Reverse evolution: Chicken revisits its dinosaur past (birds, feathers, dinosaurs)

[orogenicman]

Reverse evolution: Chicken revisits its dinosaur past - life - 17 August 2011 - New Scientist

Evolution has been rewound to create a "snouted" chicken. That means we might also be able to fast-forward it to create the animals of the future
ARHAT ABZHANOV cuts a square hole in the shell of a chicken egg, drops in a small gelatinous bead and watches the embryo develop. By day 14, the chick has formed not a beak but something more snoutish - a feature, he says, "modern birds have not seen since the Cretaceous". Abzhanov has rewound evolution.
Chickens share a common ancestor with alligators and are descended from dinosaurs, raising the question of how they and other birds switched from snouts to beaks. Because chick and gator embryos start out looking strikingly similar, Abzhanov, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University, suspected the key might be found in developing embryos. In his open-egg experiment he tweaked a few of the embryo's genes to make them behave more like identical genes do in an alligator embryo.
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[Calvinist]

Very interesting stuff.

Think about this though...does this REALLY point at evolution? Is it possible that a common designer left both of them with a common framework that can be manipulated?

[orogenicman]

Originally Posted by Calvinist

Very interesting stuff.

Think about this though...does this REALLY point at evolution? Is it possible that a common designer left both of them with a common framework that can be manipulated?

Okay. I've given it a lot of thought. My answer is YES. Without a doubt. Secondly, before you can ask such a question you have to provide evidence that a designer exists. And as I've said, "god did it" doesn't explain anything. The clock analogy was refuted 80 years ago. So I'm afraid you're going to have to either go back to the drawing board, or accept the facts for what they are.

But to answer your question, if the "designer" is natural selection, the answer is yes.

Do you know what that common framework is? DNA, which is inherited generation by generation by all life forms on the planet, and is transformed, generation by generation by - wait for it -

Natural selection.

[Calvinist]

Originally Posted by orogenicman

Okay. I've given it a lot of thought. My answer is YES. Without a doubt. Secondly, before you can ask such a question you have to provide evidence that a designer exists. And as I've said, "god did it" doesn't explain anything. The clock analogy was refuted 80 years ago. So I'm afraid you're going to have to either go back to the drawing board, or accept the facts for what they are.

But to answer your question, if the "designer" is natural selection, the answer is yes.

Do you know what that common framework is? DNA, which is inherited generation by generation by all life forms on the planet, and is transformed, generation by generation by - wait for it -

Natural selection.

I don't have that much faith to believe that we evolved from rocks.

How do you account for the existence of the universe, and then in turn, life? Yes, I've oversimplified it...but ultimately you believe in "abiogenesis and evolution did it".

[orogenicman]

Originally Posted by Calvinist

I don't have that much faith to believe that we evolved from rocks.

Me neither, because we didn't evolve from rocks. We are, however, made of star stuff. How much effort did you put into that statement, anyway?

How do you account for the existence of the universe, and then in turn, life? Yes, I've oversimplified it...but ultimately you believe in "abiogenesis and evolution did it".

Abiogenesis relies on organic processes. So does life. Evolution occurs through natural selection. Yes, you've oversimplified it. However the universe originated, the fact is that evolution is real.

[Calvinist]

Originally Posted by orogenicman

Me neither, because we didn't evolve from rocks. We are, however, made of star stuff. How much effort did you put into that statement, anyway?



Abiogenesis relies on organic processes. So does life. Evolution occurs through natural selection. Yes, you've oversimplified it. However the universe originated, the fact is that evolution is real.

You've never observed evolution, you only have some sketchy evidence to suggest it. If you want to place your faith in that though, knock yourself out. As I said...I don't have that much faith to believe in silly myths.

[orogenicman]

Originally Posted by Calvinist

You've never observed evolution, you only have some sketchy evidence to suggest it. If you want to place your faith in that though, knock yourself out. As I said...I don't have that much faith to believe in silly myths.

Yes we have, many times, and documented it as well. You didn't know this? Huh.

If you don't have that much faith to believe in silly myths, I take it that you'll be dropping your belief in Christianity any day now. Congratulations.

[Calvinist]

Originally Posted by orogenicman

Yes we have, many times, and documented it as well. You didn't know this? Huh.

If you don't have that much faith to believe in silly myths, I take it that you'll be dropping your belief in Christianity any day now. Congratulations.

We've observed micro-evolution. Bacteria "evolve" to lose the ability to react to something. But they're still bacteria.

Let me know when you can give me an example of a lizard growing wings and feathers. Until then I'll not believe in your fairy tale.

[orogenicman]

Originally Posted by Calvinist

We've observed micro-evolution. Bacteria "evolve" to lose the ability to react to something. But they're still bacteria.

Let me know when you can give me an example of a lizard growing wings and feathers. Until then I'll not believe in your fairy tale.

Certainly I can:

[Calvinist]

Originally Posted by orogenicman

Certainly I can:

looks like a bird to me. And we didn't watch it evolve. We see a finished product.