Transcript Artificial selection - Department of Biological Science

“Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light
of evolution.”
- T. Dozhansky
Greek Gods
Norse Gods
Raelian leader says cloning first step to
immortality
Saturday, December 28, 2002 Posted: 2:08 AM EST (0708 GMT)
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The leader of a religious sect that claimed
to have created the first human clone Friday called the
development "just the first step" toward human immortality
through cloning.
Former French journalist Claude Vorilhon, who now calls himself Rael,
claims to be a direct descendant of extraterrestrials who created
human life on Earth through genetic engineering. A company founded
by his followers announced Friday that the first human clone has been
born -- a 7-pound baby girl dubbed "Eve."
Raëlians on the origin of life
www.rael.org
Origin hypotheses
natural
selection
God
space aliens
?
?
Life
Humans
mainstream biology
Life
natural
selection
God
space aliens
Humans
Genesis God
God
universe
natural
selection
space aliens
Life
Humans
Raëlian hypothesis
space aliens
natural
selection
God
Life on earth
Humans
the materialist hypothesis
universe
natural
selection
Life
natural
selection
God
space aliens
Humans
Distant creator God
God
universe
Life
natural
selection
space aliens
Humans
Watchmaker God
God
universe
natural
selection
Life
natural
selection
space aliens
Humans
Other hypotheses?
God
space aliens
natural
selection
Life
Humans
Rael: No DNA test for baby Eve
Sect leader vows to guard identity of alleged human
clone
Friday, January 3, 2003 Posted: 11:05 AM EST (1605 GMT)
SHERBROOKE, Quebec (CNN) -- A company founded by
members of a sect that believes mankind was created by
extraterrestrials says what it calls the first human clone will not
undergo testing to verify her genetic makeup.
The head of the Raelian movement, who calls himself "Rael," said
Thursday that he has told Clonaid's leader not to perform DNA tests
on the infant girl, nicknamed "Eve."
Raelian cloners 'have two staff and no lab'
[WASHINGTON] Clonaid, the company that announced last
December that it had cloned a human, seems to have no lab
space and only two employees, according to court documents
obtained by the Boston Globe.
Clonaid was founded by a religious sect known as the
Raelians, who believe that the human race was cloned from
aliens. The company's managing director, Raelian bishop
Brigitte Boisselier, has said that so far a dozen clients have
each paid $25,000 or more for the group's cloning services.
Nature 423, 8 (01 May 2003); doi:10.1038/423008a
What do you think?
Do you think the Raëlians cloned a human?
Did space aliens create all life on earth?
How do you know?
How do you know?
• Because you’ve seen it yourself.
• Because someone you trust told you.
• Because it makes logical sense.
Why do you believe someone?
•
•
•
•
They are a relative.
They have moral or religious authority.
They are scientists.
They offer verifiable evidence in favor of
their for their idea.
• They offer verifiable evidence against
alternative ideas.
Why do you believe someone?
•
•
•
•
They are a relative.
They have moral or religious authority.
They are scientists.
They offer verifiable evidence in favor of
their for their idea.
• They offer verifiable evidence against
alternative ideas.
That’s science
Scientific hypotheses
Hypothesis: a potential explanation for some observation or
phenomenon.
Scientific hypothesis: a hypothesis that could be rejected
by some conceivable observation.
Useful scientific hypothesis: a hypothesis that can be
rejected by some conceivable observation
RIGHT NOW.
Text, Fig. 1.19
Limits to science
Many interesting hypotheses are not necessarily
verifiable:
• What does pain feel like?
• Did space aliens take Raël to another planet?
• Did God create humans?
Not everything that is true is subject to scientific
confirmation.
OUTLINE 20
I. The Concept of Evolution up to Darwin’s Time
A. Greek Philosophy
B. Christian Theology
C. The Enlightenment
II. Evolution Before Darwin
A. Lamarck
B. State of knowledge at Darwin’s time
III. Darwin and the theory of Evolution By Natural Selection
A. Voyage of the Beagle
B. Formulation of the theory
IV. The Theory
A. Essential elements
B. Contrast with views of the time
V. Darwin’s Evidence
A. Artificial selection
B. The fossil record
C. Comparative anatomy
D. Embryology
E. Biogeography
Greek Philosophy
Essentialism
Modern remnants of the great chain of being
Surprising things about this discovery
Homo floresiensis in the context of the evolution and dispersal of the genus Homo.
a, The new species as part of the Asian dispersals of the descendants of H.
ergaster and H. erectus, with an outline of the descent of other Homo species
provided for context. b, The evolutionary history of Homo is becoming increasingly
complex as new species are discovered. Homo floresiensis (left) is believed1 to be
a long-term, isolated descendant of Javanese H. erectus, but it could be a recent
divergence. 1, H. ergaster/African erectus; 2, georgicus; 3, Javanese and Chinese
erectus; 4, antecessor; 5, cepranensis; 6, heidelbergensis; 7, helmei; 8,
neanderthalensis; 9, sapiens; 10, floresiensis. Solid lines show probable
evolutionary relationships; dashed lines, possible alternatives. Nature 431:1043.
James Hutton
1726 - 1797
Gradualism Natural
laws are invariant.
Change results from
the accumulation of
slow continuous
processes.
Charles Lyell
1797 - 1875
Uniformitarianism
the rate of geological
activity on Earth is
constant.
Similarity among the limb bones of organisms that use them for
different purposes – Buffon 1760
Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck
1744 - 1829
. . . time and favorable
conditions are the two
principal means which
nature has employed in
giving existence to all her
productions. We know
that for her time has no
limit, and that
consequently she always
has it at her disposal.
Charles Darwin
1809-1882
Voyage of the HMS Beagle
Thomas Malthus
1766 - 1834
Populations can
increase faster than
their resources
Alfred R. Wallace
1823 - 1913
More offspring are born than can survive to reproduce
Parent
Offspring
Parent
Individuals within a species vary
Traits are heritable
Parent
Offspring
Parent
Offspring
Individuals with some traits reproduce more than others
Parent
Offspring
Parent
Offspring
Traits that enhance reproduction become more common
each generation
parents
generation
1
offspring
generation
1
parents
generation
2
offspring
generation
2
Artificial selection
has produced
different, truebreeding varieties
of “fancy” pigeons
from a single
ancestral form
Fossils - preserved evidence of previously living things
Fig 22.17
A fossil whale with hind legs
Homology - similarity caused by common ancestry
Evidence for evolution from comparative embryology
Early embryos of diverse groups share many features. As development
proceeds, embryonic forms diverge and become more similar to adults of
their own species (von Baer’s law)
Finches of the Galapagos Islands
Molecular evidence