Inside the Human Genome: A Case for Non-Intelligent Design
John C. Avise
Abstract
Humanity's physical design flaws have long been apparent—we get hemorrhoids and impacted wisdom teeth, for instance—but do the imperfections extend down to the molecular level of our genes? Inside the Human Genome is the first comprehensive book to examine the philosophical question of why, from the perspectives of biochemistry and molecular genetics, flaws empirically exist in the biological world. This book offers a panoramic yet penetrating exploration of the many gross deficiencies in human DNA—ranging from new mutational defects to ancient design faults—while at the same time offering a c ... More
Humanity's physical design flaws have long been apparent—we get hemorrhoids and impacted wisdom teeth, for instance—but do the imperfections extend down to the molecular level of our genes? Inside the Human Genome is the first comprehensive book to examine the philosophical question of why, from the perspectives of biochemistry and molecular genetics, flaws empirically exist in the biological world. This book offers a panoramic yet penetrating exploration of the many gross deficiencies in human DNA—ranging from new mutational defects to ancient design faults—while at the same time offering a comprehensive treatment of recent findings about the human genome. The author shows that overwhelming scientific evidence for genomic imperfection provides a compelling counterargument to Intelligent Design. He also develops a case that theologians should welcome rather than disavow these scientific discoveries. The evolutionary sciences can help mainstream religions escape the shackles of Intelligent Design, and thereby return religion to its rightful realm—not as the secular interpreter of the biological minutiae of our physical existence, but rather as a respectable philosophical counselor on grander matters of ultimate concern.
Keywords:
genes,
genome,
DNA,
evolution,
molecules,
religion,
Intelligent Design,
theology
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2010 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780195393439 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2010 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195393439.001.0001 |
