Junk DNA Theory

 

DNAThe junk DNA theory was introduced in 1972 by evolutionary geneticist Susumu Ohno in the paper entitled “So Much ‘Junk’ in Our Genome.” The junk comprises sections in the genome with no discernible function, it was thought. Previously, in 1970, Ohno gained notoriety for his gene duplication-driven theory presented in his book Evolution by Gene Duplication.

In the highly acclaimed book, The Language of God (2006), geneticist Francis Collins endorsed Ohno’s theory of junk DNA. For Collins, junk DNA lent “powerful support for Darwin‘s theory of evolution.” As director of the National Center for Human Genome Research at the time, Collins gave immense credibility to Ohno’s junk DNA and gene-duplication theories.

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Smithsonian Human Evolution Exhibit

 

Smithsonian Human Evolution Exhibit“Human evolution is the lengthy process of change by which people originated from apelike ancestors,” explains the Smithsonian Institute exhibit (pictured left) entitled “Introduction to Human Evolution.” Continuing their explanation –

“Scientific evidence shows that the physical and behavioral traits shared by all people originated from apelike ancestors and evolved over a period of approximately six million years.”

The source of Smithsonian’s description is rooted in history. Although this was also Charles Darwin‘s central argument in The Descent of Man (1871), this explanation had emerged before the sixteenth century, long before Darwin, highlighting a critical issue.

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Exploring Human Evolution via DNA

 

Exploring human evolution via DNA was essential for twentieth-century evolution scientists. Charles Darwin, however, in The Origin of Species, never used the terms genetics, genetic, and genes until 1872, following the publication of the pea plant inheritance report of Gregor Mendel in 1866.

In his sixth edition, Darwin used the term “genetic” twice,  but only to express a genealogical idea, not as a molecular term. In the words of American evolutionary biologist Richard Lewontin,

“Darwin knew nothing about genes.”

English geneticist William Bateson, in a personal letter to colleague Alan Sedgwick, is credited for coining the term “genetics” in 1905 – as a molecular term. Since then, “genetics” emerged as the cornerstone of molecular evolutionary biology. Along with searching the fossil record, molecular biologists have been exploring human evolution via the natural selection of DNA.
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