During his time in Colombia, he had read a study written by Oswald Avery and some of his colleagues at Rockefeller University, about genes being composed of DNA and the fact that DNA, not proteins, transmitted genetic information. This inspired him to start researching the chemistry of nucleic acids through “developing a new paper chromatography method for separating and identifying small amount of organic material” (Pray). His results proved that every living organism has a varied composition of DNA and that the “total amount of purines and the total amount of pyrimidines are usually nearly equal” (Pray) which then lead to the creation of the base pair rule which states that adenine pairs with thymine, and guanine pairs with cytosine (this is also known as “Chargaff’s rule”). (Pray) (Chargaff’s rule (Nature.com)) “Rosalind Elsie Franklin was born in London, England, July 25, 1920 to an
“The Evolution of Molecular Biology: A Scientific Revolution?” Indeed, the Sumerians and Babylonians had set the stage for the evolution of Molecular Biology back in around 8000 years ago. People selectively manipulated the organism like yeast, domesticated the livestock, cross-bred the crops for their survival. But it was not until the mid 18th century when Darwin discovered the laws of evolution that turned the mere descriptive, observational, and taxonomical biology into the functional biology that can quantify the observations and help us understand the life at molecular level. Every discovery made thereafter formed the basis for another discoveries. Scientists were approaching the reductionist approach to explore the genetic codes of nature and unravel the many basics of molecular and cellular processes.
Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, published on 24 November 1859, is a work of scientific literature which is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. For the sixth edition of 1872, the short title was changed to The Origin of Species. Darwin's book introduced the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection. It presented a body of evidence that the diversity of life arose by common descent through a branching pattern of evolution. Darwin’s theory of evolution is an impressive unifying principle that credibly explains that all life is related and has descended from a common ancestor and therefore, should be taught in public schools.
Human development studies began with Darwin and other evolutionists who shared his theories. Darwin wanted to prove his theory of evolution; he believed the only approach to this was him studying human development. (Boyd& Bee, 2006) The definition of a lifespan is the average or minimum length of time an organism, material, or object can be expected to survive or last. (American Heritage Dictionary, 2000) The definition of development based on biology is the process of an individual organism growing organically a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level. (Collins English Dictionary, 2003) Ultimately the two words conjoined define the methodical intra-individual change associated with progresses corresponding to age.
Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) was an England physician, philosopher, inventor, and poet. He published several works explaining an evolutionary view of life including The botanic garden published in two parts, Zoonomia also published in two volumes, and The temple of nature (Wade, 2002). He believed that there was a God who created the life on earth and after plants and animals developed without his intervention, growing naturally (Schultz & Schultz, 2012). He also created and anticipated many evidence for evolution that later Charles Darwin, his grandson will discuss, including animals and plant changes due to different climate or metamorphosis processes. Robert Darwin, father of Charles was the third son of his first marriage (Wade, 2002).
Mayr (2000) begins by stating that many notions of biology in the last 150 years have been in opposition to popular belief. Those beliefs have ultimately been modified due almost entirely to the influential theories of Charles Darwin. Darwin’s first key influence, he claims, is the concept of evolution itself. At the time this notion was proposed, the majority of leading scientists and philosophers believed that the world as it existed now was the creation God, not the result of gradual natural forces. He goes on to say that branching evolution, a notion which suggests common decent, was also an alien concept at the time of proposition, as was the notion that evolution must be a gradual process with its fundamental mechanism being natural selection (Mayr, 2000).
The French naturalist Geoffroy St. Hilaire would champion another version of evolutionary change in the 1820s, and the British writer Robert Chambers would author a best-selling argument for evolution in 1844: Vestiges of a Natural Creation. And in 1859, Charles Darwin would publish the Origin of Species. Lamarck, St. Hilaire, Chambers, and Darwin all had radically different ideas about how evolution operates, but only Darwin's still have scientific currency today.Darwin relied on much the same evidence for evolution that Lamarck did (such as vestigial structures and artificial selection through breeding), but made completely different arguments from Lamarck. Darwin did not accept an arrow of complexity driving through the history of life. He argued that complexity evolved simply as a result of life adapting to its local conditions from one generation to the next, much as modern biologists see this process.
WEEK 2, INDIVIDUAL WORK ASSIGNMENT To: Jorge Villarruel From: Kim Johnson Date: April 24, 2014 Re: Week 2 Assignment, some history on forensic science. 1. What was Francis Henry Galton’s major contribution to forensic science? Englishman Francis Henry Galton was the first to undertake the definitive study of fingerprinting and he developed the first method of classifying fingerprints for filing. In 1892, he published the book “Finger Prints”, and it contained the first statistical proof supporting the uniqueness of his method of identification.
Evidence will be presented to illustrate the strength of each theory. Finally the main arguments of this essay will be summarized and will conclude that human language cannot be fully explained by evolution. It will end with suggesting that these theories have to be seen as provisional, due to the possibility of new findings. The growing interest in the origin of language can be seen as the outcome of significant technological changes in various scientific sectors. When genes and DNA were discovered in 1953, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution has been supported in many aspects.
Darwin realised and presented evidence of evolution through natural selection. That is, all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors. This theory was widely accepted by the scientific community and much of the public in his lifetime. The theory of evolution through natural selection today forms the basis for modern evolutionary theory. Darwin's journey to discover evolution appears to have started at the University of Cambridge.