What Darwin never knew
The discovery of DNA proved that Darwin’s theory of evolution was correct because he saw that when the finches or pocket mice changed color or the beak size and shape changed, he assumed that it was evolution because of which Galapagos island they lived on because why else would they change they were only changing so that they could survive better in each of there environments. Which was true but once they got to look at the DNA, they could see that while these changes happened their DNA was changing with them. So, when they discovered DNA it helped prove evolution was real and not just a theory or prediction. Seeing that while their appearances developed and changed on the outside while they were reproducing the same was happening to inside their DNA was slowly changing and evolving into different types of finches or pocket mice and others on the island. It also proves that natural selection is a real thing because while the finches and pocket mice were developing it was either from them getting bigger or the color of there fur changing because of natural selection and they were changing to there environments so they could survive, for example when the mice changed color to match their surroundings and to increase there ability to survive in there environment.
The discovery of DNA changes the way we look at evolution today because back then they didn’t have all the tools and knowledge we do now and now we can look at fossils and see how things really do develop like and as embryos as they get older and develop. They have also learned that we have different parts of animals in us like for example how our inner ear bone has developed from fish and dinosaurs. Also, how we have the same number of genes as a chicken and a head of corn. While discovering DNA we have learned that ninety eight percent of our genes doesn’t code for protein but maybe when they haven’t discovered what DNA really was and how to see and determine it, they would of thought that ninety eight percent of genes were proteins instead of the other way around and now they know these things and we have evolved from the discovery of DNA alone.
DNA has changed the way we view and study evolution in the future like how we have discovered mutation and the manipulation of genes while someone is till young enough for the changes to be permanent. We also have learned about how “switches” work and how your genes can switches on and off through sequences of the DNA that throw those switches. This shows how small differences in DNA can make such enormous changes to anything. For example, how there is the company called Crispr Therapeutics that have developed genetic medicine and they can genetically alter DNA as a way of cancer therapy and help treat other genetic diseases by editing your cells as a type of medical treatment.
links:
https://www2.nau.edu/lrm22/lessons/bird_lab/bird_lab.
htmlhttps://quizlet.com/346150825/exam-3-human-evolution-diagram