmaker (1986) and The Greatest Show On Earth (2009), claimed that all organisms on Earth - save one or two minor exceptions – share the same genetic code. Dawkins believes that this is proof that all living beings have evolved from a common ancestor.

There is one serious defect in this claim: it is not true.

On Charles Darwin’s birthday (12th February) Richard Dawkins took part in a panel discussion on the origin of life. In passing, J. Craig Venter disclosed that the genetic code is not universal and that the Darwinian tree of life does not even exist.

Researchers have found no less than 17 different genetic codes in creatures living on our planet.

In practice, this means that Darwinian evolution cannot explain how life developed and why it is so varied.

Sources:

The Science Network: The Great Debate - What is Life? Panel discussion (12 February 2011).

Elzanowski, Andrzej (Anjay) and Jim Ostell The Genetic Codes. National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Venter vs. Dawkins on the Tree of Life -- and Another Dawkins Whopper 9 March 2011.