Denton, Michael, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (London: Burnett Books, Ltd., 1985), 368 pp. Denton is a molecular biologist and is not a creationist.
p. 289
"The really significant finding that comes to light from comparing the
proteins’ amino acid sequences is that it is impossible to arrange them in any
sort of evolutionary series."
pp. 289-90
"Thousands of different sequences, protein and nucleic acid, have now been
compared in hundreds of different species but never has any sequence been found
to be in any sense the lineal descendant or ancestor of any other
sequence."
pp. 290-1
"There is little doubt that if this molecular evidence had been available
one century ago it would have been seized upon with devastating effect by the
opponents of evolution theory like Agassiz and Owen, and the idea of organic
evolution might never have been accepted."
p. 293
"In terms of their biochemistry, none of the species deemed ‘intermediate,’
‘ancestral,’ or ‘primitive’ by generations of evolutionary biologists,
and alluded to as evidence of sequence in nature, shows any sign of their
supposed intermediate status."
p. 296
"However, as there are hundreds of different families of proteins and each
family exhibits its own unique degree of interspecies variation, some greater
than haemoglobin, some far less than the cytochromes, then it is necessary to
propose not just two clocks but one for each of the several hundred protein
families, each ticking at its own unique and highly specific rate."
p. 305
"The difficulties associated with attempting to explain how a family of
homologous proteins could have evolved at constant rates has created chaos in
evolutionary thought. The evolutionary community has divided into two camps—those
still adhering to the selectionist position, and those rejecting it in favor of
the neutralist. The devastating aspect of this controversy is that neither side
can adequately account for the constancy of the rate of molecular evolution, yet
each side fatally weakens the other.
Erbrich, Paul, "On the Probability of the Emergence of a Protein with a Particular Function," Acta Biotheoretica, vol. 34 (1985), pp. 53-80.
p. 53
Proteins with nearly the same structure and function (homologous proteins) are
found in increasing numbers in phylogenetically different, even very distinct
taxa (e.g., hemoglobins in vertebrates, in some invertebrates, and even in
certain plants)…. The probability … of the convergent evolution of two
proteins with approximately the same structure and function is too low to be
plausible, even when all possible circumstances are present which seem to
heighten the likelihood of such a convergence. If this is so, then the
plausibility of a random evolution of two or more different but functionally
related proteins seems hardly greater."
Lewin, Roger, "Molecular Clocks Scrutinized," Science (May 3, 1985), p. 571.
p. 517
"Specifically, how accurate is the ‘molecular evolutionary clock?’ as
Zuckerkandl and Pauling called it…. Two recent papers point to potential
problems for would-be users of the clock."
"The very reasonable conclusion is that ‘using the primary structure of a single gene or protein to time evolutionary events or to reconstruct phylogenetic relations is potentially fraught with error.’"
p. 571
"There is no such thing as the molecular clock: there are several,
each with different attributes."
Rowe, Timothy, "New Issues for Phylogenetics," review of Molecules and Morphology in
Evolution, edited by Colin Patterson (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 229
pp., Science, vol. 239 (March 4, 1988), pp. 1183-1184.
p. 1183
"Morphology and molecular data are congruent in indicating that Homo
and
African apes are more closely related to each other than to the orang. The
position of chimps is equivocal, however; amino acid sequencing links them with
humans, morphology links them with gorillas, and DNA sequencing has
produced ambiguous results."
p. 1184
"An intriguing picture develops in this volume in which molecular and
morphological phylogenies sometimes agree and sometimes not. Different
philosophies and methods complicate the comparison and may themselves be
responsible for much of the conflict. Nevertheless, there is general agreement
that both molecular and morphological phylogenetics face similar fundamental
problems and that a ‘touchstone’ has not been found."
Schwabe, Christian, "On the Validity of Molecular Evolution," Trends in Biochemical Sciences (July 1986).
"Molecular evolution is about to be accepted as a method superior to paleontology for the discovery of evolutionary relationships. As a molecular evolutionist I should be elated. Instead it seems disconcerting that many exceptions exist to the orderly progression of species as determined by molecular homologies; so many in fact that I think the exception, the quirks, may carry the more important message."
"The early existence of some molecules of highly complex function cannot be denied and the question arises whether there are any molecules that have not already been in existence at the time of the origins of life."
"The neo-darwinian hypothesis, in fact, allows one to interpret simple sequence differences such as to represent complex processes, namely gene duplications, mutations, deletions and insertions, without offering the slightest possibility of proof, either in practice or in principle."
"Regrettably, there is also the pressure of creationism that seems to curb free discussions in the evolutionist’s camp."
"The quirks that will not submit to the neo-darwinian hypothesis are telling us that life had countless origins and that the chemistry of the origins of life has produced the diversity that was to become a substrate for the evolution of biological complexity."
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