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Is the Human Genome Garbage? Biologist Jonathan Wells Says No in New Book, The Myth of Junk DNA


Forty years ago scientists discovered that more than 95% of our DNA does not encode proteins. Since then the non-protein-coding portion was labeled “junk” and attributed to molecular accidents that have accumulated in the course of evolution.
Now, biologist Jonathan Wells exposes The Myth of Junk DNA (Discovery Institute Press 2011) and shows that contrary to being just evolutionary flotsam and jetsam, much of our non-protein-coding DNA performs essential biological functions. Wells, author of the acclaimed Icons of Evolution, wrote The Myth of Junk DNA in order to highlight the increasingly abundant evidence from scientific literature and recent genome projects showing that “junk DNA” is but a myth.
“Wells has clearly done his homework,” says Dr. Ralph Seelke, Professor of Microbial Genetics and Cell Biology at University of Wisconsin-Superior. “He cites hundreds of research articles as he describes the expanding story of non-coding DNA–the supposed ‘junk DNA.’ It is quite possibly the most thorough review of the subject available.”
“Wells’s book not only informs its readers of very recent research results, but also encourages them to think objectively and clearly about a key discovery in biology and to approach biological research with more creativity,” adds Dr. Russell W. Carlson, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Georgia.
Just as Icons of Evolution made scientific arguments accessible for a popular audience, helping many understand for the first time the problems with the “textbook” examples of evolution, The Myth of Junk DNA takes the cogent case against the current Darwinian story and communicates it on a level for the general reader.
The time has come for one of the last remaining icons to fall.

Robert Crowther, II

Robert Crowther holds a BA in Journalism with an emphasis in public affairs and 20 years experience as a journalist, publisher, and brand marketing and media relations specialist. From 1994-2000 he was the Director of Public and Media Relations for Discovery Institute overseeing most aspects of communications for each of the Institute's major programs. In addition to handling public and media relations he managed the Institute's first three books to press, Justice Matters by Roberta Katz, Speaking of George Gilder edited by Frank Gregorsky, and The End of Money by Richard Rahn.

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