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 future?
The theory of evolution by natural selection came up in 1859 when Charles Darwin published a book called “On the Origin of Species”. Natural selection is the process of organisms changing to adapt to their environment and help them survive. Darwin developed his theory of evolution before scientists knew about DNA. Many scientists did not believe in Darwin’s theory but over discovery of DNA and fossils being found, Darwin’s theory was proven correct. Darwin Knew that process of selection was happening, but he didn’t know how it was happening.
From watching the video What Darwin Never Knew we learned that Darwin travelled to the Galapagos Islands, and while he was travelling he noticed birds on different islands were all the same, but they had different sized beaks depending on the environment they lived in. This was when Darwin came up with his theory of natural selection. All organisms will gain physical and behavioural traits and become more fit to their environment.
Scientists found that in DNA we have switches that can turn on and off different genes and with that switch we can become a whole new species. A study showed that humans and monkeys have only a 1% difference in our DNA and the other 99% is exactly the same. They also found that all four-legged organisms have evolved from fish. Scientists found a fossil of a fish which they called the Tiktaalik, the fish grew limbs to be able to survive on land and as years and generations went on and switches in genes happened different species were developing from the fish.
DNA has helped us understand evolution and has helped scientists believe that Darwin’s theory of evolution was in fact correct. Scientists will continue to search for more answers and understand DNA and evolution even more in the future. We will be able to use the switches in DNA to our advantages to get rid of or keep the specific genes we need. The more we understand about DNA and evolution the more we wonder what sorts of species will exist in the future.
Sources
Live Science: https://www.livescience.com/474-controversy-evolution-works.html
What Darwin Never Knew: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/darwin-never-knew.html
Image: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/220676450468406851/
Image: https://phys.org/news/2018-02-fish-scientists-left-ocean.html