Re: only 50 genes away

Steven H. Schimmrich (sschimmr@calvin.edu)
Tue, 20 Oct 1998 11:36:51 -0400

At 05:18 AM 10/20/98 -0500, Glenn Morton wrote:
>
>There is an article in the NY Times today that says that humans may only be
>50 developmental genes different from chimpanzees. It talks about the
>possibility of inserting those 50 genes into a chimp embryo and seeing what
>happens. It can be found at
>
>http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/102098sci-chimps.html
>
>Question: Assuming (big if) that such a set of insertions actually moved
>the chimp toward the human form and cognition, what would people opposed to
>evolution then say to maintain the anti-evolutionary position? Would
>anti-evolutionary Christians finally be forced to admit that evolution
>might have occurred?

Interesting article and interesting ethical questions as well. Wouldn't
mainstream theologians have to think long and hard as well? It raises a lot
of questions about the what it means to be human, what a soul is, etc.

- Steve.

--   Steven H. Schimmrich, Assistant Professor of Geology   Department of Geology, Geography, and Environmental Studies   Calvin College, 3201 Burton Street SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546   sschimmr@calvin.edu (office), schimmri@earthlink.net (home)   616-957-7053 (voice mail), 616-957-6501 (fax)    http://home.earthlink.net/~schimmrich/