On this ID The Future from the vault, Casey Luskin examines a paper in Genome Biology and Evolution which argues that the famous beta-globin pseudogene is functional. Why is this pseudogene famous? Well, it’s been Exhibit A — literally, offered as evidence in a court case — for critics of intelligent design who argue that our genome is full of useless, functionless junk, and therefore can’t be a product of design. Biologist Kenneth Miller argued in court that its appearance in multiple species, including gorillas and chimpanzees, strongly suggests Neo-Darwinian evolution and a common ancestor, since what designer would stick the useless gene in different species? Instead, Miller and others have theorized, the random mutation that produced the pseudogene occurred Read More ›

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