Debunking Human Evolution Taught in Our Public Schools by Biddle Daniel & Bisbee David & Bergman Jerry

Author:Biddle, Daniel & Bisbee, David & Bergman, Jerry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Genesis Apologetics, Inc.
Published: 2015-12-29T00:00:00+00:00

Reality of DNA and Genome Similarity

Human, plant, and animal DNA is packaged into separate packages called chromosomes. Each one contains millions of the four different DNA bases (T,A,C,G), stacked like rungs on a ladder. Their specific order forms a complex set of instructions called the “genetic code.” Humans have two copies of each chromosome; one set of 23 from the mother and one set of 23 from the father. Each chromosome set contains over 3 billion base pairs of information. Therefore, a total of 6 billion DNA bases are in our 46 chromosomes that are inside of nearly every cell in our body. When scientists talk about a creature’s genome, they are only referring to one set of chromosomes. Thus, the reference genome in humans is the sum total of one complete set of 23 chromosomes.

The “initial draft” of DNA sequences in the human genome was initially published in 2001. In 2004, scientists published a more complete version, but there were still small parts that remained to be sequenced, so researchers kept updating the human genome as DNA sequencing technologies improved and more data were acquired. The human genome is now one of the most complete of all known genome sequences–mostly because considerably more research money has been spent on it compared to other life forms.

In order to organize 3 billion bases, researchers use unique DNA sequences as reference markers. Then they determine where these short sequences are located on each chromosome. They assumed that comparing sequences between related creatures would help locate them. Scientists initially chose chimpanzees as the closest creature to humans because they knew that their proteins and DNA fragments had similar biochemical properties.[202] However, some researchers for various reasons chose gorillas or orangutans as being closest to humans and compared their DNA instead. In fact, a recent research paper made the claim that orangutan DNAs were more similar to humans’ in structure and appearance than chimpanzee, and thus should be considered our closest ancestor. Nevertheless, the consensus opinion among evolutionary scientists is that chimpanzees are closest to humans on the hypothetical evolutionary tree. For this reason, most genetics studies assume this relationship before they even begin analyzing DNA.

In the early days of DNA sequencing in the 1970s, scientists were able to sequence only very short segments of DNA. For this reason, they focused on DNA segments that they knew would be highly similar between animals, such as blood globin proteins and mitochondrial DNA (DNA which is inherited from the mother). They selected similar regions for comparison, because you cannot glean any meaningful comparisons between two DNA sequences that exist only in one and not the other. Researchers discovered that many of the short stretches of DNA genetic sequences that code for common proteins were not only highly similar in many types of animals, but nearly identical between humans and apes.[203]

Before the true levels of similarity between human and chimp genomes can be determined, a basic understanding of what DNA sequencing actually entails is helpful. While the

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