Showing 49–72 of 126 published commentaries.
PaperThe Nitrogen Heterocycle Content of Meteorites and Their Significance for the Origin of Life
The search for the origin of life is a central theme in modern science, and papers analyzing the chemical contents of meteorites are often presented as crucial evidence for a naturalistic, unguided pathway from…
Read commentary →: Meteorite Molecules: Building Blocks for Life, or a Prebiotic Dead End?PaperSuction feeding preceded filtering in baleen whale evolution
A 2016 paper in the Memoirs of Museum Victoria , "Suction feeding preceded filtering in baleen whale evolution," presents an analysis of a fossil whale that has been used to bolster the grand narrative of evolution. The…
Read commentary →: A Whale of a Problem: New Fossil Deepens the Mystery of Baleen's OriginPaperGigantism Precedes Filter Feeding in Baleen Whale Evolution
The theory of evolution purports to explain the origin of all life's variety through unguided natural processes. A classic example used to promote this narrative is the supposed transition from land mammals to whales,…
Read commentary →: Gigantic Problems for Whale Evolution: Fossil Giant Fails to Bridge the Chasm to BaleenPaperFin whale song evolution in the North Atlantic
The study of animal communication provides a fascinating window into the complexity of the living world. In their paper, "Fin whale song evolution in the North Atlantic," Romagosa et al. document intriguing changes in…
Read commentary →: Whale Songs: Evidence of Adaptive Programming, Not Unguided EvolutionPaperA whale optimization algorithm based on atom-like structure differential evolution for solving engineering design problems
Scientific papers on computer science and engineering are not typically the first place one looks for commentary on biological origins. However, a recent paper in Scientific Reports titled, "A whale optimization…
Read commentary →: Engineered Algorithms, Engineered Life: Why Optimization Research Falsifies DarwinismPaperCetology: The bare ‘jaw’ bones of whale evolution
A recent article in Current Biology , "Cetology: The bare 'jaw' bones of whale evolution," highlights a new study on the whale mandible, framing it as a testament to the power of evolution over 50 million years. The…
Read commentary →: Whale of a Tale: Why Jawbone Evolution Doesn't Hold WaterPaperThe origin of life: what we know, what we can know and what we will never know
The 2013 paper "The origin of life: what we know, what we can know and what we will never know" by Addy Pross and Robert Pascal attempts to solve the seemingly intractable problem of abiogenesis by proposing a new,…
Read commentary →: Pross and Pascal's 'Kinetic Stability': A New Name for an Old FailurePaperRecent Advances in Origins of Life Research by Biophysicists in Japan
A 2019 review paper by Tony Z. Jia and Yutetsu Kuruma, "Recent Advances in Origins of Life Research by Biophysicists in Japan," published in Challenges , surveys a range of studies in the field. This research is often…
Read commentary →: Japanese Biophysics Review Reveals Only Intelligent Intervention, Not Unguided OriginsPaperThe Landscape of the Emergence of Life
A 2017 conference report in the journal Life , titled "The Landscape of the Emergence of Life," attempts to provide an optimistic overview of the latest research into the unguided origin of life. The paper summarizes a…
Read commentary →: A Landscape of Failure: Why Origin-of-Life Research Confirms a CrisisPaperThe Origin of Life in the Early Continental Crust: A Comprehensive Model
In the quest to explain the origin of life from non-living chemicals, scientists regularly propose elaborate, step-by-step scenarios. The paper "The Origin of Life in the Early Continental Crust: A Comprehensive Model"…
Read commentary →: A Designer's Blueprint: Why a "Comprehensive" Origin-of-Life Model Reveals the Necessity of MindPaperOn the origin of life: an RNA-focused synthesis and narrative
In "On the origin of life: an RNA-focused synthesis and narrative," Jacob Fine and Ronald Pearlman undertake the ambitious task of demonstrating that Darwin's dismissal of origin-of-life speculation as "mere rubbish" is…
Read commentary →: Fine and Pearlman's 'RNA World': A Narrative in Search of a Plausible OriginPaperMutation-selection models of coding sequence evolution with site-heterogeneous amino acid fitness profiles
In the quest to make the theory of evolution mathematically rigorous, scientists develop ever-more-complex models to describe how life’s machinery might change over time. The 2010 PNAS paper, "Mutation-selection models…
Read commentary →: The Engineer's Signature: Why Sophisticated Models of Gene Evolution Reveal Design, Not DarwinismPaperRepeatability and Contingency in the Evolution of a Key Innovation in Phage Lambda
A 2012 paper in Science by Justin Meyer and colleagues, "Repeatability and Contingency in the Evolution of a Key Innovation in Phage Lambda," is often presented as a powerful, real-time demonstration of Darwinian…
Read commentary →: A Key Innovation or a Fortunate Fluke? Why Phage Lambda's New Trick Fails to Support Grand EvolutionPaperEvolution of antifreeze glycoprotein gene from a trypsinogen gene in Antarctic notothenioid fish
The 1997 paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Liangbiao Chen et al., "Evolution of antifreeze glycoprotein gene from a trypsinogen gene in Antarctic notothenioid fish," is frequently presented as…
Read commentary →: From Enzyme to Antifreeze: A Case Study in Designed Degeneration, Not Unguided EvolutionPaperMutation as a Stress Response and the Regulation of Evolvability
The theory of neo-Darwinian evolution rests on the foundational claim that the raw material for all biological novelty is supplied by random, undirected mutations. A 2007 paper by Galhardo, Hastings, and Rosenberg,…
Read commentary →: Regulated Mutagenesis: A Designed System for Adaptation, Not the Engine of EvolutionPaperIn the light of directed evolution: Pathways of adaptive protein evolution
The 2009 PNAS paper "In the light of directed evolution" by Nobel laureate Frances Arnold and her colleague Jesse Bloom is frequently presented as a powerful demonstration of evolutionary principles at work. By actively…
Read commentary →: Guided Evolution: How Laboratory Engineering Falsifies Darwinian ClaimsPaperSelection enhances protein evolvability by increasing mutational robustness and foldability
A 2020 paper in the journal Science by Jia Zheng et al., titled "Selection enhances protein evolvability by increasing mutational robustness and foldability," purports to demonstrate how natural selection itself can…
Read commentary →: Lab-Made 'Evolvability' Highlights the Power of Design, Not DarwinismPaperThe predictability of molecular evolution during functional innovation
The 2014 PNAS paper, “The predictability of molecular evolution during functional innovation,” presents a large-scale laboratory experiment with E. coli bacteria. By deleting essential genes and watching the bacteria…
Read commentary →: Tinkering with a Masterpiece: Why Bacterial Adaptation Fails to Demonstrate Darwinian InnovationPaperA cyanosulfidic origin of the Krebs cycle
The Krebs cycle is a masterpiece of metabolic engineering, a central hub of cellular respiration that generates energy and provides molecular building blocks for a vast array of other biomolecules. For this reason,…
Read commentary →: Krebs Cycle Chemistry: A Roadblock, Not a Pathway, to Unguided OriginsPaperThe evolution of the Krebs cycle: A promising subject for meaningful learning of biochemistry
The 2016 paper, "The Evolution of the Krebs Cycle: A Promising Subject for Meaningful Learning of Biochemistry," presents a laudable pedagogical goal: to make the Krebs cycle more engaging for students by framing it…
Read commentary →: The Krebs Cycle: A Testament to Design, Not Unguided EvolutionPaper1H-NMR as implemented in several origin of life studies artificially implies the absence of metabolism-like non-enzymatic reactions by being signal-suppressed
A 2018 paper in Wellcome Open Research by Markus Keller and colleagues delves into a technical dispute within the origin-of-life research community. The authors defend the "metabolism-first" hypothesis—the idea that…
Read commentary →: Low-Yield Chemistry: Why 'Metabolism-First' Fails to Explain the Origin of LifePaperPerimortem fractures in Lucy suggest mortality from fall out of tall tree
The 2016 paper in Nature , "Perimortem fractures in Lucy suggest mortality from fall out of a tall tree," presents a detailed forensic analysis of the famous Australopithecus afarensis fossil, "Lucy." The authors, led…
Read commentary →: Fossil Forensics on an Extinct Ape: What Lucy's Fractures Can't Tell Us About Human OriginsPaperSpontaneous mutations and the origin and maintenance of quantitative genetic variation
The 2016 paper "Spontaneous mutations and the origin and maintenance of quantitative genetic variation" by Wen Huang et al. in the journal eLife presents a meticulous and valuable study of mutation rates in the fruit…
Read commentary →: A Fly in the Ointment: Why Spontaneous Mutations Reveal Devolution, Not EvolutionPaperNatural selection and evolution: evolving concepts
In their commentary "Natural selection and evolution: evolving concepts," Andre van Wijnen and Eric Lewallen engage in a philosophical discussion about whether to classify natural selection as a "law" and evolution as a…
Read commentary →: Evolving Definitions Cannot Evade the Question of Origins