The Reducing Of “Irreducible Complexity”

by tristero

One of the fundamental tenets of “Intelligent Design” creationism dies an ignominious death.

By reconstructing ancient genes from long-extinct animals, scientists have for the first time demonstrated the step-by-step progression of how evolution created a new piece of molecular machinery by reusing and modifying existing parts.

The researchers say the findings, published today in the journal Science, offer a counterargument to doubters of evolution who question how a progression of small changes could produce the intricate mechanisms found in living cells.

“The evolution of complexity is a longstanding issue in evolutionary biology,” said Joseph W. Thornton, professor of biology at the University of Oregon and lead author of the paper. “We wanted to understand how this system evolved at the molecular level. There’s no scientific controversy over whether this system evolved. The question for scientists is how it evolved, and that’s what our study showed.”

Charles Darwin wrote in The Origin of Species, “If it would be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.”

Discoveries like that announced this week of a fish with limblike fins have filled in the transitions between species. New molecular biology techniques let scientists begin to reconstruct how the processes inside a cell evolved over millions of years.

Details then follow. The article is very good until the final few paragraphs which provide Michael Behe, the scientist who propounded the bogus theory of “irreducible complexity” to lie through his teeth about the importance of the study. What the article fails to mention is that Behe’s definition of science is so broad he considers astrology to be a scientific theory. Worse, the Times piece doesn’t mention that at Dover, when shown dozens of articles relevant to the issues raised by “irreducible complexity,” and which debunk Behe’s theory, Behe deployed the famous Austin Powers “That’s Not My Swedish Penis Enlarger!” tactic. He merely asserted that all those studies weren’t enough evidence against “irreducible complexity” without offering anything support his position (at this link, there is a link to a pdf of the full transcript of Behe’s testimony).

As Krugman rightly says, “Shape of Earth: Views Differ” is not responsible journalism. Behe’s 15 minutes is up, Mr. Keller.