More Vatican Support for Evolution
- From: VoiceOfReason <papa_fox57@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 17:02:49 -0800 (PST)
Organisms' common ancestry aids medical research, says biologist
ROME (CNS) -- Charles Darwin's theory that all living organisms have
descended from one common biological species is a scientific fact that
has tremendously aided medical research, said an evolutionary
biologist attending a Vatican-sponsored conference.
A common biological ancestry is the basis upon which all scientific
research is conducted, said Douglas Futuyma, a professor of ecology
and evolution at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
For example, using mice, monkeys and other nonhuman species to
research diseases and possible new cures gives data that is valuable
and pertinent to promoting medical advancements for humans because of
the similar genetic heritage of different species, he said.
Futuyma was one of dozens of scientists, theologians and philosophers
invited to speak at a conference in Rome March 3-7 marking the 150th
anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species"
in which he put forth his theory on evolution.
The conference, titled "Biological Evolution: Facts and Theories," was
sponsored and organized by the Pontifical Council for Culture's
Science, Technology and the Ontological Quest project, the University
of Notre Dame in Indiana, and several of Rome's pontifical
universities.
In his talk, Futuyma said modern genetic discoveries have confirmed
what Darwin and others concluded from studying and comparing the
anatomy and embryos of different species -- that all living organisms
descend from a common ancestry.
"The common ancestry of all forms of life is a scientific fact," he
said.
And this common heritage has proven to be "deeply useful" because it
"provides a rationale for advancing medical research through research
on other organisms," he said.
Some of the latest research in evolutionary biology has also shown
that there seems to be "a molecular clock" or a clocklike process that
determines when one species will split and another branch will be
added to the evolutionary tree, he said.
He said this discovery has enabled researchers to determine and track
very accurately the evolution of organisms that have left behind no
fossil record, like bacteria for example.
Gennaro Auletta, who teaches the philosophy of science at Rome's
Pontifical Gregorian University and heads the culture council's
project, said the aim of the five-day conference was to offer a
critical appraisal of Darwin's theories of natural selection and
evolution.
Modern scientific discoveries have modified and added greater detail
to Darwin's findings, he said in an interview published March 4 in the
Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.
For example, he said, many now see that "the evolution and development
of an organism is the result of a co-evolution -- a co-adaptation"
between the organism and its environment, which are constantly
interacting with each other.
No living creature can directly control its own evolution, he said,
but by creating an environmental niche, an organism responds to its
physical surroundings in such a way that it can foster its own
continued existence.
By creating this niche, the organism is "able to modulate the effects
of natural selection on itself and therefore influence, albeit
indirectly, its own evolution," Auletta said.
The study of the evolutionary path from bacteria to human beings has
shown how each successive species acquired ever more sophisticated
capacities to perceive, deal with and control their environment, he
said.
"This is the key point because it means that intelligence is something
that is encouraged by evolution" because increased intelligence helps
the organism better adapt and survive in its environment, he said.
Therefore, it would be reasonable to expect that over a long enough
period of time something like the human being would have emerged
because intelligence is something that goes in the direction of
evolution, he added.
Theologians and many scientists recognize the universe "is not just a
random jumble of elements, but is a structure that we can define as
being, if not intelligent, then at least intelligible," he said.
However, Auletta said, this has nothing to do with the claims of
intelligent design, which accepts that life has evolved over the eons
but that because it is so complex its development has been guided by a
supreme being or intelligent agent, which some identify as God.
Intelligent design "is not a scientific theory even if it tries to
pass itself off as one," he said.
He said Catholic theologians understand the distinction between God,
who is the first cause of the universe, and his autonomous creatures
and creation.
"The way he works, God does not suppress second causes," that is, the
laws of nature and the universe, he said.
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0900998.htm
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