Episodes

  • Junk or genius? How functional is the human genome? Part 2

    Junk or genius? How functional is the human genome? Part 2
    Mar 19 2024
    https://youtu.be/-jpoxCZgZKQ Is the human genome highly functional or mostly junk? This is a question that is not only being asked in the creation-evolution debate; it is a question raging in the ivory tower as well. The 'old guard' is much more likely to resist any claim that large swaths of the genome are useful. The 'young punks' in science is more willing to accept the obvious fact that the genome is highly functional. Who is going to win? In this episode, Dr Rob puts a few more nails in the coffin of junk DNA.. Notes and links:' Carter 2023 What proportion of the human genome is actually functional? And how much variation is tolerable? Chen et al. 2023 A genomic mutational constraint map using variation in 76,156 human genomes Moran 2023 What's in your genomes? 90% of your genome is junk
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    16 mins
  • DNA – highly functional or mostly junk? Part 1

    DNA – highly functional or mostly junk? Part 1
    Mar 3 2024
    Is the human genome highly functional or mostly junk? This is a question that is not only being asked in the creation-evolution debate; it is a question raging in the ivory tower as well. The 'old guard' is much more likely to resist any claim that large swaths of the genome are useful. The 'young punks' in science is more willing to accept the obvious fact that the genome is highly functional. Who is going to win? In this episode, Dr Carter highlights four new studies that ratchet the argument toward high function. Notes and links:' Carter 2023 What proportion of the human genome is actually functional? And how much variation is tolerable? Zhang et al. 2023 FOXP3 recognizes microsatellites and bridges DNA through multimerization Walter 2024 Are non-protein coding RNAs junk or treasure? Stepankiw et al. 2023 The human genome contains over a million autonomous exons Chen et al. 2023 A genomic mutational constraint map using variation in 76,156 human genomes Moran 2023 What's in your genomes? 90% of your genome is junk
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    28 mins
  • The Incredible Shrinking Human Genome

    The Incredible Shrinking Human Genome
    Feb 13 2024
    No, the size of the genome has not changed, but the number of genes we thought it contains certainly has. After lots of double checking, there are fewer known protein coding genes today (~19,000) than there were when the human genome was first published, and even that count (~23,000) was shockingly small, according to the predictions of the world's top geneticists. The nature of the genome has consistently surprised people, but mostly because they applied Darwinian concepts to it. Instead, the genome is a wonderful testimony to the engineering prowess of God, who built something unexpected. LInks: GeneSweep One-gene-one-enzyme Central dogma of molecular biology Amaral et al. 2014 The status of the human gene catalogue, Nature 622(7981):41-47. What on earth is a ‘gene’? Slicing and dicing the genome The Barrier has been breached: new discoveries are challenging neo-Darwinism
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    14 mins
  • James 3 vs the anticreationists

    James 3 vs the anticreationists
    Jan 16 2024
    A slew of videos has recently come out arguing for and against the work of Dr Jeffrey Tomkins, who claims humans and chimps are only about 85% similar. His detractors have made some massive blunders and I attempt to document them here. This is not to gloat, however. I understand that all humans are bigoted, biased, myopic, jealous, envious, etc., including all scientists. So, we'll apply James 3:1 ("Not many of you should presume to be teachers...for know that we will be judged more strictly) and Philippians 2:3... (Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit...) to the situation as we outline multiple lapses of logic and analysis that have been done in an attempt to discredit Tomkins' work. To be fair, though, the main person in my crosshairs has admitted to making these mistakes. I am only documenting things for posterity. Notes and links: James 3:1–2 patternsofevidence.com/patterns-plus The 3rd Commandment Dr Jeffrey Tomkins Blast Gutsick Gibbon, A Professional Creationist Agrees with Me: Tomkins Wrong, 30 Dec 2023. Roohif, Jeffrey Tomkins is allergic to controls, 29 Dec 2023. Note: I made several mistakes when describing Roohif's results. First, he was looking at older trace read datasets, not the contig database I (and Gutsick Gibbon, and Tomikins in his 2018 paper) have been working with, so his conclusions about vector, etc., contamination do not apply here. Second, I stated that he only tested a few of the problematic areas, but he actually performed several thorough tests. Third, I also conflated his analysis on non-aligning subsequences in Blast matches with his analysis of the sequences for which Blast failed to find any alignment at all. After being challenged on a few of these points, and upon re-watching the video, paying attention this time (!) I stand corrected. Yet, that was but a small portion of my presentation and I included it almost as supplementary information, trying to cover all bases. In retrospect, I could easily have left it out entirely. Gutsick Gibbon's Blast program on Github: GGBlast Philippians 2:3–11
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    31 mins
  • Recombine-o-mania

    Recombine-o-mania
    Jan 2 2024
    Chromosomal recombination is an essential part of the life cycle of all sexually reproducing organisms. Yet, the system is complex, involving hundreds to thousands of proteins and RNAs. It also involves DNA repair pathways, which are themselves incredibly complex. The newest available information on recombination tells us it is mutagenic, meaning that recombination erodes the very places where recombination happens. How did such a system arise by chance? Can we assume the recombination rate has always been the same? What happens when a new allele arises in the protein that controls recombination? What is the mutation burden caused by this important system? Finally, how does this affect the creation-evolution debate? Links and notes: 15 Questions for evolutionists, #8 How did sex originate? Geeking out about DNA damage repair, June 2023. Grey et al. 2018 PRDM9, a driver of the genetic map, PLoS Genet 14(8):e1007479. Altemose et al. 2017 A map of human PRDM9 binding provides evidence for novel behaviors of PRDM9 and other zinc-finger proteins in meiosis, eLife 6:e28383. Robert Carter gets everything wrong?, creation.com, 10 Jul 2021. Hussin et al. 2011 Age-dependent recombination rates in human pedigrees, PloS Genetics 7(9):e1002251. Wang et al. 2012 Genome-wide single-cell analysis of recombination activity and de novo mutation rates in human sperm, Cell 150(2):402–12. African origins and the rise of carnivory, creation.com,19 Dec 2020. Hinch, A.G. et al., The landscape of recombination in African Americans, Nature 476:170–177, 2011. Hinch et al. 2023 Meiotic DNA breaks drive multifaceted mutagenesis in the human germ line, Science 382:eadh2531.
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    26 mins
  • Let’s talk about ancient DNA

    Let’s talk about ancient DNA
    Dec 19 2023
    My new video made quite a splash! Apparently, lots of Christians are asking questions about the DNA we can now pull from very old skeletons. How do they do it? What are the data telling us? How is it even there, if the bones are as old as claimed? Without revealing too many details about what is in the main presentation, here I am just talking about ancient DNA and its implications for the creation-evolution debate. I also throw in a few things I was not able to address in the main presentation, including the genetics of ancient Canaanites and Philistines found in and around Israel. Notes and links: You can order Ancient DNA: Illuminating the Tapestry of Biblical Human History at creation.com (physical DVD or streaming format): creation.com/en/landing/ancient-dna How reliable are genomes from ancient DNA? (Creation.com) Patriarchal Drive in the early post-Flood population (Creation.com) Patriarchal Drive (BiblicalGenetics.com) Ancient History vs the Table of Nations (BiblicalGenetics.com) Extensive mixing of Israelites and non-Israelites in biblical history (Creation.com) The genetic history of the Israelite nation (Creation.com) The Israelites: forging of a nation (Creation.com) Genetics of modern Jews (BiblicalGenetics.com) Early Israel was a hotbed of interracial mixing (BiblicalGenetics.com) The Jews, Israel, and false notions of 'race' (BiblicalGenetics.com) Who were the Philistines? (Creation.com) Ötzi Mitochondrial Eve and the Three 'Daughters' of Noah (Creation.com) The High-Tech Cell (Creation.com) Feldman et al. 2019 Ancient DNA sheds light on the genetic origins of early Iron Age Philistines, Sci Adv 3;5(7):eaax0061, 2019. Haber et al. 2017 Continuity and admixture in the last five millennia of Levantine history from ancient Canaanite and present-day Lebanese genome sequences, Am J Hum Genet 3;101(2):274-282, 2017, Rylands Fragment of the Gospel of John Georgia Institute of Technology
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    24 mins
  • African cichlids – ‘fast species’ are very, very biblical

    African cichlids – ‘fast species’ are very, very biblical
    Dec 5 2023
    African cichlids are a diverse group of fishes that have frequently been used as evidence for evolution. Yet, now that the genomes of several hundred species have been published, the true history of this group has been revealed. All parties must now acknowledge that the many species arose quickly, from a common stock. In many ways, African cichlids fit beautifully into the biblical model of 'created kinds'. Links: Meier et al. 2023 Cycles of fusion and fission enabled rapid parallel adaptive radiation in African cichlids, Science 381:1428. Carter R 2021 Species were designed to change, creation.com. Carter R 2021 Species were designed to change, biblicalgenetics.com. Common aquatic macroinvertebrates Map of the biodiversity of amphibians, etc., in North America
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    25 mins
  • Darwin’s Finches: the little birds that destroy evolution

    Darwin’s Finches: the little birds that destroy evolution
    Nov 30 2023
    Darwin's finches have long been considered an icon of evolution. A recent analysis included 40 years of morphological measurements and genealogy tracing among four finch species on a small island in the Galapagos chain. This was coupled to 30 years of DNA sampling, including the recent sequencing of nearly 4,000 finch genomes from the same small island. The results tell us a LOT about biblical views of speciation, natural selection, and 'change over time'. Notes and links: Carter R, Galápagos finches, rapid speciation, and recent creation, Creation.com, 9 Nov 2023. Wieland C, Speciation conference brings good news for creationists, J Creation 11(2):135–136, 1997. Kaloyirou N, The remarkable Captain Robert FitzRoy, Creation 40(1):14–17, 2017. Lightner JK, Identification of a large sparrow-finch monobaramin in perching birds (Aves: Passeriformes), J Creation 24(3):117–121, 2010. Enbody ED et al., Community-wide genome sequencing reveals 30 years of Darwin's finch evolution, Science 381(6665):eadf6218, 2023.
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    28 mins