>>"Therefore, teaching "applied evolution," must seem a lot
more sexy, no pun intended, than calling it husbandry, or
genetics, or immunology, or
bacteriology, etc, etc. I mean, with the wrong terminology,
most of this
stuff would be some state Ag School or school of forestry,
rather than in a top-rated university research center. And
that, of course, could lead to serious "misallocation" of
important research grants. "<<
DC: Actually, it might be easier to get funding for the ag
school than for evolutionary research. If research on
evolution were superabundantly funded, I would have spent
a lot less of my own money doing my dissertation research
and would now have a job. However, people who think that
evolutionary biology is all established fact, questioned only
by religious cranks, and no longer an area of active
research, or that it is the heart of the great left wing atheistic
conspiracy, or that it is some irrelevant academic pursuit,
are not likely to think that it needs funding.
>>"1. In the quote..."These examples present opportunities
for education of the public and for nontraditional career
paths in evolutionary biology..." what is the alternative to
"evolutionary biology?" "Creationist biology?" Do the
Fundies really have a gripe against the basic tenets of
immunology? Of hybridization? Of computer
viruses? (That last one was a stretch, but it was inferred in
the authors' previous sentence.)"<<
DC: Probably the alternatives that the authors had in mind
would be things like molecular biology, medicine, ecology,
environmental science, physiology, or genetics. By
evolutionary biology they mean the study of evolution itself.
Although the point of the article is that evolution is quite
relevant to these other fields, it is not the main focus for
them. In fact, workers in one field of biology may be quite
ignorant about other fields. I have spent several days this
semester trying to straighten out the taxonomy of mollusks
and related invertebrates from the mangling given to them
by molecular biologists in the NIH database of genetic data
(GenBank). However, you certainly do not want me as your
physician.
Creationist is a problematic term. Belief in a creation event
certainly does not require belief in a young earth nor
rejection of evolution, despite the efforts of many
young-earth advocates to label all old-earthers as
evolutionists even if they do not accept evolution.
Antievolutionary biology has often made claims opposing
the basic tenents of immunology and other fields. A
notable example is Phil Johnson claiming that HIV does
not cause AIDS. However, this seems to reflect a personal
inclination to conspiracy theorizing rather than a usual view
of antievolutionary advocates. I have not heard of any
recent statements on the topic from him.
One very widespread false antievolutionary claim that
attacks the basic tenants of immunology and computer
viruses (among other fields) is the claim that mutations are
almost always or always harmful. If this were true, new
diseases and variant computer viruses would be practically
non-existant. In fact, mutations usually have little effect. In
the case of the HIV virus, high levels of mutations are vital
and beneficial (from its point of view) in order to keep a
jump ahead of the immune system. Likewise, mutational
ability has made some computer viruses particularly
successful.
>>"2. The authors (I assume) chose "artificial selection" as
the first group of key words to this proposal. If find this
ironic, since the remainder of the paper would indicate that
there isn't any such process."<<
DC: Artificial selection is when deliberate choice by
humans causes change in organisms over time. The
"improvement of agricultural crops and animals" by
selective breeding, mentioned in the article, is the classic
example of artificial selection. This is why Darwin used so
many pages of Origin of Species talking about pigeon
breeding. The development of pesticide-resistant insects
or antibiotic-resistant bacteria are other examples.
Dr. David Campbell
Old Seashells
46860 Hilton Dr #1113
Lexington Park MD 20653 USA
bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com
That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand
Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G.
Wodehouse, Romance at Droigate Spa
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