The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism, Michael J. Behe, c. 2007

The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism, Michael J. Behe, c. 2007

Some great insights regarding malaria.

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Chapter 1: The Elements of Darwinism

“Common descent” — what most people think of when they hear the word “evolution.”

“Common descent” looks for similarities but goes no further.

Rabbits and bears both have hair, so their ancestor(s) must have had hair also, but the questions of “how” and “why” are left hanging.

In contrast, Darwin’s hypothesized mechanism of evolution — the compound concept of random mutation paired with natural selection  tries to account for differences between creatures.

Behe then teases apart that compound concept.

First: natural selection — hardly surprising that creatures that are somehow more fit would on average do better in nature than ones that were less fit.

Second: the most critical of Darwin’s multifaceted theory is the role of random mutation.

“Almost all of what is novel and important in Darwinian thought is concentrated in this third concept: in Darwinian thinking, the only way a plant or animal becomes fitter than its relatives is by sustaining a serendipitous mutation.

So, Behe suggests there are three Darwinian rails:

• natural selection
• random mutation
• random mutation is the only way natural selection occurs

Random mutation, natural selection, and common descent — three separate ideas welded into one theory.

Behe argues that each of the three components needs to be evaluated separately.

Behe grants that modern science greatly supports common descent — DNA
Behe grants that random mutation paired with natural selection can modify life in important ways
But Behe departs from Darwinism when he suggests that there is strong evidence that random mutation is extremely limited

Behe doesn’t mention “neo-Darwinism until p. 189 and then in a single paragraph.

He argues against Darwinism as a theory-of-everything.

Enter the pathway. That’s where Behe argues Darwinism falls apart. The pathway suggests that “things” did not occur randomly.

He lays out the theme for this book on page 14: “This book looks for the line between the random and the nonrandom that defines the edge of evolution.”

Example: malaria

Malaria parasite is relentless in brushing aside best efforts of modern medicine
Sickle cell disease: a silver lining for those living in Africa — sickle cell is due to a single, simple genetic change — nothing at all complicated. Yet despite having a thousandfold more time to deal with the sickle mutation than with modern drugs, malaria has not found a way to counter it. While the evolutionary power of malaria stymies modern medicine, a tiny genetic change in its host organism foils malaria

Example: HIV

HIV — rapidly mutates to beat modern medicine
E. coli — has been studied in flasks for over thirty thousand generations — equivalent to about a million human-years; and yet it has not evolved; if anything it has devolved, throwing away some ability to that is actually helpful

Example: temperature

Notothenioid fish — can withstand temperatures that should freeze their blood solid; studies show that the fish evolved over 10 million years to be able to survive freezing temperatures
Malaria — the parasite won’t develop unless temperature is conducive, i.e., that of the tropics; despite tens of thousands of years and a huge population size, the malaria parasite has never evolved to live even at merely cool temperatures.

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Chapter 2: Arms Race or Trench Warfare?

C-Harlem mutation: apparently protects against malaria but doesn't sickle. Mutation found in NYC but not found in Africa.