| Check Out These Genes...CATGATTCCGTGAGTCCTAATTGTGACGGATGCGGAGGTAACATAATAACGGG...
Oooh, yeah. You know you want me.
For as long as I can remember, I've been interested in science. Astronomy was probably the first one that got my attention. I was seven years old when the Voyager missions were launched. I was nine by the time the first pictures were coming back from Jupiter: Volcanoes on Io; violent, turbulent eddies in the clouds of Jupiter; the streaked, smooth surface of Europa... the opening of these worlds to human knowledge was incredible to me, and I was hooked. I started reading everything I could about astronomy, including theories on the origin of the Solar System and of the universe itself.
Then came 1981: Our return to space with the launch of Columbia, the arrival of the Voyager spacecraft at Saturn. Again, it was Voyager that really amazed me... the "Death Star" moon of Mimas; the "spokes" in Saturn's rings; the strange braided F-ring and it's shepherd moons... and moons and moons and more moons. I recall altering my almanac to reflect the current count of Saturnian satellites. And of course, I continue to follow interplanetary exploration to this day.
Of course, when one is a scientifically curious boy sitting in the library right around Dewey Decimal 523, one cannot help but be drawn to other books as well. Somewhere in this time frame is when I discovered a small, blue-covered book entitled "Evolution." It was very well illustrated, and covered a surprising amount of theoretical ground in its short, approximately 200 page space. Unfortunately, I cannot recall the author or publisher, but even at about age nine, it rang true to my ears. It not only covered major evolutionary phases, but also covered such genetic concepts as the chromosome, reproduction, crossing over, mutation, the DNA molecule, the genetic code, transcription and translation. And it is this area of science -- the sciences of life itself -- that most hold my interest today.
Somehow, when browsing the internet recently, I learned about Photosystem I in cyanobacteria, because we had a nearly complete picture of this system. This lead to my continuing exploration of protein function, such as the F0F1 ATP Synthase, which is essentially a rotory "protonic" motor with a "driveshaft" that alters the surface of the enzymes which catalyze the reaction that converts ADP to ATP. Of course, I discovered Chime somewhere in there, and seeing molecular machinery in motion rekindled my dormant interest in biological science.
My interest of the moment is to break down creationist arguments against Evolution. At least once per week, I will post a comprehensive defense of science against the attacks of one website. Of course, I will post a link to the original site and invite the site's author to post a rebuttal here. My goal in this endeavor is not to produce a flame war, but to expose the types of lies, omissions, and faulty logic creationists use to "disprove" evolution (which, of course, "proves" creationism.)
Of course, visitors on either side of the debate are welcome to participate in comments. Please keep the language non-offensive, and please don't resort to ad hominem attacks against those with whom you cannot agree. Fight nice, children. |
