@farmerman,
Quote:...And you know this how?
You should call the Max Planck institute and make your best argument for "Non evolution of bacteria'.
I'm sure they'd invite you to the next symposium re population genetics and etymology of disease.
If they believe in any evolution of bacteria, then those dudes in the Max Planck Institute are a herd of ignorant scientists.
There is no evolution but always degeneration of species.
Give me their contact number, I can make them eat dirt if they come with such a silly argument of "evolution".
The whole species -without exception- when suffer changes, they lose and gain characteristics, physical and functional. Period.
This is to say, there is not a "gain gain" scenario, but always a "lose gain" scenario.
The out coming of the changes is always unfavorable to the species at the end. The species might adapt to a new environment at the price of losing characteristics more than gaining new ones.
The horse is the best example of degenerate steps, which show that has lost several characteristics -from digits in feet, number of teeth, misalignment of teeth, etc.- instead of being an example of evolution.
Bacteria which survived a bad treatment of antibiotics in humans, used to absorb the plasmids of the human body, but after the change caused by the survival of the antibiotics, the bacteria LOST its capability to absorb plasmids and became to feed themselves with human DNA. An example is the case of the 19A strain in South Africa.
Losing and gaining, this is the only rule. And "losing" wins when bacteria and viruses change their "diet" and cause the extinction of the host, and by consequence causes their own extinction.
Between "evolution" and "degeneration", "degeneration" rules in the living world, and decay rules in the entire universe. Both, the decay of elements and the degenerate steps of species walk together.
By principle, it can't be true that while the elements of the universe are in a continued decay, that the living species can evolve by any chance.
With this principle of decay as the rule, it is known by fact, to find first bacteria as more complex than our current existing bacteria.
From complex to simpler is the best example of how degeneration has worked in living organisms since their appearance in the world.
Yes, those dudes of the Max Planck Institute are ignorant if they believe in any evolution of bacteria.