Humans Are Devolving
“We are all mutants,” proclaimed a headline on Science Daily. “First Direct Whole-Genome Measure of Human Mutation Predicts 60 New Mutations in Each of Us.” The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute press release reported 60 new mutations per individual, received from parents – a “striking value” the article characterized the “unexpected findings”. The genomes of children from two families were inspected in this first-ever test of generational mutation. “This fascinating result had not been anticipated, and it raises as many questions as it answers,” the article exclaimed without offering an explanation of how evolution could deal with this high a mutational load. See also the 06/05/2011 entry, “Genetic Entropy Confirmed.”
Note: the Sanger Institute is named after geneticist Fred Sanger, not (thank goodness) Margaret Sanger, the racist-eugenicist founder of Planned Parenthood. She had thought eliminating the unfit would be improve humanity. Would that Sanger, Hitler and other believers in eugenics had known what John Sanford revealed so clearly in his book Genetic Entropy and the Mystery of the Genome; all attempts to stop the tide of mutations are hopelessly ineffective. Not even extreme genocide of all the perceived unfit could stop the downward trend.
Even one or two mutations per generation is cause for alarm, let alone 60. John Sanford’s book is must reading to realize two things: (1) Natural selection can never find enough beneficial mutations to overcome the flood of deleterious ones, most of which are nearly-neutral mistakes that accumulate, like typographic errors, to cause genetic deterioration. (2) Humans could not possibly have lived for millions of years at this rate of mutational degradation. This story only reinforces with empirical data a worry about the future of our species that has long been known by population geneticists. We are not evolving, despite improvements in medicine; we are all less fit than Neanderthals and ancient Romans. Unless the Lord intervenes, the human genome is doomed.
Comments
“we are all mutants” seems to line up with the Biblical worldview of speciation and de-volution.
No a big surprise really how else do you think that Adam, Enoch, Seth, Noah, and Moses lived to be hundreds of years old. There genetics were far stronger than our own are, through generations our genetic code has always been getting weaker and weaker and more and more mutation happens destroying our genetic makeup generation by generation.
Of course we’re mutants – we’re creationists, right? Ask anyone.
But seriously, this is a solid blow to the stasis-just-happens crowd. How does the evolutionist explain away half a billion horseshoe crab generations? I like to hear it.
There must be some recovery also not only degeneration but of course the degeneration in due course of time is bigger.
For example, from the middle age till nowadays the life span is increasing but at one point it will again start to decrease.
Modern medicine and standards of living have given our recent society the ability to survive when the weaker members would probably have died out without being able to pass on weak or malfunctioning genes. Our advances in technology, medicine, and cleanliness have given us a better quality of life, but they have also allowed for degradation in the genetic code to be propagated throughout the species. When we were created, we were made fit, strong, and healthy. Now, after being separated from our Creator for so long, our intricate programming is slowly becoming unraveled. We are no longer fit, strong, and healthy as a species but are now limping along with a crutch, spreading our DNA to our children and beyond as we go. Without DNA therapy, how long can we last before another era of eugenics comes along to cleanse the line? We need the Master Engineer more than ever.