Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Evolution and Medical Research
Intelligent design gurus often tell us that evolutionary theory is of no use in scientific or medical research. Of course, since none of them are involved in this sort of research, they may not know what they are talking about.
Here's another view from Stephen W. Scherer, an HHMI international research scholar, senior scientist in the Genetics and Genomic Biology Program at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, and an associate professor of molecular and medical genetics at the University of Toronto, as reported by Medical Science News.
Here's another view from Stephen W. Scherer, an HHMI international research scholar, senior scientist in the Genetics and Genomic Biology Program at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, and an associate professor of molecular and medical genetics at the University of Toronto, as reported by Medical Science News.
... Scherer focused his research on large structural variations in chromosomes between humans and chimps, specifically genetic inversions. Inversions can disrupt the expression of genes at the point where the chromosome breaks, as well as genes adjacent to breakpoints.
"From a medical genetics perspective, there are probably hundreds of disease genes that have not yet been characterized," said Scherer. "The vast majority of disease gene discovery has been based on gene sequencing, but this is not a comprehensive view of chromosomes. We are using an evolutionary approach to identify mutations that may predispose people to disease."
