Author: Sajid Mahmood Ansari

Evolution, in the modern sense, refers to changes in the genetic composition of populations over time and is the result of natural selective pressure and/or genetic drift acting on population variation.

Neo-Darwinism consists of two major postulates:

1.     A species may change or split into more than one species (Micro-evolution).

2.     All living things have been evolved from a common ancestor (Macro-evolution).

As an enthusiastic student of biology, after twenty years’ detailed study of evidences presented by evolutionists, I have concluded that the first postulate is a reality and the second one is not more than a philosophical myth. First postulate is based on solid scientific observations and experiments, while the other one is just a hypothesis that is formulated analogically. In next lines, we will shortly compare the two postulates and the data presented to affirm them.

Evidences of First Postulate:

Following are the evidences to support that species change or split into more than one species.

(i)                            Variation in Species

 A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank, as well as a unit of biodiversity, but it has proven difficult to find a satisfactory definition. Species of the same genus, despite having remarkable resemblance in phenotype and genotype, exhibit wonderful diversity in phenotype, genotype and behavior.

 

For instance, the genus Panthera comprises five species of large cats including Pantheraleo (Lion), Panthera tigris (Tiger), Panthera onca(Jaguar), Panthera pardus (Leopard), Panthera uncial (snow leopard). It is notable that these species do not crossbreed in nature, but if kept in captivity for a long time, they not only crossbreed but produce intermediate fertile offspring. Despite the amazing diversity among the same genus, the possibility of breeding and production of fertile offspring shows that originally these cats belong to the same clade (linage). In other words, originally they were the single species at a point of time in the past and later they split into different species. This phenomenon is called speciation. One can observe this type of variation or diversity in other genera. The following picture shows the diversity in wild cats at larger scale:

 

(ii)                         Spontaneous Mutations: Major Source of Variation

Mutation, an alteration in the genetic material (the genome) of a cell of a living organism or of a virus that is more or less permanent and that can be transmitted to the cell’s or the virus’s descendants.[1] Spontaneous mutations occur with non-zero probability even given a healthy, uncontaminated cell. When the nucleotide sequence of a DNA molecule changes, it may result in formation of a different or strange protein molecule (generally an enzyme), that ultimately causes variation in morphology or physiology of the organism inheriting that mutated DNA molecule and is termed as neomorph. Generally a mutation causes serious harm to the organism, but in some cases in certain circumstances it proves to be useful. When any useful mutation occurs, it causes variation in the population.

A study of the five coat color loci in mice showed that the rate of mutation ranged from 2 x 10^-6 to 40 x 10^-6 mutations per gamete per gene. Data from several studies on eukaryotic organisms shows that in general the spontaneous mutation rate is 2-12 x 10^-6 mutations per gamete per gene. Given that the human genome contains 100,000 genes, we can conclude that we would predict that 1-5 human gametes would contain a mutation in some gene.[2]

The most common example of spontaneous mutations in nature has been observed and proved in bacteria. In case of bacterial infections in human beings, mostly antibiotics are used to treat the infections. But bacteria are acquiring immunity against these antibiotics rapidly.

 

There are several ways for bacteria to become antibiotic-resistant. The main one is through selective pressure. Selective pressure happens when not all the bacteria are susceptible to the antibiotic used to treat the infection, and the surviving bacteria can continue to multiply. This creates a bacterial population that is resistant to the antibiotic to which the bacteria was exposed. Selective pressure is a natural process that can be slowed but not stopped. Antibiotic overuse helps speed up selection for resistant bacteria. [3]

(iii)                       Geographical Isolation

Sometimes a part of a population living in a region migrates to another geographical region for need of water, food or shelter .Sometimes migration proves to be temporary and they return to their native land, but in some cases the new habitat becomes the permanent habitat. In this case, the original population splits into two separate but isolated populations. Interchange of genetic information between these populations is blocked and they evolve independently. This geographical and genetic isolation causes the adaptation of different genotype and phenotype. Ultimately, certain variations arise and the two populations of the same species exhibit diversity in form and function. Due to diversity, they become strange for each other and find no sexual attraction. Hence the two populations evolve into two species. So allopatric speciation is a mode of speciation that occurs when biological populations of the same species become isolated from each other to an extent that prevents or interferes with genetic interchange.
A scientific website observes:

“A geographically-continuous population has a gene pool that is relatively homogeneous. Gene flow, the movement of alleles across the range of the species, is relatively free because individuals can move and then mate with individuals in their new location. Thus, the frequency of an allele at one end of a distribution will be similar to the frequency of the allele at the other end. When populations become geographically discontinuous, that free-flow of alleles is prevented. When that separation continues for a period of time, the two populations are able to evolve along different trajectories. This is known as allopatric speciation. Thus, their allele frequencies at numerous genetic loci gradually become more and more different as new alleles independently arise by mutation in each population. Typically, environmental conditions, such as climate, resources, predators, and competitors for the two populations will differ causing natural selection to favor divergent adaptations in each group.” [4]

 (vi) Adaptation

An adaptation is a process that helps an organism to survive in its environment. Adaptation may be a result of genetic mutation, environmental change or climate change. The organisms which are able to face the environmental change, actually possess more suitable genotype and phenotype. Thus such organisms are selected by the Lord and they succeed in transferring their selected genotype and phenotype to the next generations. In next generations, the individuals with selected genotype and phenotype will survive and others would either fail to survive or dominate the population. The process will continue, until the selected genotype and phenotype will be the only genotype and phenotype to survive in a particular niche. Hence the selected genotype and phenotype will be said to be adaptive genotype and phenotype. Remember that adaptation is not an intentional option for the organisms, but it is a way the biota behaves. In other words, it is the Creator of the organisms, who decides their fate, either they will survive or become extinct. However, the Lord exhibits His Will in the form of the natural laws, that not only control the environmental changes, but genetic mutations as well.

 

Encyclopedia Brittanica observes:
Adaptation, in biology, the process by which a species becomes fitted to its environment; it is the result of natural selection’s acting upon heritable variation over several generations. Organisms are adapted to their environments in a great variety of ways: in their structure, physiology, and genetics, in their locomotion or dispersal, in their means of defense and attack, in their reproduction and development, and in other respects. [5]

Why do animals that live in caves become blind? This question has long intrigued scientists and been the subject of hot debate. There are thousands of underground and cave-dwelling species, from naked mole rats to bats, and many have lost their sense of sight. [6]

There is no contradiction between the Holy Qur’an and the concept presented in first postulate. Allah Almighty says in Surah Al-An’aam (The Quadrupeds):

“And there is no creature on [or within] the earth or bird that flies with its wings except [that they are] Al-Umam like you. We have not neglected in the Register a thing. Then unto their Lord they will be gathered.” [7]

The Arabic construction used in this narrative Al-Umam is the plural form of Al-Ummah that literally means a group of organisms having common linage. The root of Ummah is ‘umm’ that means mother. So a group of organisms descended from the same mother is called Ummah. The species descended from the same primitive pair may be referred to ummah. As Allah Almighty says:

“Exalted is He who created all pairs – from what the earth grows and from themselves and from that which they do not know.” [8]

We can conclude from this Qur’anic narrative that Allah Almighty created the living organisms in the form of pairs. So all the species, which crossbreed and produce fertile offspring can be classified as Ummah. All species belonging to same ummah share the same haploid number and strikingly resembled genome. They generally have same phenotype with slight variations in colour, skin pattern and behavior. When we look at them, they seem to be brothers and sisters.

Second Postulate

Now we will move to second postulate of the organic evolution theory. Charles Darwin, in his Origin of Species (1859), initially presented the evidences of first postulate of evolution theory, that was later supported by solid scientific data, especially in the fields of genetics and molecular biology. On the basis of his arguments, presented in the favour of first postulate, he analogically inferred that every species has been descended from pre-existing species through the process that is involved in speciation. In other words all the species have been descended from a common ancestor. According to Neo-Darwinism the evolutionary history of life can be summarized as follows:

 “Prokaryotes inhabited the Earth from approximately 3–4 billion years ago. No obvious changes in morphology or cellular organisation occurred in these organisms over the next few billion years. The eukaryotic cells emerged between 1.6–2.7 billion years ago. The next major change in cell structure came when bacteria were engulfed by eukaryotic cells, in a cooperative association called endosymbiosis. The engulfed bacteria and the host cell then underwent coevolution, with the bacteria evolving into either mitochondria or hydrogenosomes. Another engulfment of cyanobacterial-like organisms led to the formation of chloroplasts in algae and plants.

The history of life was that of the unicellular eukaryotes, prokaryotes and archaea until about 610 million years ago when multicellular organisms began to appear in the oceans in the Ediacaran period. The evolution of multicellularity occurred in multiple independent events, in organisms as diverse as sponges, brown algae, cyanobacteria, slime moulds and myxobacteria. In January 2016, scientists reported that, about 800 million years ago, a minor genetic change in a single molecule called GK-PID may have allowed organisms to go from a single cell organism to one of many cells.

Soon after the emergence of these first multicellular organisms, a remarkable amount of biological diversity appeared over approximately 10 million years, in an event called the Cambrian explosion. Here, the majority of types of modern animals appeared in the fossil record, as well as unique lineages that subsequently became extinct. Various triggers for the Cambrian explosion have been proposed, including the accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere from photosynthesis.

About 500 million years ago, plants and fungi colonised the land and were soon followed by arthropods and other animals. Insects were particularly successful and even today make up the majority of animal species. Amphibians first appeared around 364 million years ago, followed by early amniotes and birds around 155 million years ago (both from “reptile“-like lineages), mammals around 129 million years ago, homininae around 10 million years ago and modern humans around 250,000 years ago. However, despite the evolution of these large animals, smaller organisms similar to the types that evolved early in this process continue to be highly successful and dominate the Earth, with the majority of both biomass and species being prokaryotes.”[9]

The Darwinists have taken the hypothesis of a single common ancestor of all species as a doctrine, because they think that this hypothesis helps them to establish the doctrine of atheism. They think that senseless materialistic nature governs the universe, instead of a unique living God. They argue in favour of their atheistic view point in disguise of Neo-Darwinism.

William A.Dembaski rightly argues:

“The following problems have proven utterly intractable not only for the mutation-selection mechanism but also for any other undirected natural process proposed to date: the origin of life, the origin of the genetic code , the origin of multicellular life, the origin of sexuality , the scarcity of transitional forms in the fossil record, the biological big bang that occurred in the Cambrian era , the development of complex organ systems and the development of irreducibly complex molecular machines.  These are just a few of the more serious difficulties that confront every theory of evolution that posits only undirected natural processes.  It is thus sheer arrogance for Darwinists like Richard Dawkins. . . to charge design theorists with being ignorant or stupid or wicked or insane for denying the all-sufficiency of undirected natural processes in biology.”[10]

Now we will shortly discuss the reasons to negate second postulate or macro-evolution.

Meiosis: The Mechanism of Reproduction

Living organisms generally reproduce through a mechanism known as meiosis. Germ cells are produced through meiosis, that is the major source of continuity of generations and their genetic data. Meiosis works at cellular level and causes a single cell to split into one to four cells. The number of chromosomes in daughter cells (germ cells) are generally half (haploid) of the total number (diploid). For instance, as a principle each human sperm and egg contains 23 chromosomes that ultimately unite to form a total number 46 in the fertilized egg (zygote). This process continues generations after generations, keeping the same number of chromosomes in all somatic cells.

 

Proper “chromosomal segregation,” or the separation of sister chromatids during meiosis I and II is essential for generating healthy sperm and egg cells, and by extension, healthy embryos. If chromosomes fail to segregate completely, it’s called nondisjunction and can result in the formation of gametes that have missing or extra chromosomes, according to “Molecular Biology of the Cell, 4th edition.” [11]

 

 

For instance, Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is a condition that occurs in males when they have an extra X chromosome. Some males with KS have no obvious signs or symptoms while others may have varying degrees of cognitive, social, behavioral, and learning difficulties. Adults with Klinefelter syndrome may also have primary hypogonadism (decreased testosterone production), small and/or undescendent testes (cryptorchidism), enlarged breast tissue (gynecomastia), tall stature, and/or inability to have biological children (infertility), as well as an abnormal opening of the penis (hypospadias), and an small penis (micropenis). KS is not inherited, but usually occurs as a random event during the formation of reproductive cells (eggs and sperm) that results in the presence of one extra copy of the X chromosome in each cell (47,XXY). [12]

So organisms with strikingly different number of chromosomes could not evolve from a primitive ancestor. All chromosomal aberrasions or mutations are either lethal or harmful.

Evolutionists agree that in healthy generations, chromosome number of a species remains constant throughout ages, however, they also associate this phenomenon with macro-evolution. As Encyclopedia Brittanica states:

“The chromosome set of a species remains relatively stable over long periods of time. However, within populations there can be found abnormalities involving the structure or number of chromosomes. These alterations arise spontaneously from errors in the normal processes of the cell. Their consequences are usually deleterious, giving rise to individuals who are unhealthy or sterile, though in rare cases alterations provide new adaptive opportunities that allow evolutionary change to occur.” [13]

Their claim about this evolutionary change in the result of a chromosomal aberration, will be discussed later under “Polyploidy And Macro-evolution”.

Existence of Unicellular Organisms

 Unicellular organisms like bacteria and other protozoans is a solid evidence for negating the hypothesis of macro-evolution. Since the creation (origin) of unicellular organisms, billions of years ago, these organisms have been living on the earth without any drastic change in their chromosome number. Though slight variations in their size, shape, behavior and physiology have been recorded, but any dramatic change in their chromosome number is not observed. Despite the creation of advanced multicellular organisms, unicellular organisms remained unchanged. If there was a natural tendency of changing chromosome number over times, then all unicellular organisms should have changed into multicellular organisms, with higher number of chromosomes. Micro-evolution does not necessitate macro-evolution, but even does not support.

 

Biological Complexity and Organizational Levels

Multicellular organisms have extremely complex structures and organs that could not evolve just by co-incidence. The question is not limited to the complexity of the structures but it is also associated with amazing coordination between these structures and their functions. This biological complexity and integrative levels of organization lead us to conclude that it could not be the product of randomly occurring point mutations at different times, without any logical flowchart.

For instance, look at the structure of human eye and eye-sockets (orbits). Human eye is made of soft optical tissues, whereas human skull is made up of comparatively hard connective tissues. If we accept the hypothesis of macro-evolution, the primitive eye ball and skull should have evolved at the same time. No wonder complex eyes are present in invertebrates, but they have no connective tissues to form bones and skull. Why do eye balls always adjust themselves in orbits? Why they do not place at nostrils? Why do our skulls bear orbits?

Polyploidy and Macro-evolution

Polyploidy, the condition in which a normally diploid cell or organism acquires one or more additional sets of chromosomes. In other words, the polyploid cell or organism has three or more times the haploid chromosome number. [14]

Polyploidy has been thought to be the best example of change in chromosome number by the Darwinists. Polyploidy is mainly observed in plants and in certain animal tissues like liver tissues in human beings. There are two types of polyploidy:

1.    Autopolyploidy

Autopolyploids are polyploids with multiple chromosome sets derived from a single taxon. Two examples of natural autopolyploids are the piggyback plant, Tolmiea menzisii^[63] and the white sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanum.^[64] Most instances of autopolyploidy result from the fusion of unreduced (2n) gametes, which results in either triploid (n + 2n = 3n) or tetraploid (2n + 2n = 4n) offspring.[15]

It is notable that in autopolyploidy each set of chromosome share the same genetic information.

2.    Allopolyploidy

Allopolyploids are supposed to be derived from two or more closely related but diverged texa. Certain crops like wheat, cotton and peanut are thought to be alloploids. If it is true, they must have been developed by cultivators, through hybridization in the remote past. It is not a natural process. While in animals either allopolyploidy does not occur at all or results in sterile offspring, that are not capable of transmitting their hybridized genetic information. As it is observed in case of breeding between mare and donkey, resulting in sterile intermediate i.e mule.