Darwin

Mutation

Christianity

3-4

5-6

7-8

DarwinThe Beagle set sail on December 27, 1831 to study the

west coast of South America and several Pacific islands.

Darwin’s job was to study the geology and biology of

the lands. During the course of the voyage, Darwin

observed an enormous number of plant and animal spe-

cies, and discovered many fossils. The budding naturalist

took careful notes on everything he observed. Those

notes later provided the basis of his theories. Darwin

returned home in 1836 and developed a reputation as

one of England’s leading biologists.

Darwin concluded that species evolved over long

periods of time. There may be differences in the

offspring of an organism. These differences are called

mutations. We generally think of mutations as harmful,

such as birth defects, but a mutation is simply an altera-

tion of the genetic information of an organism. Some

mutations are good. A child might be stronger or more

talented than his or her parents.

3

DarwinDarwin’s theory suggested that organisms evolved

to fit their environment based on natural selection. If

a mutation was good, the organism lived and contrib-

uted its mutation to the gene pool of its offspring. If

the mutation was bad, the organism was more likely

to die before contributing to the gene pool. Over

billions of years, these mutations slowly produced the

world we know today.

According to the theory of evolution, organisms

have adapted to their environment. Lizards are green

because if they were any other color they could

be easy spotted and eaten. If bigger animals were

around, a purple dinosaur would have a tough time

staying alive in a green forest.

4

5

MutationIn molecular biology and genetics, mutations are

changes in a genomic sequence: the DNA sequence

of a cell’s genome or the DNA or RNA sequence of

a virus. They can be defined as sudden and spontane-

ous changes in the cell. Mutations are caused by radia-

tion, viruses, transposons and mutagenic chemicals,

as well as errors that occur during meiosis or DNA

replication.They can also be induced by the organism

itself, by cellular processes such as hypermutation.

Mutation can result in several different types of

change in sequences;(DNA) these can either have

no effect, alter the product of a gene, or prevent the

gene from functioning properly or completely. Studies

in the fly Drosophila melanogaster suggest that if a

mutation changes a protein produced by a gene, this

will probably be harmful, with about 70 percent of

these mutations having damaging effects, and the

remainder being either neutral or weakly beneficial.

Due to the damaging effects that mutations can have

on genes, organisms have mechanisms such as DNA

repair to remove mutations.

6

ChristianityIn the beginning there was no earth or sky or sea or

animals. And then God spoke in the darkness: “Let

there be light!” And right away there was light, scat-

tering the darkness and showing the infinite space.

“That’s good!” said God. “From now on, when it’s

dark it will be ‘night” and when it’s light, it will be

‘day’. The evening came and the night passed and

then the light returned. That was the first day.

On the second day, God made the earth and over it

He carefully hung a vast blue sky. He stood back and

admired His creation. “That’s good too!” said God

and the second day was over.

The next morning God looked around and

thought, “the earth needs to be a bit more organ-

ized.” So, He put all the water in one place and all the

dry land in another. When He had finished that, God

made plants to cover the land. Dandelions and daf-

fodils appeared. All sorts of trees and grasses began

to grow. “It’s looking great”, said God and that was

the end of the third day.

On the fourth day, God looked around and

though, “the daylight still needs a bit more work and

the night is just too dark.” So, He made the sun to

light the sky during the day and the moon and stars

to add a bit of sparkle to the night. He hung them in

the sky and stepped back to look at his work. “This is

coming along very well,” said God.

The next day, God turned his attention to the water

he had collected in the oceans. “I want these waters

teeming with life!” As soon as He said it, it was so.

In no time, there were millions of small fish darting

through the shallow water and huge fish swimming in

the ocean. God made birds, too. He sent them soar-

ing through the air. “Ahh, that IS good!, “said God.

The dusk fell over the water and the sky grew dark

and that was the end of the fifth day.

On the sixth day, God added creatures to the land.

So God added Mankind to enjoy and take care of all

that He had created. God looked around and was

happy with all He had made.

After six days, the whole universe was completed.

On the seventh day God had a nice long rest and

enjoyed looking at all He had made.

7

“Believing in evolution isbelieving in the unproved, while believing in Christ is believing in the proven.”

8