Rotten Teeth

Darwinian (Fish to man) evolution now leads to loss of teeth and
molecular decay? That's a loss of information in the genome.
Their version of evolution states new information is created in
the genome by mutations (which has never been shown to be
possible via physical mutations). More dishonest (or ignorance)
passed off as supporting their beliefs in an unobservable,
untestable, unverifiable fish to man version of evolution.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090904071650.htm


www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2009/09/12/news-to-note-09122009#two


Tooth loss and molecular decay purportedly prove Charles Darwin
right. Does that mean brushing twice a day keeps evolution away?


In a study heralded as providing "support" for Darwin's ideas,
biologists at the University of California-Riverside set out to
show that some mammals without tooth enamel or any teeth at all
retained the enamelin gene (a gene involved in enamel
production), though likely showing molecular decay. The reason
for this hypothesis? Fossils of some toothless mammals (e.g.,
baleen whales) reveal that they once had teeth, and mammals with
teeth lacking enamel (e.g., sloths) once had enamel.


Not surprisingly, the group found exactly this. With the help of
modern gene sequencing, the researchers discovered mutations in
the enamelin gene "that disrupt how the enamelin protein is
coded, resulting in obliteration of the genetic blueprint for the
enamelin protein."


According to the report, this vindicates Darwin because


[t]he fossil record demonstrates that the first mammals had teeth
with enamel. Mammals without enamel therefore must have descended
from mammals with enamel-covered teeth.


If that seems underwhelming, perhaps you would be more persuaded
by Professor Mark Springer (head of the study), who informs any
doubters that


[i]n our research we clearly see the parallel evolution of enamel
loss in the fossil record and the molecular decay of the enamelin
gene into a pseudogene in representatives of four different
orders of mammals that have lost enamel.


The results of this study show quite clearly the effects of
different starting assumptions. The Bible tells us-long before
this research or Darwin arrived on the scene-that the Curse
(Genesis 3) impacted every living thing when God removed some of
His sustaining power. This is most evident through the mutational
decay of the genome, which often causes various disorders.


It's no surprise, then, that mammalian genes have lost function
over time. These creatures were designed for a much different
world than the one after the Fall, but God gave them enough
variability to survive-even with genetic entropy.


What we see from this evidence is that the mammals in this study
were created with the information for teeth and enamel. Through
mutations, these genes lost function, and some of the animals
lost teeth. Far from lending credence to Darwinism, this research
reveals how impossible molecules-to-man evolution really is.
Mammals likely lost the ability to form teeth and enamel because
of genetic degradation-the mammals, however, have always been
mammals.


==================================================


Molecular Decay Of Enamel-specific Gene In Toothless Mammals
Supports Theory Of Evolution
ScienceDaily (Sep. 7, 2009) - Biologists at the University of
California, Riverside report new evidence for evolutionary change
recorded in both the fossil record and the genomes (or genetic
blueprints) of living organisms, providing fresh support for
Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.


The researchers were able to correlate the progressive loss of
enamel in the fossil record with a simultaneous molecular decay
of a gene, called the enamelin gene, that is involved in enamel
formation in mammals.


Enamel is the hardest substance in the vertebrate body, and most
mammals have teeth capped with it.


Examples exist, however, of mammals without mineralized teeth
(e.g., baleen whales, anteaters, pangolins) and of mammals with
teeth that lack enamel (e.g., sloths, aardvarks, and pygmy sperm
whales). Further, the fossil record documents when enamel was
lost in these lineages.


"The fossil record is almost entirely limited to hard tissues
such as bones and teeth," said Mark Springer, a professor of
biology, who led the study. "Given this limitation, there are
very few opportunities to examine the co-evolution of genes in
the genome of living organisms and morphological features
preserved in the fossil record."


In 2007, Springer, along with Robert Meredith and John Gatesy in
the Department of Biology at UC Riverside, initiated a study of
enamelless mammals in which the researchers focused on the
enamelin gene. They predicted that these species would have
copies of the gene that codes for the tooth-specific enamelin
protein, but this gene would show evidence of molecular decay in
these species.


"Mammals without enamel are descended from ancestral forms that
had teeth with enamel," Springer said. "We predicted that
enamel-specific genes such as enamelin would show evidence in
living organisms of molecular decay because these genes are
vestigial and no longer necessary for survival."


Now his lab has found evidence of such molecular "cavities" in
the genomes of living organisms. Using modern gene sequencing
technology, Meredith discovered mutations in the enamelin gene
that disrupt how the enamelin protein is coded, resulting in
obliteration of the genetic blueprint for the enamelin protein.


Results of the study appear in the Sept. 4 issue of the
open-access journal PLoS Genetics.


Darwin argued that all organisms are descended from one or a few
organisms and that natural selection drives evolutionary change.
The fossil record demonstrates that the first mammals had teeth
with enamel. Mammals without enamel therefore must have descended
from mammals with enamel-covered teeth.


"We could therefore predict that nonfunctional vestiges of the
genes that code for enamel should be found in mammals that lack
enamel," Springer said. "When we made our predictions, however,
we did not have sequences for the enamelin gene in toothless and
enamelless mammals. Since then my lab worked on obtaining these
sequences so we could test our prediction."


Previous studies in evolutionary biology have provided only
limited evidence linking morphological degeneration in the fossil
record to molecular decay in the genome. The study led by
Springer takes advantage of the hardness of enamel and teeth to
provide more robust evidence for the linkage.


"The molecular counterpart to vestigial organs is pseudogenes
that are descended from formerly functional genes," Springer
explained. "In our research we clearly see the parallel evolution
of enamel loss in the fossil record and the molecular decay of
the enamelin gene into a pseudogene in representatives of four
different orders of mammals that have lost enamel."


Broadly, the research involved the following steps: First,
Meredith collected the DNA sequences for the enamelin gene in
different mammals. Next, the researchers analyzed sequences using
a variety of molecular evolutionary methods, including new
approaches developed by Springer's group. Finally, the group used
the results of their analyses to test previous hypotheses and
generate new ones.


"Currently, we are actively engaged in deciphering the
evolutionary history of other genes that are involved in enamel
formation," Springer said.


Authors of the study are Springer; Meredith, a postdoctoral
scholar in Springer's lab; Gatesy, an associate professor of
biology; William Murphy of Texas A&M University; and Oliver Ryder
of the San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research,
Calif. Meredith, the first author of the research paper,
performed all the lab work and, under guidance from Springer and
Gatesy, ran most of the computer analyses.


The research was supported in part by an Assembling the Tree of
Life grant to Springer and Gatesy from the National Science
Foundation.


.

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