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“Nothing in biology makes sense except in the lightof evolution.”
- T. Dozhansky
Greek Gods
Norse Gods
Raelian leader says cloning first step to immortality
Saturday, December 28, 2002 Posted: 2:08 AM EST (0708 GMT)
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The leader of a religious sect that claimed to have created the first human clone Friday called the development "just the first step" toward human immortality through cloning.
Former French journalist Claude Vorilhon, who now calls himself Rael, claims to be a direct descendant of extraterrestrials who created human life on Earth through genetic engineering. A company founded by his followers announced Friday that the first human clone has been born -- a 7-pound baby girl dubbed "Eve."
Raëlians on the origin of life
www.rael.org
Life Humans
naturalselection God space aliens
? ?
Origin hypotheses
Life
Humans
naturalselection
Godspace aliens
mainstream biology
Life
Humans
God
space aliens
universe
Genesis God
naturalselection
Life on earth Humans
space aliens
God
naturalselection
Raëlian hypothesis
Life
Humans
naturalselection
God
space aliens
universe naturalselection
the materialist hypothesis
Life
Humans
God
space aliens
universe
naturalselection
Distant creator God
Life
Humans
naturalselection
God
space aliens
universe
naturalselection
Watchmaker God
Life Humans
God
space aliens
naturalselection
Other hypotheses?
Rael: No DNA test for baby Eve Sect leader vows to guard identity of alleged human
clone
Friday, January 3, 2003 Posted: 11:05 AM EST (1605 GMT)
SHERBROOKE, Quebec (CNN) -- A company founded by members of a sect that believes mankind was created by extraterrestrials says what it calls the first human clone will not undergo testing to verify her genetic makeup.
The head of the Raelian movement, who calls himself "Rael," said Thursday that he has told Clonaid's leader not to perform DNA tests on the infant girl, nicknamed "Eve."
Raelian cloners 'have two staff and no lab'
[WASHINGTON] Clonaid, the company that announced last December that it had cloned a human, seems to have no lab space and only two employees, according to court documents obtained by the Boston Globe.
Clonaid was founded by a religious sect known as the Raelians, who believe that the human race was cloned from aliens. The company's managing director, Raelian bishop Brigitte Boisselier, has said that so far a dozen clients have each paid $25,000 or more for the group's cloning services.
Nature 423, 8 (01 May 2003); doi:10.1038/423008a
What do you think?
Do you think the Raëlians cloned a human?
Did space aliens create all life on earth?
How do you know?
How do you know?
• Because you’ve seen it yourself.• Because someone you trust told you.• Because it makes logical sense.
Why do you believe someone?
• They are a relative.• They have moral or religious authority.• They are scientists.• They offer verifiable evidence in favor of
their for their idea.• They offer verifiable evidence against
alternative ideas.
Why do you believe someone?
• They are a relative.• They have moral or religious authority.• They are scientists.• They offer verifiable evidence in favor of
their for their idea.• They offer verifiable evidence against
alternative ideas.
That’s science
Scientific hypotheses
Hypothesis: a potential explanation for some observation orphenomenon.
Scientific hypothesis: a hypothesis that could be rejectedby some conceivable observation.
Useful scientific hypothesis: a hypothesis that can berejected by some conceivable observation RIGHT NOW.
Text, Fig. 1.19
Limits to science
Many interesting hypotheses are not necessarily verifiable:
• What does pain feel like?• Did space aliens take Raël to another planet?• Did God create humans?
Not everything that is true is subject to scientific confirmation.
OUTLINE 20I. The Concept of Evolution up to Darwin’s Time
A. Greek PhilosophyB. Christian TheologyC. The Enlightenment
II. Evolution Before DarwinA. LamarckB. State of knowledge at Darwin’s time
III. Darwin and the theory of Evolution By Natural SelectionA. Voyage of the BeagleB. Formulation of the theory
IV. The TheoryA. Essential elementsB. Contrast with views of the time
V. Darwin’s EvidenceA. Artificial selectionB. The fossil recordC. Comparative anatomyD. EmbryologyE. Biogeography
Greek Philosophy
Essentialism
Modern remnants of the great chain of being
Surprising things about this discovery
Homo floresiensis in the context of the evolution and dispersal of the genus Homo. a, The new species as part of the Asian dispersals of the descendants of H. ergaster and H. erectus, with an outline of the descent of other Homo species provided for context. b, The evolutionary history of Homo is becoming increasingly complex as new species are discovered. Homo floresiensis (left) is believed1 to be a long-term, isolated descendant of Javanese H. erectus, but it could be a recent divergence. 1, H. ergaster/African erectus; 2, georgicus; 3, Javanese and Chinese erectus; 4, antecessor; 5, cepranensis; 6, heidelbergensis; 7, helmei; 8, neanderthalensis; 9, sapiens; 10, floresiensis. Solid lines show probable evolutionary relationships; dashed lines, possible alternatives. Nature 431:1043.
James Hutton1726 - 1797
Gradualism Natural laws are invariant. Change results from the accumulation of slow continuous processes.
Charles Lyell1797 - 1875
Uniformitarianism the rate of geological activity on Earth is constant.
Similarity among the limb bones of organisms that use them for different purposes – Buffon 1760
Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck1744 - 1829
. . . time and favorable conditions are the two principal means which nature has employed in giving existence to all her productions. We know that for her time has no limit, and that consequently she always has it at her disposal.
Charles Darwin1809-1882
Voyage of the HMS Beagle
Thomas Malthus1766 - 1834
Populations can increase faster than their resources
Alfred R. Wallace1823 - 1913
Parent Offspring Parent
More offspring are born than can survive to reproduce
Individuals within a species vary
Parent Offspring
Traits are heritable
Parent Offspring
Parent Offspring
Individuals with some traits reproduce more than others
Parent Offspring
Traits that enhance reproduction become more common each generation
parentsgeneration
1
offspringgeneration
1
parentsgeneration
2
offspringgeneration
2
Artificial selection has produced different, true- breeding varieties of “fancy” pigeons from a single ancestral form
Fossils - preserved evidence of previously living things
Fig 22.17 A fossil whale with hind legs
Homology - similarity caused by common ancestry
Early embryos of diverse groups share many features. As development proceeds, embryonic forms diverge and become more similar to adults of their own species (von Baer’s law)
Evidence for evolution from comparative embryology
Finches of the Galapagos Islands
Molecular evidence