What Darwin Never Knew Blog Post:

Charles Darwin was a British naturalist who helped lay down the fundamentals of modern evolutionary studies. After primarily studying finches and tortoises, he realized that for some reason species change. With this in mind, he proposed the theory of evolution/natural selection in 1859 with great hopes to make new discoveries. Darwin later died in 1882 and left the world with ideas to build on. Since then, his theory has been expanding. In 1953 (71 years after Darwin’s death), the structure of DNA was discovered by JamesWatson and Francis Crick with the help of Rosalind Franklin. The discovery was major.

1. How did the discovery of DNA prove that Darwin’s theory of evolution was correct? (Note: James Watson & Francis Crick, with the aid of Rosalind Franklin, discovered the structure of DNA in 1953. Charles Darwin died in 1882).

Darwin’s theory suggested that traits and characteristics are passed on from pre-existing species, variation comes to be gradually and within a species, individuals aren’t identical. Therefore, more diversity is created. His theory also concluded that natural selection and survival of the fittest occur where only the survivors of the competition reproduce. Also, that the offspring born have a greater chance at survival as their features have adapted. Subsequently, Darwin knew that natural selection had to do with variation passed through generations of species and when DNA was found it was a huge steppingstone. Today DNA allows scientists to find what the origins of all species are. It also shows us how species mate with one another to create more variation. This was a part of Darwin’s theory and is important to note as he realized that change begins with variation, making mutations crucial. Changes in DNA allow us to understand that mutations are essential to evolution. If mutations don’t occur evolutionary change won’t either. Because DNA is known as the hereditary material in humans and pretty much all other organisms, it contains plenty evidence on relationships between species. Darwin saw a pattern in nature where the creatures that survived were those best adapted to the specific environments in which they lived in. DNA today shows us this process of natural selection (with its information on mutations). Therefore, it proves Darwin’s theory of evolution; that genetic variation happens overtime, and heritable traits are adapted through populations. Simply stated, because DNA contains so many details about the origin of all organisms, the discovery of it proved Darwin’s theory as it showed that things evolve overtime just like his theory had suggested.

2. How does it change the way we view evolution today?

Today we can better comprehend what goes on in DNA, therefore grasping key components of life and how the system of evolutionary change works. We can look at species and be able to understand that they have arisen from other species due to DNA mutations and changes. We have analyzed DNA in such detail that we have noticed that a piece of it called a switch turns genes “off” or “on” to produce variation (between individuals of the same species.) Each gene codes for a specific trait creating these differences. Moreover, we can understand that there are specific reasons for every animal to have the traits it has and that it is not coincidental to the environment they are living in but instead, deliberate. We can see the links between DNA and the theory of natural selection. This has allowed us to dive deeper and observe even further. We have been able to get to the “nitty gritty” parts of DNA and learn about how they relate to the evolution of all specific parts of animals. For example, we have found that the bones of the human inner ear have arisen from fish gills. Darwin’s theory and DNA put a plan in place and paved the way to let us understand exactly from what each body part of each animal is derived from. Understanding the way DNA and genes work on a deeper scale can help us solve biological problems that may affect our lives negatively. Today in some cases, we can even find the number of mutations each disease has that causes it to occur which is huge. In addition, we have discovered that there is only a 1% difference between the genes of a human and those of a chimp. All these discoveries have symbolized that the idea of evolution in the past was much simpler and today we have made breakthrough discoveries thanks to Darwin’s original theory. In other words, we view evolution as much more complex than originally proposed as it has led us to discover things about life that we would have never come across in the past.

3. How does it change the way we view and study evolution in the future?

In the future, the theory of evolution and researching DNA will help us in even larger aspects and get more intricate. We will likely be able to study the features of DNA even more thoroughly than we are today. The data collected from today’s studies and the past will be able to help us in detecting more disorders or diseases in genetic code which is huge. In turn this could potentially help us distinguish how to stop them from occurring ahead of time or help us in preventing them. Scientists may consider studying evolution in the future with the use of fossils as they have worked well in the past. For example, when the Archaeopteryx fossil was looked at, it revealed that features of both birds and reptiles were present within it. Studies like these have been built upon to further our understanding on evolution. However, scientists in the future may choose to use different approaches and experiment with new types of technology. As we know the field of science is always changing and isn’t static. The more things scientists discover, the more helpful they become in providing us with evidence and answers. All genetic research (now or in the future) that may occur stems from the core concept of evolution. Evolution will always be viewed as the fundamental reason as to why genetics and DNA studies are so developed and have helped us in more ways than we could have ever imagined. The discovery of DNA changes how we view evolution in the future in the sense that it has suggested there are no limits to how much we know. New discoveries will continue to be made and help us with everyday issues. There really is no end to how much we can unravel about evolution, genes and the coming of all species.

Thus, DNA has helped us discover how natural selection works, understand how mutations come about, how genes differentiate species and how diseases are formed. We truly do not know what to expect from the future. For all we know, a new groundbreaking discovery surrounding evolution and DNA could be announced tomorrow. What we must understand however is that everything stems from the theory of evolution proposed by Charles Darwin. Without that theory and all the ideas that have formed our understanding of natural selection, genes, and DNA, none of our current day discoveries would have been made possible.

Extra Sources Used:

“Charles Darwin.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Darwin.

Photo Citations:

“File:Human Evolution Scheme.svg.” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Human_evolution_scheme.svg.