First "Random mutations” now "Natural Selection” seems to be "Designed to the core

When I was pursuing my degree in biology in the late seventies on the way to my medical degree, Neo-Darwinian "random mutations” were felt to be a "fact like gravity.” It seems things have changed, though not for gravity.

In January of 2022, Nature Journal published an article called:

·        Mutation Bias Reflects Natural Selection in Arabidopsis Thailiana.1

In it they state that research stands to challenge 100 years of Evolutionary thought. Mainly that mutations are mostly "biased,” not "random.”

Neo-Darwinism is a modern synthesis of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection and Mendelian genetics. It states that evolution occurs through the accumulation of random mutations in the genetic material of a population. These mutations can be beneficial, harmful, or neutral, and the ones that are beneficial are more likely to be passed on to the next generation. Over time, this process can lead to significant changes in a population. Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene expression that are not caused by changes in the DNA sequence. These changes can be caused by environmental factors, such as diet, stress, and exposure to toxins. Epigenetics can also be inherited from parents to offspring.



Wiki Commons

Epigenetic changes can affect mutational bias in a number of ways. For example, DNA methylation, a common epigenetic modification, can make DNA more or less susceptible to mutation. Epigenetic changes can also affect the repair of DNA damage, which can lead to an decreased risk of mutations.

These researchers found that mutational bias was associated with the epigenome. They found that genes that were subject to epigenetic mutational bias had a lower mutation rate. This suggests that epigenome-associated mutation bias can reduce the occurrence of deleterious mutations. 

The article starts:

·        “Since the first half of the twentieth century, evolutionary theory has been dominated by the idea that mutations occur randomly with respect to their consequences.

·        In contrast to expectations, we find that ...mutation bias is the primary force behind patterns of sequence evolution around genes.

This is different than Neo-Darwinian "random mutations.”



Fig 1

They continue:

·        In conclusion, evolution around genes ...appears to be explained by mutation bias to a greater extent than by {Natural} Selection.

·        The adaptive value of this bias can be conceptualized by the analogy of loaded dice with a reduced probability of rolling low numbers (that is, deleterious mutations), and thus a greater probability of rolling high numbers (that is, beneficial mutations).

 

(Fig 1 - Comment  added)

 

These adaptations can lead to rapid change in organisms in response to sudden environmental changes and can be passed on to the next generation.  Epigenetic changes are 10,000 to 100,000 times as fast2 as neo-Darwinian changes. In the past scientists noted these "soft inheritance” changes but largely ignored them. They were considered to be a part of an older "discredited” view of evolution called Lamarckism which was specifically excluded by Neo-Darwinism. Lamarck is back after 200 years.

The Nature scientists continue:

·        “We conclude that {epigenetic}-associated ‘mutation bias’ reduces the occurrence of deleterious mutations ...challenging the prevailing paradigm that mutation is a directionless force in evolution.”

For 160 years, the majority of evolutionists "philosophically” preferred the implication of a "directionless force” in nature as first proposed by Darwin. There's no God to have to account to right!?

Others claim this puts teleology 6 back on the table.

Teleology is the study of the purpose or end of things. It is a philosophical concept that has been around for centuries. The word comes from the Greek words "telos," meaning "end," and "logos," meaning "reason."

Teleology is often used in the context of biology, where it is used to explain the development and behavior of living things. For example, a biologist might say that the purpose of a bird's wing is to fly. This is a teleological explanation, because it is based on the idea that the wing has a purpose or end. Evolution rejects "purpose” in part due to "random mutations.” Teleology is a controversial concept. Some people believe that it is a valid way of explaining the world, while others believe that it is not.

Continuing on in the article:

·        The random occurrence of mutations without respect to their consequences is an axiom upon which much of biology and evolutionary theory rests. This simple proposition has had profound effects on models of evolution developed since the modern synthesis {aka Neo-Darwinism, aka the theory of evolution}, shaping how biologists have thought about and studied genetic diversity over the past century.

·        Yet, emerging discoveries in genome biology inspire a reconsideration of classical views. It is now known that nucleotide composition, epigenetic features and bias in DNA repair can influence the likelihood that mutations occur at different places across the genome.

·        Our discovery yields a new account of the forces driving patterns of natural variation, challenging a long-standing paradigm regarding the randomness of mutation and inspiring future directions for theoretical and practical research on mutation in biology and evolution.

Thomas Kuhn, in his book, “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions,” (1962), argued that, “Science develops not by cumulative scientific progress, but by paradigm shifts and scientific revolutions.”

This certainly seems like a paradigm shift.

With random mutations gone could it be Neo-Darwinism must "mutate” to survive?7

For more discussion on these teological implications in the cell, consider Hugh Ross’ book "Designed to the Core,” below.

 

Endnotes

1.      Monroe, J.G., Srikant, T., Carbonell-Bejerano, P. et al. Mutation bias reflects natural selection in Arabidopsis thaliana. Nature 602, 101–105 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04269-6

2.      Akst, Jef. “Long-Lived Trees' Epigenetic Mutations Serve as a Molecular Clock.” The Scientist Magazine, March 1, 2021. https://www.the-scientist.com/the-literature/long-lived-trees-epigenetic-mutations-serve-as-a-molecular-clock-68406.

3.      M Bulmer, The selection-mutation-drift theory of synonymous codon usage., Genetics, Volume 129, Issue 3, 1 November 1991, Pages 897–907, https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/129.3.897

4.      Galtier, N., & Duret, L. (2007). Adaptation or biased gene conversion? Extending the null hypothesis of molecular evolution. Trends in genetics: TIG, 23(6), 273–277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tig.2007.03.011

5.      Aoife Doherty, James O. McInerney, Translational Selection Frequently Overcomes Genetic Drift in Shaping Synonymous Codon Usage Patterns in Vertebrates, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Volume 30, Issue 10, October 2013, Pages 2263–2267, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mst128

6.      Denis Walsh (2011). Mechanism and purpose: A case for natural teleology. Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences Elsevier Volume 43, Issue 1 Pages 173-181, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2011.05.016

7.      Olen R. Brown, David A. Hullender (2022), Neo-Darwinism must Mutate to survive, Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Volume 172, 2022, Pages 24-38, ISSN 0079-6107, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2022.04.005

 

Additional Resources

·        Designed to the Core -Book by Hugh Ross, July 2022, Buy at Amazon

·        Dr. Vaughn Mancha (vmancha@gmail.com) is on LinkedIn, YouTube & Darwin versus Lamarck - Facebook Group

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