Zika Virus

“The Brain defects caused by Zika virus ‘could set evolution back 2 million years’ scientists claim” was the leading story in the UK’s Daily Mirror in February. Since then, the global spread of the Zika virus, previously known as a rare virus, continues as a leading headline story – for good reasons. As CNN reports, “This is the first time a mosquito has been found to cause congenital birth defects.”

The New England Journal of Medicine published the article entitled “Zika virus and Birth Defects — Reviewing the Evidence for Causality” on April 13, written by a team headed by Sonja Rasmussen at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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New Evolution Nightmare

Syn3.0J. Craig Venter, best known for being the first to sequence the human genome in 2000, is recognized as one of the leading scientists of the 21st century. Ten years after his important accomplishment, Venter was credited for successfully recreating “the first synthetic species” in 2010 – named Mycoplasma laboratorium.

In his relentless pursuit to “understand the molecular and biological function of every gene in a cell,” Venter released the latest findings discovered in his genetics research laboratory in Southern California. The paper, entitled “Design and Synthesis of a Minimal Bacterial Genome,” was published on March 25, 2016, in the journal Science. The findings have emerged as a new genomic evolution nightmare for Craig Venter.

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R2d2 Disses Darwin

R2d2 R2D2, short for Artoo-Detoo, is best known as the fictional robotic character in the Star Wars universe series created by George Lucas. Inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame in 2003, R2D2 has since been included in the Smithsonian Institution’s list of 101 Objects that Made America.

R2D2 is the good guy, the favorite character of George Lucas – known for always saving the day at least once in every film. However, R2d2 disses Darwin.

In the realm of biology, however, the R2d2 gene is a Darth Vader villain terrorizing Darwin’s once-popular theory.

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Charles Darwin Legitimized Racism

Starting with his infamous book, The Origin of Species (1859), Charles Darwin legitimized racism based on the theory of evolution, at one time. The complete title contains the essential phrase “preservation of favoured races” –

“On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life”

How his concept of “races” applies to humans was clarified in The Descent of Man (1871). Darwin explains –

“The sole objective of this work is to consider… the value of the differences between the so-called races of man.”

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Evolution’s Science Status

Royal Society MeetingThe status of evolution as a science is verging closer to extinction following a workshop in Germany last month. The essence and definition of science were on center stage at this historical convening of the leading physicists and philosophers of science last month.

The meeting convened in the Romanesque-style Ludwig Maximilian University lecture hall. Science writer Natalie Wolchover covered the story for Quanta Magazine entitled “A Fight for the Soul of Science” and later reprinted on TheAtlantic.com entitled “Physicists and Philosophers Hold Peace Talks.”

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