The Myth of Junk DNA

by Jonathan Wells Ph.D.

Overview

According to a number of leading proponents of Darwin's theory, "junk DNA"-the non-protein coding portion of DNA-provides decisive evidence for Darwinian evolution and against intelligent design, since an intelligent designer would presumably not have filled our genome with so much garbage. But in this provocative book, biologist Jonathan Wells exposes the claim that most of the genome is little more than junk as an anti-scientific myth that ignores the evidence, impedes research, and is based more on theological speculation than good science.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781936599004
Publisher:	Discovery Institute
Publication date:	05/31/2011
Edition description:	1st Edition
Pages:	150
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 18 Years

About the Author

Jonathan Wells has received two Ph.D.s, one in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California at Berkeley, and one in Religious Studies from Yale University. He has worked as a postdoctoral research biologist at the University of California at Berkeley and the supervisor of a medical laboratory in Fairfield, California. Dr. Wells is also the author of Charles Hodge's Critique of Darwinism (Edwin Mellen Press, 1988), Icons of Evolution: Why much of what we teach about evolution is wrong (Regnery Publishing, 2000), and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design (Regnery, 2006).

Table of Contents

Preface 9

1 The Controversy Over Darwinian Evolution 11

2 Junk DNA: the Last Icon of Evolution? 17

3 Most DNA Is Transcribed into RNA 29

4 Introns and the Splicing Code 39

5 Pseudogenes-Not So Pseudo After All 47

6 Jumping Genes and Repetitive DNA 57

7 Functions Independent of Exact Sequence 71

8 Some Recent Defenders of Junk DNA 81

9 Summary of the Case for Functionality in Junk DNA 89

10 From Junk DNA to a New Understanding of the Genome 97

Appendix: The Vitamin C Pseudogene 109

Notes 115

Glossary 161

Index 171