by Cornelius Hunter
May 20, 2010
Darwin's God
One of the most popular evidences proclaimed for evolution in recent years is the high similarity between the human and chimpanzee genomes. The cousin genomes are about 99% similar and this has repeatedly been expounded as an obvious proof text of evolution. But these comparisons did not include the finicky Y chromosome which only recently has been decoded from the chimp genome. These new results show an entirely different picture.
Scientific theories are used to make predictions. And when those predictions are confirmed they make a theory look good. Certainly evolutionists think that the 99% similarity between human and chimp genomes is a powerful confirmation of evolution. But there are two sides of the prediction coin—the more you gain on the upside, the more you can lose on the downside. If a successful prediction is compelling proof of a theory, then its failure is a strong falsifier. And we now know that the human and chimp Y chromosomes are highly dissimilar.
The new research shows significant differences particularly between the male-specific regions of the human and chimp Y chromosomes—the MSYs. Unlike the prediction of highly conserved genomes over the 6 million years since the two species split apart, the new results indicate a “wholesale renovation” and “remodeling” in the respective lineages. Little change was predicted but what has been found is that more than 30% of the chimpanzee MSY region has no human counterpart, and vice-versa.
Furthermore, the human and chimp regions are not in the same order. Contrary to what was expected, “the chimpanzee and human MSYs differ markedly in sequence structure” reflecting “extensive rearrangement.” In all, the chimp and human Y chromosomes are “horrendously different from each other,” said one evolutionist.
And how did all this occur? These human and chimp regions differ radically in sequence structure and gene content, “indicating rapid evolution” explain evolutionists. It is an example of “rapid divergence” driven by various “synergistic factors.” There was, for example, the “brisk kinetics” of ectopic recombination, genetic hitchhiking, and the competition for mates.
So when genetic similarities are found they are powerful evidence for common descent, and when surprising differences arise they are examples “rapid evolution.” No wonder evolution has been called a tautology.