Latest Challenges to the Teaching of Evolution

Our noses have grown dull, so we can no longer smell our close relatives.

Legislative challenge to evolution in Mississippi
(Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow - 1/26/2009)

A Mississippi state representative wants disclaimers put in all Mississippi public school textbooks that teach evolutionary theory.

Republican Representative Gary Chism drafted House Bill 25, which says "theory" is subject to change in light of "new and confirmed observations." He continues to write that no one was present when life first appeared, "therefore any statement about life's origins should be considered a theory."

"You know the Supreme Court has already ruled that you cannot teach creationism alongside evolution," the legislator notes. "So this is just a way of letting [those] kids who take these subjects know that there may be another explanation of how we all got here."

The bill is currently in committee, but Chism says it has been met with a lot of opposition.

"I am confident that this bill is...dead on arrival," he laments. "...I don't think the [committee] chairman will even take the bill up."

Chism told OneNewsNow he would consider drafting another bill next year supporting the teaching of the strengths and weaknesses of evolutionary theory in public school classrooms -- and House Bill 25, he believes, is a good way to test the water as to what opposition they might encounter.

MISSISSIPPI UPDATE

Quote:

Legislative challenge to evolution in Mississippi
(Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow - 1/26/2009)

"I am confident that this bill is...dead on arrival," he laments. "...I don't think the [committee] chairman will even take the bill up."

Chism told OneNewsNow he would consider drafting another bill next year supporting the teaching of the strengths and weaknesses of evolutionary theory in public school classrooms -- and House Bill 25, he believes, is a good way to test the water as to what opposition they might encounter.

Some on Texas Education Board prove yet again that evolution is a long, slow process
(Houston Chronicle Editorial, Jan. 27, 2009)

Finally, the science curriculum for Texas students and its standards for teaching evolution are poised to enter the 21st century. Well, almost. It sure looked that way for a while when the Texas Board of Education met last week to set standards for its new science curriculum.

But, as if to remind the world that evolution is indeed a long, slow process, the social conservatives on the board are still attempting " in the face of all reliable evidence to the contrary " to keep the bogus controversy over evolution alive and to sabotage, yet again, Texas’ chances of being taken seriously in the realms of science and education.

It started off pretty well: In an 8"7 vote last Thursday, the board took a stand for scientific integrity when it voted to remove a contentious phrase from its curriculum standards, following the recommendations of a panel of teachers and scientists.

That phrase " the requirement that teachers should present the “strengths and weaknesses” of various scientific theories, including evolution " had long been viewed by scientists as a back-door attempt to inject creationism into the teaching of evolution.

It was first inserted into the standards 20 years ago to mollify religious conservatives, but became an issue in the last several years as the board added more socially conservative members with strong stands on social issues covered in textbooks.

But this same faction " which includes both the chair and vice chair of the board, and has the support of Gov. Rick Perry " immediately tacked on several amendments that could serve the same purpose if they survive a final vote in March.

A majority of the board voted that students should assess, among other red herrings, arguments against “universal common descent,” a generally accepted principle of evolution that all organisms on Earth are descended from a common ancestral gene pool.

As with the finally discredited “weaknesses” provision, this is a none too subtle attempt to undermine scientific evidence with a particular religious belief.

After the final vote by the board, standards will be adopted for new biology textbooks. But the content of the books has ramifications far beyond Texas, which is one of the nation’s largest buyers of textbooks. Publishers would prefer not to have to print several versions of a given textbook, and these books will be in use for the next 10 years.

That’s far too long for Texas students to be sidetracked and confused by unscientific twaddle posing as honest inquiry. Let’s hope that come the vote in March, the voices of reason " and science " will prevail.

The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA. As of March 2008, it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States. With the demise of its long-time rival the Houston Post, its nearest major competitors are located in Dallas-Fort Worth.

The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily paper owned and operated by the Hearst Corporation, a multinational corporate media conglomerate with $4 billion in revenues. The paper employs nearly 2,000 people, including approximately 300 journalists, editors, and photographers. The Chronicle has bureaus in Washington, D.C., Mexico City, Colombia and Austin. Its web site averages more than 75 million page views per month[2].

On October 19th, 2008, the paper endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, the first Democrat to ever be endorsed by the newspaper since 1964, in which it endorsed fellow Texan Lyndon B. Johnson.

Scientists use Darwin theory to develop new technologies
(By ERIC BERGER, Houston Chronicle, Feb. 1, 2009)

Still a flash point among fundamentalist Christians, the theory of evolution proposed by Charles Darwin 150 years ago has become an indispensable tool for biologists to comprehend the natural world.

Yet as scientists mark Darwin’s 200th birthday this month, evolution is no longer simply a narrative of life. Scientists have begun using it as a tool to develop new technologies.

By doing so, they have improved law enforcement, created smarter computer programs and are remaking the field of medicine. There have been quirkier applications, such as cleaner clothes, too.

Only recently, though, have scientists begun calling attention to these breakthroughs, as the ideas of the iconic English naturalist have faced renewed attacks.

In Texas, controversy over Darwin’s work resurfaced last month when the State Board of Education narrowly voted to delete a provision that required the teaching of the weaknesses and strengths of evolutionary theory. The board is to act soon on a proposal that would require students to consider the evolutionary principle that all organisms have a common ancestor. Supporters say they want children to understand there are viable alternatives to evolution.

But Andy Ellington, a University of Texas evolutionary biologist, called that argument “almost amusing.”

“You have these folks who are trying to suggest that we shouldn’t teach evolution as something our kids need to know,” he said. “But at the same time, there are these new technologies out there shaping our lives every day.”

Darwin, born Feb. 12, 1809, sailed from England in 1831 on a five-year voyage around the world. During the journey, he took copious notes about the variability of flora and fauna.

Darwin’s observations in A Naturalist’s Voyage Around the World eventually led to the notions of natural selection and evolution, theories he laid out in On the Origin of Species, the 150th anniversary of which comes in December.

Thanks to the discovery of DNA’s structure in 1953 and the mapping of the human genome half a century later, biologists now say they understand the mechanisms by which genes mutate and species evolve. And they’re using that knowledge in increasingly powerful ways.

One of the first and most well-known uses of evolutionary theory has come in law enforcement.

Among the 3 billion or so chemical bits, or letters, in human DNA are those that change slowly and those that mutate rapidly. Scientists realized that short segments of DNA vary greatly from person to person as a result. The finding gave rise to the concept of DNA fingerprints to identify individuals.

By the late 1980s, scientists were testifying in court about the reliability of DNA evidence to convict criminals. Such evidence has become a powerful forensic tool.

“It’s had a tremendous impact on criminal justice, not the least of which has been to free a lot of innocent people,” said Rusty Hardin, now a defense lawyer who in 1988 prosecuted the first Harris County case that used DNA evidence.

In recent years, the concept of genetic identification has been extended to such areas as vintage wines and Beluga caviar, where buyers want surety that what they’re buying is authentic.

Evolution also has helped scientists become smarter about the development and use of medicines such as antibiotics and vaccines.

Physicians now understand that bacteria mutate over time. When attacked by antibiotics, some bacteria become resistant to certain antibiotics and thrive.

“Evolutionary theory has definitely guided us, and now we as a medical community know to be much more careful about the use of antibiotics,” said Dr. James Versalovic, a Baylor College of Medicine professor and the director of microbiology at Texas Children’s Hospital.

The evolution of viruses also is critical to the development of vaccines. Some viruses, such as polio, have genetic material that changes slowly over time, allowing physicians to create a vaccine that will last for life.

Other viruses, including influenza and HIV, are constantly changing. This requires annual changes to the flu vaccine and has prevented development of a successful vaccine against HIV.

“We know we are in a world where we are in a constant competition with bacteria and viruses,” said Dan Graur, a University of Houston biologist. “We need to use evolutionary principles just to keep them under control.”

Some scientists also use evolution to develop drugs to combat disease, an approach called “directed evolution.”

Biologists employing this method generate a large batch of random segments of DNA " short strips of biological material " which are then tested to see whether any will perform a useful function inside cells, such as binding to a protein. The DNA segments that fail at the task are eliminated; those that succeed are copied in such a way that new mutations are introduced. These new variants then are tested. The process is replicated many times until an optimal sequence is found.

The approach has led to treatments for an eye disease called wet macular degeneration and other diseases, said Ellington, the UT-Austin biologist whose lab conducts directed evolution experiments.

Computer scientists use a similar process, called evolutionary or genetic algorithms. This technique involves many people writing computer programs for a certain task, such as managing air traffic or weather forecasting. Just as members of a species compete for resources in the wild, the programs compete with one another, mixing and matching lines of code and ultimately producing the most efficient algorithm for a certain task.

A company called Maxygen has applied this process to basic household goods.

Enzymes help speed up chemical reactions and are often good at digesting fats, starches and proteins " the kinds of materials that stain clothes. Maxygen collected enzymes from different bacteria, chopped and mixed them, and created new enzymes.

By randomly combining them over many generations, the company developed enzymes that improved detergents. Other companies have tried similar approaches.

“These kinds of applications are everywhere, and a lot of it began with Darwin,” Ellington said.

Quote:

Scientists use Darwin theory to develop new technologies
(By ERIC BERGER, Houston Chronicle, Feb. 1, 2009)

Still a flash point among fundamentalist Christians, the theory of evolution proposed by Charles Darwin 150 years ago has become an indispensable tool for biologists to comprehend the natural world.

Yet as scientists mark Darwin’s 200th birthday this month, evolution is no longer simply a narrative of life. Scientists have begun using it as a tool to develop new technologies.

By doing so, they have improved law enforcement, created smarter computer programs and are remaking the field of medicine. There have been quirkier applications, such as cleaner clothes, too.

Yet as scientists mark Darwin’s 200th birthday this month, evolution is no longer simply a narrative of life. Scientists have begun using it as a tool to develop new technologies.

Your minimal writing skills are ,sadly, in steep decline.

Education board to confront Ellis’ 'club' and 'stiletto'
(By CLAY ROBISON, Houston Chronicle, Feb. 2, 2009)

AUSTIN " The State Board of Education’s latest fight with scientists over how or whether evolutionary theory should be taught in the public schools was just about the last straw for Sen. Rodney Ellis.

If the Houston Democrat had his way, the board with its large bloc of conservative ideologues would be abolished and its duties transferred to the Texas Education Agency. He has filed a bill to accomplish much of that by stripping the board of its authority over textbooks, curriculum and graduation requirements. It would be left with only its narrow constitutional duties, including managing the Permanent School Fund.

But Ellis knows that measure won’t pass, mainly because of the influence of conservative Republican voters over many of his legislative colleagues and Gov. Rick Perry.

So he also has filed Plan B, a separate bill that would put the board under the periodic sunset review of the Legislature. That step would force more oversight of board members, several of whom, he believes, are more fixated on the three Rs of religion, religion and religion than on improving public school classrooms.

Ellis calls the first bill his “club” and the second his “stiletto.”

Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, has filed a similar sunset bill in the House.

Even with a stiletto, Ellis may have trouble puncturing the board, but he hopes to “have a dialogue,” as he puts it, about what the board should and shouldn’t be doing.

“While on the national level in America there is more emphasis on a healthy respect for science, our board is engaged in a debate on how to teach evolution,” he said.

At its last meeting, the board narrowly agreed to repeal a longtime curriculum requirement that Texas teachers instruct students in the weaknesses and strengths of evolution theory. But, the next day, it adopted another requirement that, some scientists say, will continue to undermine the state’s science standards.

Many readers may know that Feb. 12 will be the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, a day not likely to be celebrated by several Board of Education members.

But Ellis plans to mark the occasion, perhaps with a news conference discussing his “curriculum” for the panel.

TEXAS UPDATE

Quote:

Education board to confront Ellis’ 'club' and 'stiletto'
(By CLAY ROBISON, Houston Chronicle, Feb. 2, 2009)

“While on the national level in America there is more emphasis on a healthy respect for science, our board is engaged in a debate on how to teach evolution,” he said.

At its last meeting, the board narrowly agreed to repeal a longtime curriculum requirement that Texas teachers instruct students in the weaknesses and strengths of evolution theory. But, the next day, it adopted another requirement that, some scientists say, will continue to undermine the state’s science standards.