16AR21-29

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AR 21:29 - Trashing the "junk DNA" hypothesis

In this issue:

GENETICS - why "many prominent scholars have broken with Darwinian selection"

ISLAM - when moderate Muslim imams and scholars fear the ignorant and bigoted more than retaliations for criticizing ISIS

Apologia Report 21:29 (1,302)

August 10, 2016

GENETICS

The Deeper Genome: Why There Is More to the Human Genome Than Meets the Eye, by John Parrington [1] -- Tom Woodward (a research professor at Trinity College of Florida and director of the C.S. Lewis Society which was "*launched originally on the Princeton campus*"), begins his review by describing the text as an "almost-magisterial book." Parrington, who serves as Associate Professor in Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at Oxford, "makes an abstruse topic accessible" and seeks to achieve "two basic goals.

"First, he wants to trace the pathway of discovery that led to many revelations about the mysteries of the genomic iceberg. We learn, step-by-step, how these truths were brought to light and made useful to medical science. This storytelling task is carried off with superlative skill."

It is an irony that the race to map and understand the universe mirrors the race to map and understand the human genome. For example, Parrington reviews the "junk DNA" hypothesis. Compare this to the history behind the dark matter hypothesis in astrophysics. Woodward explains that "at least 80 percent of the genome seems functional, and this might rise closer to 100 percent! Textbooks [a few years ago] were declaring that somewhere around 2 percent of our DNA was functional, with the rest being relegated to the category of 'junk' left over by eons of evolution. ...

"In reporting the ENCODE [Encyclopedia of DNA Elements project] and junk DNA debates, Parrington pulls no punches and presents a shrewd, balanced, and utterly fascinating account of this upheaval. This is arguably the finest overview of the controversy in print. ... It is tied for first place with the superb focused treatment penned recently by prominent biologist Jonathan Wells: The Myth of Junk DNA [2]." In particular, Woodward singles out the outstanding coverage that Wells gives "the mystery of the 'fifth letter of DNA,' or 'methylated C.' ...

"It turns out that the addition of a 'methyl tag' - a modified methane molecule (CH3) attached to the C - effectively turns the gene off, giving it a rest. The process of adding or removing such tags across a cell's genome functions like the cues of an orchestra director, guiding DNA's symphony of functions. Surprisingly, the methylation pattern is changeable. One can tune up the efficiency of this system (or damage it) through life habits. Methlation is now linked to obesity, cancer, and other health problems. Parrington's coverage of such epigenetic control is brilliant and includes the newest ENCODE discoveries."

Parrington's "second goal appears to be historical, focusing on the question, 'how did all this multilayered complexity arise?' Near the end of the book, this focus dominates, as the story of human evolution is tackled in a long, meandering discussion. In this history task, Parrington misses a golden opportunity for critical thinking and shrewd analysis." Woodward is frustrated with Parrington's "allegiance to a naturalistic worldview (again, not surprising) but also this blithe assertion, as if lecturing eighth graders: 'Newtonian mechanics and Darwin's theory of natural selection are all accepted as central cornerstones of modern scientific thought.'

"Such a claim is overblown, even ludicrous, at this point in the scientific debate. Many prominent scholars have broken with Darwinian selection, no longer seeing it as a powerful source of new genetic material and innovation in living things." Woodward notes that some among "a cadre of biologists" have been candid about the inability of Darwin's mechanism to account for major innovations in biology." Christian Research Journal, 39:2 - 2016, pp54-5.

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ISLAM

"Muslim Leaders Wage Theological Battle, Stoking ISIS' Anger" by Laurie Goodstein -- "As the military and political battle against the Islamic State escalates, Muslim imams and scholars in the West are fighting on another front - through theology." Goodstein reports that ISIS "recently threatened the lives of 11 Muslim imams and scholars in the West, calling them 'apostates' who should be killed. The recent issue of the Islamic State's online propaganda magazine, Dabiq, called them 'obligatory targets,' and it said that supporters should use any weapons on hand to 'make an example of them.' ...

"'This is what hurts ISIS the most. It is Muslims speaking out,' said Mubin Shaikh, a Canadian who once joined an extremist Islamist group and now advises governments on countering radicalization. 'Fear-mongering is what ISIS is trying to do, whether to silence these people or to silence others as a deterrent.' ...

"'It's an honor to be denounced by ISIS,' said Imam Webb, who <https://suhaibwebb.com> frequently engages young Muslims over social media, whether on YouTube, Facebook, Periscope or Snapchat. 'I consider it one of my greatest accomplishments in life.'

"The imams named by the Islamic State are based in the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia. They represent a broad spectrum of Islamic thought — from spiritual Sufis to puritanical Salafis, and even the more militant 'Salafi Jihadis.'

"To the Islamic State's propagandists, it does not matter that the imams are fervent Muslims or critics of American foreign policy: They are all 'unbelievers,' just like the Shiite Muslims, Christians and Yazidis that the Islamic State has killed by the thousands in Iraq, Libya, Syria and elsewhere. ...

"The list also includes Salafi-oriented preachers such as Bilal Philips, a Canadian convert who has been barred from several countries because of allegations that he preaches extremism; Tawfique Chowdhury, an Australian doctor who founded organizations and charities that propagate orthodox views of Islam; and Abu Basir al-Tartusi, a Syrian preacher based in London who has spoken in support of Al Qaeda, according to news reports.

"Cole Bunzel, a scholar at Princeton University studying Islamic history and jihadist ideology, said, 'What ISIS is saying is that even if you support Al Qaeda, even if you're a supporter of someone like Tartusi, you're still not on team Islam.'

"The Islamic State's magazine also targeted American Muslims in government, such as Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota; Huma Abedin, a longtime top aide to Hillary Clinton; and Mohamed Elibiary, a Texas Republican and former adviser to the Department of Homeland Security. ...

"In March, a popular Saudi preacher, Sheikh Aaidh al-Qarni, was shot and wounded by a gunman in the Philippines, soon after the Islamic State's online magazine had put him on a list of 'apostate' Saudi scholars. Sheikh Qarni, who writes Islamic inspirational books and has nearly 13 million followers on Twitter, had just given a lecture at Western Mindanao State University, and his assailant was an engineering student.

"The effort to undermine the Islamic State using religion is not just a Western phenomenon. In January, Muslim leaders from around the world gathered in Morocco and produced the Marrakesh Declaration, which denounces <www.marrakeshdeclaration.org> Muslim oppression of religious minorities. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which represents 57 Muslim countries, recently endorsed the declaration. ...

"Sheikh Qadhi, however, said that, based on several frightening experiences recently in Tennessee, he has more to fear from right-wing Muslim-haters than from adherents of the Islamic State.

"'I'm not scared of ISIS in America,' he said. 'I feel very safe in every mosque I go to. But I am scared of other people in this land who are very ignorant and bigoted.'" New York Times, May 8 '16. <www.goo.gl/of9njp>

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SOURCES: Monographs

1 - The Deeper Genome: Why There Is More to the Human Genome Than Meets the Eye, by John Parrington (Oxford Univ Prs, 2015, hardcover, 288 pages) <www.goo.gl/lNnNey>

2 - The Myth of Junk DNA, by Jonathan Wells (Discovery Inst Prs, 2011, paperback, 150 pages) <www.goo.gl/djSifo>

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