Instant Evolution

AiG’s researcher/speaker/writer Dr. Georgia Purdom (who has a PhD in molecular genetics) has written an interesting blog item on what is supposed to be “instant evolution.”

She writes:

The headline read, “Instant Evolution in Whiteflies: Just Add Bacteria.”[1] Any time I see the words instant, speedy, or sudden together with evolution, I’m intrigued. Evolution, as the term is commonly used, denotes an unobservable process that occurred in the past over eons of time resulting in the change of one kind of organism into a completely different kind of organism. According to evolutionary ideas, changes in organisms aren’t supposed to happen rapidly, hence the need to modify the word evolution with an adjective such as “instant” when a change does occur quickly ...

The researchers found that whiteflies with Rickettsia lay more eggs, have more eggs survive, and the sex ratio is changed favoring more female offspring (the bacteria are passed maternally—mother to offspring). A news article on the research stated the following: “It’s instant evolution,” said Molly Hunter, a professor of entomology in the UA’s [University of Arizona] College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the study’s principal investigator. “Our lab studies suggest that these bacteria can transform an insect population over a very short time.” I agree that their research shows that bacteria have the ability to alter the whitefly population, but is that an example of “instant evolution”? No. It is merely an alteration of reproductive abilities that the whitefly already possessed.

I encourage you to read the entire blog—that has more great teaching/information—at:

http://blogs.answersingenesis.org/blogs/georgia-purdom/2011/04/14/instant-evolution/

Speaking in Jackson, Wyoming, in the Morning

Tomorrow morning I will be speaking at Community Bible Church in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken