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So, did Lenskis bacteria evolve? Well, mutations did help them use more citrate, but only by losing
healthy regulation. Molecular biologist Michael Behe wrote,
This is evolution by degradation. All of the functional parts of the system were already in place
before random mutation began to degrade them. Thus it is of no help to Darwinists, who require
a mechanism that will construct new, functional systems.5
We could say that a man who lost both arms evolved the ability to wriggle through a small pipe
leading to a new food source, but how would he fare among robust peers with arms? It is the same with
these evolved bacteria. Lenskis experiment has now surpassed 50,000 E. coli generations. After all
those opportunities to prove evolution can construct something new, these germs have merely shown
beautiful examples of degradation in action.
References
1.Dawkins, R. 2009. The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. New York: Free Press, 117, 130.
2.Powell, A. Evolution in real time. Harvard Gazette. Posted on news.harvard.edu February 13, 2014, accessed August 13, 2015.
3.Quandt, E. M. et al. 2014. Recursive genomewide recombination and sequencing reveals a key refinement step in the evolution of a metabolic
innovation in Escherichia coli. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 (6): 2217-2222.
4.Blount, Z. D. et al. 2012. Genomic analysis of a key innovation in an experimental Escherichia coli population. Nature. 489 (7417): 513-518.
5.Behe, M. A Blind Man Carrying a Legless Man Can Safely Cross the Street: Experimentally Confirming the Limits to Darwinian Evolution. Evolution
News. Posted on evolutionnews.org January 11, 2012, accessed August 13, 2015. Emphasis in original.