Today we release the 8th episode of our BioLogos Basics Videos. It is the third video in the series which gives a snapshot of some of the scientific evidence that points clearly to the common ancestry of all life forms on earth. This one is particularly focused on a topic that has been near and dear to the heart of BioLogos: genetics. Our founder, Francis Collins, is one of the world's leading geneticists, and this field of science has exploded in the last two decades with remarkable discoveries that put common ancestry beyond a reasonable doubt (in our humble opinion!). Of course these videos are not long enough to do much besides point toward this evidence, so be sure to explore the links to further information on the topic. We're particularly pleased in this video to feature the lovely Scottish accent of our friend from the Faraday Institute in Cambridge, Ruth M. Bancewicz, who runs her own very interesting blog. Enjoy!
Script: Jim Stump Video Production: Andrew DeSelm Narrator: Ruth M. Bancewicz
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Some of the strongest evidence for the common ancestry of all life forms comes from genetics. Genetics is the study of how changes are passed down from generation to generation through DNA.
The basic units of heredity, called genes, are spread out along strands of DNA called chromosomes. Chimpanzees and other great apes have 24 pairs of chromosomes, while humans have just 23. If humans share a common ancestor with other great apes, as evolutionary theory proposes, we would predict that, at some point in the distant past, two chromosomes fused together in an ancestor of modern humans.
To test this prediction, we need to know something about the structure of chromosomes. While each chromosome contains different genes, all of them have two common features. The first are telomeres. Telomeres are repetitive sequences at each end of the chromosome, which act kind of like the plastic bits on the end of your shoelace that prevent it from fraying. The second feature in common is the centromere, a region in the middle of the chromosome that is used during cell division.
It turns out that the DNA sequence of human Chromosome 2 is nearly identical to that of two chimp chromosomes laid end to end. Furthermore, the human chromosome has leftover telomere sequences in the middle, as well as an extra centromeric sequence. This is like finding a shoelace with two of the plastic bits laid down end to end right in the middle that no longer serve a purpose. These non-functioning sequences are exactly what you would expect if two chromosomes fused in the past, confirming the prediction of common ancestry.
There are many other features of the human genome that point to common ancestry. Humans still have a remnant of the gene required for producing the protein found in the yolk of bird and reptile eggs. Mutations accumulating since the distant past have disabled this gene such that it no longer functions to produce yolk protein. This gene remnant was precisely located by scientists who predicted where it would be based on the location known from the chicken genome. This only makes sense if humans and chickens shared a common ancestor long ago. We have thousands of other such non-functional genes and each one tells part of our story as a species.
It is very hard to explain these and many other genetic features apart from common ancestry. Of course this evidence raises some theological questions. In our next video we’ll see how some scholars understand the evidence from God’s world in light of God’s Word.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://biologos.org/blog/biologos-basics-video-8-genetics