How did the discovery of DNA prove that Darwin’s theory of evolution was correct and how does it change the way we view evolution today and into the future?
In Charles Darwin’s book, The Origin of Species he states that there is “One general law, leading to the advancement of all organic beings, namely, multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die”. Darwin theorized that evolution is a result of natural selection which means that organisms that have traits that fit their environment are more likely to survive and have offspring while the individuals who don’t will die. He noticed that the 13 similar species of the Galapagos finches have slightly different characteristics(especially in beak shape) which means that one, these birds must have changed for a specific reason and two, these birds are descendants of the same organism. DNA proves that his theory was right because we can now see and compare how similar seemingly different organisms are. For example, humans share 99% of the same DNA with Chimpanzees proving that we must have the came from the same species millions of years ago.
Galapagos Finches
Human Compared to Chimpanzee
Charles Darwin changes how we view evolution today because his discoveries and theories were the first to prove that natural selection and evolution existed. Without Darwin’s theory, we may still believe that species are fixated to how God created them for hundreds of years longer and science would not be as advanced as we currently are. His theory is the backbone of discoveries we have made recently about DNA, evolution or natural selection for example switches, and will be the backbone for any questions we may have in the future.
Sources:
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/481941-on-the-origin-of-the-species