Author's Biography
I studied animal science and veterinary medicine at The Ohio State University. I received a B.S. in Agriculture (1978), a doctorate in veterinary medicine (D.V.M.; 1985), and a M.S. in veterinary preventive medicine (1987).
For the last few decades, I have done research and taught on topics related to creation and evolution. I have written many peer-reviewed articles published in the creation literature, and currently serve as vice-President and Research Committee chair for the Creation Research Society, an organization that averages over 600 voting members who have advanced science degrees and hold to a ‘young earth’ view of creation.
Presentation Type
Full Paper Presentation
Proposal
I propose a full paper the begins by introducing the Creation Research Society’s eKINDS (examination of kinds in natural diversification and speciation) project. Then, I will narrow the focus to one key topic of this initiative: finding the mechanisms that underly the rapid diversification and speciation evident in various created kinds of creatures as they reproduced and filled the earth. This can be divided into two categories: (1) the origin of alleles and (2) factors affecting the frequencies of those alleles, especially in the context of adaptation. In the standard neo-Darwinian paradigm, random mutation is claimed to account for the origin of alleles (1 above) and natural selection is claimed to account for changes in frequency (2 above). Yet, current scientific evidence suggests both are wholly inadequate to explain adaptation, diversification, and speciation, even in the creationary model of limited common descent.
In a biblical worldview the origin of alleles may be from creation or from changes since creation. The eKINDS research has mostly focused on those that have arisen via mutation. This is inferred based on the pattern, for example, when alleles appear confined to a small population of organisms or adaptive alleles are slightly different in different populations, suggesting independent mutations in different lineages. Based on this, it was hypothesized that mutations in eukaryotes are biased to be adaptive (addressing 1 above). Recent secular research has gone beyond circumstantial supporting evidence, and through direct experimentation, shown this to be true in a eukaryotic organism (Arabidopsis thaliana). The biblical worldview facilitated another successful prediction in science!
Following the review, I would like to highlight a second biblically based prediction involving #2 above. Changes in the frequency of adaptive alleles had long been attributed to natural selection. Yet, other mechanisms are known that influence allele frequency: migration and founding events, hybridization, and several genetic mechanisms. The eKINDS prediction is that these genetic mechanisms often bias allele transmission in way that is adaptive. To begin the search, the remainder of the paper would be an in-depth review of current literature as it relates to these genetic mechanisms that bias allele transmission (biased gene conversion and meiotic drive). It is expected that in-depth study of these mechanisms will reveal that fixation of alleles has genetic mechanisms involved that effect changes which have been incorrectly attributed to natural selection. Certainly, biological study founded on the Scriptures and focused on the organism is revealing the amazing wisdom and care of the Creator while providing a more robust basis for understanding the creatures He created.
Disciplines
Biology
Keywords
eKINDS, biased gene conversion, meiotic drive, natural selection, predictions, adaptation, created kinds, diversification
DOI
10.15385/jpicc.2023.9.1.14
Print Reference
242-250
Disclaimer
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Recommended Citation
Lightner, Jean K.
(2023)
"A Review of CRS eKINDS Predictive Success and Known Genetic Mechanisms Affecting the Prevalence of Alleles in a Population: Meiotic Drive as a Competing Explanation for Patterns Attributed to Natural Selection,"
Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism: Vol. 9, Article 26.
DOI: 10.15385/jpicc.2023.9.1.14
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/icc_proceedings/vol9/iss1/26
Submission Type
paper