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More Evolution by Breaking Stuff

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Building things — major novelties, complex wonders, splendid inventions — that’s the problem Darwinism can’t solve. But evolving advantages by tossing abilities aside, yes that’s something unguided processes are capable of doing. Evolution is a fact, as they always tell us, but it hasn’t been shown to have the inventor’s touch.

In a study published in PLOS Genetics, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Germany have demonstrated that again (“Dependency can be an evolutionary advantage“). The research involved bacteria that tossed aside an ability, to their advantage:

It has been known for quite some time that genetically modified bacteria which have lost their ability to produce certain amino acids and retrieve these nutrients from their environment grow better than bacteria which produce all nutrients themselves….This led Christian Kost, leader of the study and now professor at the University of Osnabrück, to inquire whether natural selection would favor the loss of abilities, thus making bacteria more dependent on their environment. To find out, Kost and his PhD student Glen D’Souza cultivated the gut bacterium Escherichia coli bacteria for several generations under optimal nutritious conditions. The culture was regularly transferred to a fresh nutrient solution, and during some of these transfers, a sample was taken to examine the bacterial capabilities and genes.

The results confirmed the assumption: A fraction of bacteria which had originally been autonomous lost their ability to produce metabolites, such as amino acids; they had become dependent on their environment which was enriched with these nutrients. “To our surprise, we found similar results when no nutrients had been added to the culture medium,” explained Glen D’Souza, the first author of the study. “The bacteria were divided into two groups: One group was still independent, whereas the other group had become dependent on these autonomous bacteria, which were still producing nutrients by themselves.”

Maybe this is true only of bacteria? That might get Darwinism off the hook, partially. But no such luck:

A similar loss of traits has been observed not only in bacteria, but also in other groups of organisms. Many animals, including humans, are not able to produce vitamins themselves — they depend on their food or on vitamin-producing bacteria in their gut. Many pathogens need substances produced by their hosts in order to proliferate. Until now, it has been unclear why organisms would give up their autonomy and become dependent on others. This study now shows that the loss of capabilities may be evolutionarily advantageous and thus drive adaptation.

Note the last sentence (emphasis added). But we knew this already, as Michael Behe reminded listeners to a recent ID the Future podcast (“Breaking Bad — Behe on How Evolution Really Works“).

Image credit: Glen D’Souza, Christian Kost, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology.

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David Klinghoffer

Senior Fellow and Editor, Evolution News
David Klinghoffer is a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute and the editor of Evolution News & Science Today, the daily voice of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture, reporting on intelligent design, evolution, and the intersection of science and culture. Klinghoffer is also the author of six books, a former senior editor and literary editor at National Review magazine, and has written for the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Commentary, and other publications. Born in Santa Monica, California, he graduated from Brown University in 1987 with an A.B. magna cum laude in comparative literature and religious studies. David lives near Seattle, Washington, with his wife and children.

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