Alphabet of life
Some years ago I received a book to review in which the author proposed that the sequence of bases in DNA, the gene code, was actually a musical code, and that by finding the correct musical correlation one would produce the "music of the spheres." I decided not to review the book because my review would have been so scathing that I feared I might do the author damage and be sued as a result. Here is another example of the fanciful misuse of the DNA code for inappropriate purposes.
The following letter appeared in the letters column of the Jerusalem Post, 14/7/09.
Flight of DNA fancy
Sir, - In "The alphabet of life" (July 8), David Klinghoffer starts out by describing the origin of our understanding of DNA, the molecule of life, but soon reveals his intention: to find support for "creationism," namely, that God was responsible for choosing the sequence of bases in DNA that code for specific genes and biological functions.
In doing so, he reverts to the status quo ante, bringing up the "directed" evolution proposed by Cuvier before Darwin, now long since rejected, and selecting one gene (the Hox gene), the function of which is not entirely proven.
His most outrageous jump in subjectivity is to compare the base sequence of DNA to that of the Hebrew letters in the Kabbala - a totally unsupported fancy.
His main target, and that of all creationists, is that "imagining existence as a purely material affair, without purpose, as Darwinian evolution still portrays the matter," is wrong.
However, evolution as Darwin described it is a process, and long after Darwin we now know that DNA is the "engine" of that process, and that evolution is not purposeless; it adapts species to their environment by the survival of the fittest. Further, using DNA sequences, the path of evolution can be derived by molecular genetics.
What about getting a real scientist to describe how DNA really works instead of allowing free rein to imaginative creationists with an agenda?
JACK COHEN
Visiting Professor
Hebrew University
Jerusalem
The writer is author (with F. Portugal) of "A Century of DNA" (1977)
The original article is at: http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/1780944001.html?FMT=FT&dids=1780944001:1780944001&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+8%2C+2009&author=DAVID+KLINGHOFFER&pub=Jerusalem+Post&desc=The+alphabet+of+life
The following letter appeared in the letters column of the Jerusalem Post, 14/7/09.
Flight of DNA fancy
Sir, - In "The alphabet of life" (July 8), David Klinghoffer starts out by describing the origin of our understanding of DNA, the molecule of life, but soon reveals his intention: to find support for "creationism," namely, that God was responsible for choosing the sequence of bases in DNA that code for specific genes and biological functions.
In doing so, he reverts to the status quo ante, bringing up the "directed" evolution proposed by Cuvier before Darwin, now long since rejected, and selecting one gene (the Hox gene), the function of which is not entirely proven.
His most outrageous jump in subjectivity is to compare the base sequence of DNA to that of the Hebrew letters in the Kabbala - a totally unsupported fancy.
His main target, and that of all creationists, is that "imagining existence as a purely material affair, without purpose, as Darwinian evolution still portrays the matter," is wrong.
However, evolution as Darwin described it is a process, and long after Darwin we now know that DNA is the "engine" of that process, and that evolution is not purposeless; it adapts species to their environment by the survival of the fittest. Further, using DNA sequences, the path of evolution can be derived by molecular genetics.
What about getting a real scientist to describe how DNA really works instead of allowing free rein to imaginative creationists with an agenda?
JACK COHEN
Visiting Professor
Hebrew University
Jerusalem
The writer is author (with F. Portugal) of "A Century of DNA" (1977)
The original article is at: http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/1780944001.html?FMT=FT&dids=1780944001:1780944001&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+8%2C+2009&author=DAVID+KLINGHOFFER&pub=Jerusalem+Post&desc=The+alphabet+of+life
posted by Jack Cohen at 10:37 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home