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Darwin lobby reviewer: Junk DNA “helps creationists”

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Further to: Blocking “junk” DNA can prevent stroke damage (so it obviously does something, right?):

In a book review in a Darwin lobby journal, “A deeper confusion,” (of The Deeper Genome and Junk DNA: A Journey Through the Dark Matter of the Genome), we read a note of concern:

If taken uncritically, these texts can be expected to generate even more confusion in a field that already has a serious problem when it comes to communicating the best understanding of the science to the public.

Hmmm. Anything, “taken uncritically,” can be expected to do that. So… ah, now we come to it:

They will also certainly provide ammunition for intelligent design proponents and other creationists. The debunking of junk DNA and the quest to find function for the whole of the human genome have constituted major focus points for such groups in their crusade against evolution (Wells [2011]; Tompkins [2012]; Wells [2013])—it is assumed (justifiably or not) that a creator would not design genomes full of “junk”, therefore any scientific result that seems to show that more of the genome is functional than previously thought is warmly embraced by them as evidence against junk DNA theory as a whole.

When someone argues that a fact helps the wrong sort of people, better pay attention to the fact, not his opinion.

Put another way: Is one better off with the wrong people with the right answer or the right people with the wrong answer. Or … ignore the Darwin lobby and have a nice day.

See also: Junk DNA hires a PR firm

and

Jonathan Wells on junk DNA (Yes, the guy cited above)

Follow UD News at Twitter!

Note: Posting light until later this evening, due to O’Leary for News’ alternate day job.

Hat tip: Pos-Darwinista

Comments
Actually I've seen "creationists" use junk dna as evidence for creation. Arguing it shows that originally the organisms were crafted perfectly, and now they are degrading. This also falls in line with the more common theme of creationists that nearly all mutations are deleterious, that would also predict there to be junk dna. That there is little junk dna shows intelligent design is happening here and now, and not just with original creation. It always appeared to me that the chance for beneficial mutations are high, given the results in agriculture and disease control. It always appeared to me intelligent design occurs now. It is only in Darwinian theory that the chance for a beneficial mutation is vanishingly small. What darwinists did was to attribute observed beneficial mutations to randomness. But actually it is unknown. They should experimentally artificially produce mutations at random, over generations, and see how that works out. Then we would know for sure the mutations are random, and can test the theory of random mutation.mohammadnursyamsu
December 24, 2015
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...or, rather, are we concerned with ‘understanding things in a particular (materialistic) way’?
Yes, for you see, if God actually existed, science would not be possible. But science is possible. Therefore God does not exist. QED.Mung
December 23, 2015
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The writing is on the wall. The end is near. To borrow words from Thomas Wolfe, the failure of Darwinism will be abysmal, crushing and complete. It's coming. Wait for it.Mapou
December 23, 2015
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Never fear! The Darwinists will weave a tale to demonstrate that the lack of junk DNA is yet another triumph for the marvelous materialistic forces of evolution. Hallelujah, praise the godless universe!OldArmy94
December 23, 2015
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Complex grammar of the genomic language - November 9, 2015 Excerpt: The 'grammar' of the human genetic code is more complex than that of even the most intricately constructed spoken languages in the world. The findings explain why the human genome is so difficult to decipher --,,, ,,, in their recent study in Nature, the Taipale team examines the binding preferences of pairs of transcription factors, and systematically maps the compound DNA words they bind to. Their analysis reveals that the grammar of the genetic code is much more complex than that of even the most complex human languages. Instead of simply joining two words together by deleting a space, the individual words that are joined together in compound DNA words are altered, leading to a large number of completely new words. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151109140252.htm Biochemical Turing Machines “Reboot” the Watchmaker Argument - Fazale Rana - July 2012 Excerpt: Researchers recognize several advantages to DNA computers.(7) One is the ability to perform a massive number of operations at the same time (in parallel) as opposed to one at a time (serially) as demanded by silicon-based computers. Secondly, DNA has the capacity to store an enormous quantity of information. One gram of DNA can house as much information as nearly 1 trillion CDs. And a third benefit is that DNA computing operates near the theoretical capacity with regard to energy efficiency. http://stevebrownetc.com/2012/07/02/biochemical-turing-machines-%E2%80%9Creboot%E2%80%9D-the-watchmaker-argument/ A Look at the Quality Control System in the Protein Factory - JonathanM - March 2012 Excerpt: The DNA damage response (DDR) system is like a cellular special ops force. The moment such damage is detected, an intricate network of communication and recruitment launches into action. If the cellular process for making proteins were a factory, this would be the most advanced quality-control system ever designed. http://www.evolutionnews.org/2012/03/a_look_at_the_q057791.html Quantum Dots Spotlight DNA-Repair Proteins in Motion - March 2010 Excerpt: "How this system works is an important unanswered question in this field," he said. "It has to be able to identify very small mistakes in a 3-dimensional morass of gene strands. It's akin to spotting potholes on every street all over the country and getting them fixed before the next rush hour." Dr. Bennett Van Houten - of note: A bacterium has about 40 team members on its pothole crew. That allows its entire genome to be scanned for errors in 20 minutes, the typical doubling time.,, These smart machines can apparently also interact with other damage control teams if they cannot fix the problem on the spot. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100311123522.htm
Of note: DNA repair machines ‘Fixing every pothole in America before the next rush hour’ is analogous to the traveling salesman problem. The traveling salesman problem is a NP-hard (read: very hard) problem in computer science; The problem involves finding the shortest possible route between cities, visiting each city only once. ‘Traveling salesman problems’ are notorious for keeping supercomputers busy for days.
NP-hard problem – Examples Excerpt: Another example of an NP-hard problem is the optimization problem of finding the least-cost cyclic route through all nodes of a weighted graph. This is commonly known as the traveling salesman problem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NP-hard#Examples
Yet it is exactly this type of ‘traveling salesman problem’ that quantum computers excel at:
Speed Test of Quantum Versus Conventional Computing: Quantum Computer Wins - May 8, 2013 Excerpt: quantum computing is, "in some cases, really, really fast." McGeoch says the calculations the D-Wave excels at involve a specific combinatorial optimization problem, comparable in difficulty to the more famous "travelling salesperson" problem that's been a foundation of theoretical computing for decades.,,, "This type of computer is not intended for surfing the internet, but it does solve this narrow but important type of problem really, really fast," McGeoch says. "There are degrees of what it can do. If you want it to solve the exact problem it's built to solve, at the problem sizes I tested, it's thousands of times faster than anything I'm aware of. If you want it to solve more general problems of that size, I would say it competes -- it does as well as some of the best things I've looked at. At this point it's merely above average but shows a promising scaling trajectory." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130508122828.htm
Since it is obvious that there is not a material CPU (central processing unit) in the DNA, or cell, busily computing answers to this monster logistic problem, in a purely ‘material’ fashion, by crunching bits, then it is readily apparent that this monster ‘traveling salesman problem’, for DNA repair, is somehow being computed by ‘non-local’ quantum computation;
Classical and Quantum Information in DNA – Elisabeth Rieper – video (Longitudinal Quantum Information along the entire length of DNA discussed at the 19:30 minute mark; at 24:00 minute mark Dr Rieper remarks that practically the whole DNA molecule can be viewed as quantum information with classical information embedded within it) https://youtu.be/2nqHOnVTxJE?t=1176
Verse and Music:
John 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Handel: Messiah, For unto us a child is born (Sir Colin Davis, Tenebrae, LSO) London Symphony Orchestra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS3vpAWW2Zc
bornagain
December 23, 2015
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DNA screams "I AM INTELLIGENTLY DESIGNED!".
Cross section of DNA compared to the Rose window at York Minster (the largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe) - picture https://reflectionsfrommyporchswing.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/dna-2.jpg Unwinding the Double Helix: Meet DNA Helicase - Jonathan M. February 20, 2013 - article with video Excerpt: With a rotational speed of up to 10,000 rotations per minute, the helicase rivals the rotational speed of jet engine turbines. http://www.evolutionnews.org/2013/02/unwinding_the_d_1069371.html DNA Wrapping - video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbSIBhFwQ4s DNA Packaging: Nucleosomes and Chromatin each of us has enough DNA to go from here to the Sun and back more than 300 times, or around Earth's equator 2.5 million times! How is this possible? http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/DNA-Packaging-Nucleosomes-and-Chromatin-310 The Chromosome in Nuclear Space - Stephen L. Talbott Excerpt: "If you arranged the DNA in a human cell linearly, it would extend for nearly two meters. How do you pack all that DNA into a cell nucleus just five or ten millionths of a meter in diameter? According to the usual comparison it’s as if you had to pack 24 miles (40 km) of extremely thin thread into a tennis ball. Moreover, this thread is divided into 46 pieces (individual chromosomes) averaging, in our tennis-ball analogy, over half a mile long. Can it be at all possible not only to pack the chromosomes into the nucleus, but also to keep them from becoming hopelessly entangled? Obviously it must be possible, however difficult to conceive — and in fact an endlessly varied packing and unpacking is going on all the time.,,, http://natureinstitute.org/txt/st/mqual/genome_2.htm Comprehensive Mapping of Long-Range Interactions Reveals Folding Principles of the Human Genome - Oct. 2009 Excerpt: At the megabase scale, the chromatin conformation is consistent with a fractal globule, a knot-free, polymer conformation that enables maximally dense packing while preserving the ability to easily fold and unfold any genomic locus. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/326/5950/289 Information Storage in DNA by Wyss Institute - video https://vimeo.com/47615970 Quote from preceding video: "The theoretical (information) density of DNA is you could store the total world information, which is 1.8 zetabytes, at least in 2011, in about 4 grams of DNA." Sriram Kosuri PhD. - Wyss Institute Demonstrating, Once Again, the Fantastic Information-Storage Capacity of DNA - January 29, 2013 Excerpt: researchers led by molecular biologists Nick Goldman and Ewan Birney of the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) in Hinxton, UK, report online today in Nature that they've improved the DNA encoding scheme to raise that storage density to a staggering 2.2 petabytes per gram, three times the previous effort.,,, http://www.evolutionnews.org/2013/01/how_do_you_peta068641.html Second, third, fourth… genetic codes - One spectacular case of code crowding - Edward N. Trifonov - video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDB3fMCfk0E
In the preceding video, Trifonov elucidates codes that are, simultaneously, in the same sequence, coding for DNA curvature, Chromatin Code, Amphipathic helices, and NF kappaB. In fact, at the 58:00 minute mark he states, "Reading only one message, one gets three more, practically GRATIS!". And please note that this was just an introductory lecture in which Trifinov just covered the very basics and left many of the other codes out of the lecture. Codes which code for completely different, yet still biologically important, functions. In fact, at the 7:55 mark of the video, there are 13 codes that are listed on a powerpoint, although the writing was too small for me to read.bornagain
December 23, 2015
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@PaV We can see how much politics drives these evolutionists even though they claim it is about science.Jack Jones
December 23, 2015
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They're worried about IDers. Are they worried about people like Larry Moran who deny the results of ENCODE? Is this not, too, an assault on science? Are we concerned with 'understanding things,' or, rather, are we concerned with 'understanding things in a particular (materialistic) way'?PaV
December 23, 2015
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