TASC in 2006

TASC

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This newsletter will review TASC’s activities in 2006 and look ahead to our plans for 2007. Besides by our monthly newsletters and meetings, TASC reached out into the community in a variety of ways through on-campus debates, presentations at churches and schools, and participation in a video on intelligent design. Substantial progress was made towards preparing a web-based Sunday school curriculum. The TASC board held a retreat, four board meetings, and an awards dinner. TASC also began the year with a new chairman.

Puzzles of the Genome

Biochemistry
Genetics

The genome of an animal contains the DNA that specifies the characteristics of the animal. This is in the form of a sequence of four bases; the sequence of the human genome is over three billion bases long. Of course, different individuals have different sequences. A few years ago the human genome project completed a description of the sequence of the human genome, and several other animals’ genomes have been sequenced since then. Scientists sometimes claim that these genomes provide evidence for the theory of evolution. However, recent results show how little we really know about the genome, and therefore it is unreasonable to assert that the genome provides evidence for evolution, when we understand it so poorly.

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Figure 1

Does the Molecular Evidence Prove Common Ancestry is a "Fact?"

Biochemistry
Evolution
Genetics
Viruses

Genesis 1 describes the separate creation of various organisms “after their kind.” This means that all life on earth is primarily related through having a common creator and not through common descent. When evolutionists claim that molecules-to-man macroevolution is a “fact”, they are often referring to evidence for common ancestry irrespective of any evolutionary mechanism. This approach helps them avoid the inherent difficulties associated with explaining how point mutations, genetic recombinations, gene duplication, and natural selection could create new genetic information by chance.