DNA AS A MECHANISM OF CHANGE
If mutations of DNA do not make better life forms, then evolution logically cannot be possible.
Let’s begin this section repeating the four evolutionary requirements.
1. There is only one step at a time.
2. Each step is the result of a random chance mistake.
3. Each step must make something useful.
4. Each step must make something better.
The topic of DNA as a mechanism of change applies to the evolutionary requirement that each step is the result of a random chance mistake. When evolution was originally presented by Darwin in 1859 it was based on the general idea that there are new characteristics that give a survival advantage. Remember that in all forms of life the intent of reproduction is to make babies that are like the parents. Very occasionally there is something that goes wrong and the baby is given a new characteristic that gives it a survival advantage with natural selection. This part of evolutionary theory has never changed.
What now must be explained though is how the offspring of life forms gets the new characteristics. In 1859 Darwin knew nothing about DNA. The structure of DNA was not discovered for nearly another one hundred years in 1953. Many years after that in 1968 we began to understand how DNA codes for information when the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded for the interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis. Now that we know that all of the information for our traits and characteristics is coded in our DNA, we must now think about how a new characteristic would become present that could give a survival advantage.
Any new characteristic in any life form must be coded for in the DNA. Any change in the DNA is a genetic mutation. So mutations of DNA must make better life forms for evolution to be true. It is one thing to think that changes can make something better; however it is when we think about how these changes happen that evolution becomes illogical.
The word mutation has a common understanding of something really bad. This is for a good reason, it’s true! We all know mutations are bad. A mutation of DNA is what causes cancer. Mutations of DNA cause disease. There is not one example of a mutation of DNA that made something better for a species. Not one. Not in rats or cats or elephants, or any other animal that has ever been studied in the lab. With all of our genetic research and knowledge it has never happened.
This question, if there are any beneficial mutations, has been highly contentious because there are mutations that have beneficial outcomes for individuals, not species, and in very specific and restricted environments. This can be a little confusing, and since is it so important let’s be clear on what each side is saying on this point.
Evolutionists have presented a (very) few mutations which they say are beneficial. One of these is antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Some mutations in bacteria make the bacteria resistant to an antibiotic so they would have a survival advantage when exposed to that one antibiotic. The problem with saying this is beneficial in the sense needed for evolution is that this mutation comes at the cost of altering a protein or system that is important for the normal function of the bacteria. It is only helpful if there is currently and forever more the presence of this antibiotic, because without this antibiotic these bacteria with the DNA mutation do not live as well as bacteria without the mutation.
There is another example of what is called a CCR5 mutation, and when these individuals are exposed to HIV they are unlikely to develop the infection and disease. There are also some cancer drugs that work better in individuals that have a certain DNA mutation. These mutations do not help unless they are exposed to HIV in the first case, or if they have a specific type of cancer in the second case. Neither of these help the species evolve. Humans that have the CCR5 mutation or others that have mutations that make certain cancer drugs more effective have not evolved into better humans. There is no advantage for the species, just those individuals who have that disease or exposed to a specific disease.
Sometimes sickle cell anemia is presented as a beneficial mutation. This disease of sickle cell anemia would not be wished for in anyone you love. It is painful and debilitating. However, if an individual has the sickle cell trait where the chromosome from one parent has sickle cell and the other chromosome from the other parent is normal, this individual will have “some protection against malaria” according to the CDC. This is not a beneficial mutation for the population because those that have this gene from both parents and have sickle cell disease die early and have frequent severe pain. People who have sickle cell trait have not evolved into better humans. There are a few individuals where this mutation is beneficial for them and only when they are exposed to malaria. There is no advantage to the species to have the mutation of sickle cell trait.
For all cases of mutations, it is the context of the mutation and the environment of the mutation that determines if the mutation is beneficial for the individual. These very few and very specific examples only apply for the survival of a few individuals and in a very specific environment. None of them are beneficial for the species, and they all come with the cost of loss of the function of the previous protein that was made from the DNA before the mutation.
FURTHER STUDY: This cost of the loss of the function of the DNA before the mutation is dramatically seen in the example of the CCR5 mutation with protection against HIV infection. These same individuals with the CCR5 mutation are now at risk for a fatal brain infection called West Nile virus encephalopathy. The Journal of Experimental Medicine published the article “CCR5 deficiency increases risk of symptomatic West Nile virus infection”. They “conclude that CCR5 mediates resistance to symptomatic WNV infection. Because CCR5 is also the major HIV coreceptor, these findings have important implications for the safety of CCR5-blocking agents under development for HIV/AIDS”. This confirms that there is a cost to all mutations which evolutionist present as ‘beneficial’.
The overwhelming evidence is that DNA mutations are terrible and cause disease, and in many cases have no effect at all. These few that are presented as beneficial are not beneficial for the population of a species; they are beneficial only to those individuals and only in a very specific environment. The answer to the question, “are there any beneficial mutations?” is NO! These do not create the change that is a valid mechanism for evolution. This discussion alone is sufficient to conclude that DNA mutations are not a reasonable explanation for the mechanism of evolution. Another problem that is even bigger is that even if these do create benefit, there is loss of information in the DNA with any mutation, and this aspect of loss of information will be discussed later in this section.
Where is the genetic evidence?
The level of our knowledge of genetics is very advanced. The human genome project was an international effort to complete the mapping and understanding of all of the genes of human beings. This was completed in 2003 and the full sequence contains three billion base pairs which are the building blocks of DNA. We know where each gene is located on every chromosome in human beings. Genetic research is equally advanced on many, many types of animals which are used in research. Animals have even been cloned! However, with all of this knowledge of the genetics of humans and animals evolutionists have not presented even one example of what mutation on what chromosome in any species has caused a change to give a survival advantage for a species. Be aware there is not even one example.
The lack of an explanation of evolution at the genetic level at a time when we know so much about genetics should scream to us the result that it didn’t happen this way. How much longer will evolutionists be allowed to say that they cannot explain how evolution happens at the genetic level? If it cannot be explained by mutations of DNA, then evolution could not have happened. Evolutionists can only say that they are sure it must have happened and someday they will be able to explain it. However, we know enough now to be able to explain it if it is true. We know enough now to be able to give at least one example if it is true. There is no evidence in man, or in mice or in rabbits. There is no evidence period. Evolution is a theory without any DNA evidence of how mutations of DNA make changes in life forms that give a survival advantage for species. We are not talking about this happening once. This must have happened for every change in every species on the planet for all of time from before microscopic organisms to humans.
Let’s think about this if it were true. Wouldn’t our military be mutating man to make a better soldier? Wouldn’t we want to have mutations be become superior? We know lots of things that can cause mutations. There are all kinds of cancer causing chemicals or we can use radiation. You can get a DNA mutation today if you want. Where is the line of all the people waiting for their DNA mutation? Where is the line of people who believe that DNA mutations will make them better? It’s truly ridiculous. I sometimes joke in creation classes that the only mutation that made something better was the teenage mutant ninja turtles. It is science fiction and Hollywood, not reality. Everybody knows that DNA mutations are bad, really bad.
Mutations Cause Disease
We know a lot about mutations and have many examples of mutations of DNA in humans. They do not make things better. They create disease. Our understanding has advanced to the point that many of our diseases are known to be caused by specific mutations. Evolutionists cannot tell us of any mutation on any chromosome that has made something better or gives a survival advantage for a species. However, we do know a staggering number of diseases that are caused by DNA mutations. We know what mutation on what chromosome causes what change, and how this change causes disease. You can even purchase tests at local pharmacies to test your DNA to determine your risk of getting certain diseases. There are many kinds of mutations and geneticists have them categorized. There are point mutations, deleted genes, repeat sequences, and entire chromosomal problems. They all cancause disease. People have no idea how many diseases are caused by mutations. The list is profoundly sad and growing. Appendix I is a list of some of the genetic disorders that have been discovered in man. There are also as many (or more) known mutations that cause diseases in all the experimental animal species that have been studied at the genetic level. A comprehensive list of every genetic mutation that causes disease in every known species would be so large it would be a book of its own. It is barely possible to communicate the vast quantity of known genetic mutations that cause disease in man and in animals and this list continues to grow. These are all examples of how mutations make things worse. Remember there are no examples of mutations making things better for a species. Mutations of DNA must be the mechanism for characteristics to change in evolution. No other explanation has been presented. All evolutionists agree that this is the only method for change. Yet there is not one example of a mutation of DNA to make a better species. Not one.
All of the diseases that result from DNA mutations are truly horrible. The symptoms are severe, disabling and most are incurable. They can be inherited by our children. They cause mental retardation, pain, suffering, and sickness. They cause facial deformities, cancer, blindness, autism, speech problems, and paralysis. They cause kidney disease, liver disease, skeletal abnormalities, deafness, cleft palate, learning disabilities, immune dysfunction, and psychiatric problems. They cause seizures, developmental delays, involuntary writhing, and sterility. This is just some of what we know about DNA mutations in man. There is just as much or more information of DNA mutations causing diseases in all the other species that are used for medical research.
The result of DNA mutations is well known, documented and well understood. Mutations of DNA do not make things better, they never have, and they can’t. You are not a mutant. We are not the product of an endless number of mutations in all of the life forms over all of time from before bacteria to human beings.
It is a published fact in peer reviewed scientific journals that mutations of DNA cause disease. It is also a published fact in peer reviewed scientific journals that DNA mutations that provide benefit for individuals (not species) in very specific environments cause other problems in those same individuals. Evolution cannot be true if DNA mutations do not make better life forms. It is a necessary condition.
The teenage mutant ninja turtles are Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael. They remain the only examples of a better species through mutations of DNA. They all say “cowabunga” which is an expression of delight or satisfaction. We can be delighted with the satisfaction of knowing:
If mutations of DNA do not make better life forms, then evolution logically cannot be possible.