Angelina Sharma
Bio 11 / 2023
What Darwin Never Knew
How did the discovery of DNA prove that Darwin’s theory of evolution was correct?
Charles Darwin is remembered for his discovery of evolution, which is widely attributed to him as an influential English naturalist, biologist, and geologist. Throughout the world, Darwin has developed the concept that all species originate from a common ancestor. Given the fact that DNA was discovered decades after Darwin passed away, how can DNA support his theories? He was able to prove his theory largely through DNA. All living things are based on DNA, which is the ancestry of life. According to Darwin, variations occur randomly within species, but there was no scientific evidence to support this. As a result of the discovery of DNA, he was able to verify that variation occurs in species because of mutations and changes in DNA sequences. Considering that all living things share a common ancestor, some kind of change in DNA sequence must have occurred for all of this evolution to occur. If we are talking about technicality, the species of every organism evolved equally for the same amount of time to attain their present state because they survived the same amount of time. The question is, what distinct species differentiate themselves from others? And how? This is the process that is called natural selection. Darwin took it upon himself to expand the idea of natural selection and reconstructed the idea into “The principle by which each slight variation [of a trait], if useful, is preserved”. DNA proves genetics are passed on through generations, resulting in genealogies consistently differing from one another. This is due to genetics. Genetics are basically genes that encode biological traits, and or behavioral traits (which are passed down from generation to generation). throughout the video an interesting topic they discussed was Darwin’s finches (small land birds) and the idea of how they evolved to be in present time. Genetic variability persists over time and gradually accumulates, so genealogies consistently diverge from one another. To conclude Darwin’s evolution theory was confirmed and completed by DNA discovery because genetics encode behavioral or biological traits and are passed on through generations.
How does it change the way we view evolution today?
As DNA plays a significant role in this previously seemingly magical process of evolution, the study of DNA has greatly influenced how we view evolution today. Evolution is now viewed from a genetic perspective rather than from a random event perspective. In addition to improving our understanding of how DNA consists of nucleotides, we are also able to utilize qualities to reconstruct the developmental history of creatures. Through transformations, the arrangement of nucleotides in a quality gradually changes over time. DNA is less unique between living beings that are more closely related. Each organic entity contains a great deal of data about its developmental history due to the large number of qualities in people and different life forms. While mutation is an arbitrary event, some proteins are significantly more tolerant to changes in their amino acid arrangement than others, despite the fact that mutation is an arbitrary process. an additional huge factor that was shown throughout the video is the discovery of fossils. Natural selection, DNA, and lastly mutations allow us to understand how common ancestors can be related/similar to a particular organism. This can also demonstrate how each individual organisms adapts to their environment differently and at different rates. some organism can adapt to changing environments an some cant. in relation to the principle/ law of “Survival of the fittest”, now everybody looks at evolution in different ways, but we all take one things away from it an that is it is an incredible thing we are all practically looking through a genetic point of view and we can pick things apart like how the theory of evolution is heavily dependent on the concepts of DNA.
How does it change the way we view and study evolution in the future?
Future perspectives on and investigations into evolution will be influenced by the finding of DNA. Because of this, evolution is better understood as science progresses. Future findings, like fossil discoveries, might reveal even further shared ancestors. In the future, technology will be crucial to understanding evolution. As long as technology keeps developing, it’s possible that the next step in our understanding of evolution will be to better understand current and future organisms. with technology future generations can also learn about “gene switches” and how they are altered. The discovery of these distinctions between some of the most similar animals on the world would be a major evolutionary step. One of the one percent discrepancies between human and chimpanzee gene switches was covered in the documentary. We continue to change as humans. In conclusion, the future appearance and evolution of our species can be more accurately predicted through research.