Home \ Online Books \ The Creation Explanation

Summary of Mutation Effects

Scientists, after many years of work with fruit flies and other kinds of organisms, have not yet succeeded in transforming one kind of creature into another kind. For example, the bacterial strains discussed above are still classified as the same species. Ernst Mayr of Harvard, an international authority, in his 1970 book, Populations, Species, and Evolution, deals only with types of variation which are trivial compared with what is required by evolutionary theory. Even some scientists who believe in evolution admit that the limited changes observed are not a scientific basis for postulating the evolution of all forms of life, ever upward from simple to complex, by means of gene mutation and natural selection.

The fossil evidence of the numbers and kinds of extinct life forms, together with the historical evidence of the gradual extinction of many kinds of plans and animals, suggests that the natural process is "devolution" rather than evolution. The total diversity of genes in the world of living things is decreasing, not increasing. Every species or variety that becomes extinct represents a disappearance of genes from the world. Many species are facing extinction today, largely as a result of man's dislocations of the natural order. every species, including man, is accumulating an increasing "genetic load" of mutated genes which are unfavorable. Natural selection operates to weed out damaged genes, but when they become established in the population, the effect is degenerative.

This degenerative course in nature is to be expected from the exquisitely complex organization of the genetic information contained in the DNA molecules in chromosomes. Accidental changes in the DNA molecules of any creature's germ cells will almost always be disruptive and destructive, or at best neutral. The proposal that random, accidental changes in the nucleotide sequence of the DNA molecule, that is, gene mutations, could be responsible for the innovative design of new and improved cell chemistry, new cells, tissues, organs or organisms is comparable to suggesting that a defective television set could be improved by firing a bullet into the solid state circuitry. The fact that one bullet might accidentally jar a loose connection back into contact could not possibly overcome the fact that the next thousand bullets will certainly totally destroy the television set.

The observed genetic degeneration of natural populations agrees with the concept of a degenerating natural order which originally was in a state of perfection. The amazing complexity, capacity, and accuracy of the genetic machinery in living cells support the concept of intelligent, purposeful design. That the numerous degenerative and disruptive influence continuously acting on all organisms have not produced even greater deleterious effects on genetic systems suggests the high degree of sophistication of the original design.