Believing in God, and Evolution
presentation at Adult Forum byMiles Engell, Professor of Biology, North Carolina State University
March 17, 2013
For the eyes, see the materials presented below.
Pre- “Evolution”
- 1600s (Archbishop Ussher)
- Earth formed October 22, 4004 B.C.
- 1700s
- Linnaeus- classification system
- Highlighted similarities and differences among organisms
- Buffon- quietly suggested that species change over generations, and that New World animals had “degenerated” from Old World forms
Lamarck (1802)
- inheritance of acquired characteristics; traits passed on through use or disuse
Industrial Revolution
- Coal mines (Geology, Paleontology)
- People move to cities – (Sociology, Statistics)
- Malthus - populations grow until reach limits on size
Charles Darwin: Evolution of a Scientist
"He had planned to enter the ministry, but his discoveries on a fateful voyage 170 years ago shook his faith and changed our conception of the origins of life."
- Alfred Russell Wallace came to similar conclusions (in Indonesia)
- Wallace and Darwin together presented their ideas on natural selection and adaptation in 1858 in London
- On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection published in 1859
- 1000 copies, sold out immediately
Darwin’s theory:
Organisms over-reproduce
- Individuals vary, some variations are heritable
- Resources are limited
- Organisms with most favorable traits for a given environment have the most reproductive success, and those traits are passed on to next generation
VARIATION and COMPETITION
This theory of evolution is known as “descent with modification,” through variation and natural selection.
- Natural selection = environment, forces of nature that “select” individuals with traits that favor reproductive success
- process that causes evolutionary change is natural
Hawaiian honeycreepers – all arose from one species that migrated to Hawaii
Over long periods of time, this process of natural selection leads to adaptation 
Adaptation doesn't involve trying
Natural selection does not grant organisms what they "need"
Natural selection is a process, not goal-directed
Evidence for evolution is FACT
Mechanism for how evolution occurs is strongly supported theory
Gravity
Just a theory.
1) Biochemical and genetic evidence
There are 3 billion base pairs in the human genome
*1.23% are different in the chimpanzee and bonobo genomes 
FOXP2 gene: critical for development of
- speech in humans
- song in bird
- sequences of rapid movement (lips/tongue) in mice
Same genes control bone growth in
- fish fins
- bird wings
- all terrestrial vertebrates
(just switched “on” shorter length of time in fish)
No special “human genes” ...
Just different regulation of same genes
Epigenetics
- changes in gene expression without changing underlying DNA, triggered by environmental factors, heritable
- Water fleas with identical DNA:
- spiny helmet to deter predators OR bare head ... based on whether or not their mother experienced threats of predation
- Obese, yellow mice, prone to cancer and diabetes:
- have healthy brown thin offspring if fed healthy diet while pregnant (B12, soy, folic acid)
Epigenetics
- changes in gene expression without changing underlying DNA, triggered by environmental factors, heritable
- Men who smoke as young boys are more likely to have sons who are obese
- Grandsons of men who had over-abundant food as boys (even in a single season) are more likely to have diabetes and die early
2) Fossil record 
A 'Missing Link' Is Found
With the discovery of fossils of the Tiktaalik, or "large shallow water fish" scientists have found a missing connection between fishes and walking land creatures. 
Fossil discovery of the "fishapod" in 2004
"Ardi" (2009) "Karabo" (2011)
- Lived over a million years before “Lucy” (3.2 mya)
A Walk Through Human Evolution
The newest fossils have brought scientists tantalizingly close to the time when humans first walked upright - splitting off from the chimpanzees. Their best guess now is that it happened at least 6 million years ago. 
3) Breeding/artificial selection
human, rather than natural selection
4) Vestigial structures- once used/necessary, but no longer
whale
ostrich
snake
southern marsupial mole
Humans:
- Coccyx (tail bone)
- Appendix
- Muscles to move ears
- Little toe
- Wisdom teeth
- Body hair
- Arrector pili (responsible for “goosebumps”)
- Tonsils
- Male nipples
- Palmer grasp reflex in newborns
Atavism: the reappearance of a lost character - present in the adult, extremely rare in a population
Living whales and dolphins found with hind limbs
Tail in infant boy
Tail in 16-year old girl
Evolutionary “hand-me-downs” in humans ...
Vertebrate retina:
Blood vessels and nerves on top of retina, rather than underneath (→ blind spot)
Mollusks and other animals have the reverse, and more stable retina (and no inverted image, either!) - slightly clearer vision
Vertebrate
Squid / Octopus
Male Spermatic Cord and Hernias
The tube through which sperm passes forms a roundabout loop that can lead to hernias, a result of major anatomical changes that occurred as we evolved from fish. 
(A hernia is the protrusion of an organ or the fascia of an organ through the wall of the cavity that normally contains it)
In mammals: as the fetus develops, the gonads descend
Spermatic cord (vas deferens) must take a roundabout loop to connect testes with urethra, and this causes a weakness within the body wall near its apex. 
Vitamin C Production
Most mammals can synthesize their own Vitamin C… humans (and some primates) cannot, but instead must ingest it....
The same gene for vitamin C production is in humans and other mammals, but a mutation has made it non-functional in humans and other primates
Mutation in distant past, when early primates (like most primates today) lived in tropical regions and ate lots of fruit
Sense of Smell
Human ancestors (like other mammals) had a more acute sense of smell than we do now
Humans have ~1000 odorant receptor genes, of which almost 70% are pseudo-genes (nonfunctioning)
Other mammals have most of the same OR genes as us, but most or all of theirs actually work
Dolphin: no longer has any need to smell volatile odorants, yet still has many OR genes, ALL of which are pseudo-genes
Backaches
Bipedalism relatively “skin deep” in terms of our evolutionary history
Old age only exists in humans (and some domesticated animals) ... natural selection didn’t “prepare” humans for old age
The system that is among the first to fall apart in old age is bipedal posture and locomotion ... as well as mental faculty diminution (also a recent evolutionary acquisition)
Cardiomyopathy
Capture myopathy in animals:
- large surge of adrenaline, injures heart muscles, can result in death (especially in cautious and high-strung animals like deer, birds, rabbits, small primates)
- capture and restraint = imminent predation or death
SIDS and Capture Myopathy
- Infants who are placed facedown are at greater risk of SIDS
- Infants who are “restrained” by swaddling show more dramatic heart slowing response to noise
- Infants who are swaddled and placed facedown are at 3X greater risk of SIDS in response to a sudden loud noise (door slam, telephone ring, argument, etc)
~1920: William Jennings Bryan helped turn the fundamentalist movement into a popular crusade against teaching evolution
- CREATIONISM: rejects the theory of evolution and the idea that one species can over time become another species.
Note that the banana:
- Is shaped for human hand
- Has non-slip surface
- Has outward indicators of inward contents:
- Green–too early,
- Yellow–just right,
- Black–too late.
- Has a tab for removal of wrapper
- Is perforated on wrapper
- Bio-degradable wrapper
- Is shaped for human mouth
- Has a point at top for ease of entry
- Is pleasing to taste buds
- Is curved towards the face to make the eating process easy
- CREATIONISM:rejects the theory of evolution and the idea that one species can over time become another species.
- YOUNG EARTH CREATIONISM:believes that the earth is 6,000 or so years old, based on the assumption that Genesis contains a complete listing of the generations from Adam and Eve to historical times.
- INTELLIGENT DESIGN:rejects that natural law and chance alone can explain the diversity of life on earth, arguing instead that it is the result of a purposeful scheme of some higher power.
- EVOLUTIONISM: accepts the Darwinian argument that natural selection and environmental factors combine to explain the diversity of life on earth, may or may not believe that evolution is the way in which a Divine Being has chosen to work in the world.
% who agree that evolution is the best explanation for the origins of human life on earth 
- 2008: One in eight high school biology teachers treat creationism as a valid alternative to evolution
- 2012 Gallup survey: 46% Americans believe that God created humans in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years
CREATIONISTS
I'm right, you're wrong. la-la-la-la-la-la-la I can't hear you!
3 points about evolution vs. creationism:
1. We are frequently presented in the media with a choice between "atheistic evolution" and "Biblical creationism" ... but this is a false choice, as there are many positions in between these extremes that are held by people of good faith.
2. Students have to decide where they fall on the spectrum of beliefs, and how this relates to their personal values. It is not the job of a biology course to indoctrinate them.
3. However, evolution is the cornerstone of biology, and students must be familiar with it to have any idea of how real biology is done.
Long-Awaited Medical Study Questions the Power of Prayer
TEACH BOTH SIDES OF THE CONTROVERSY
Peer reviewed scientific papers demonstrating evidence that confirms the theory
Intelligent Design = 0 Evolution = 2,650,000
God does not just make the world, he does something much more wonderful - he makes the world make itself.
Victorian novelist Charles Kingsley