Evolution and Learned Behaviors
Proponents of universal common ancestor evolution are excited about the possibility that learned behaviors can be passed along to future generations. Have you ever looked askance at something? It would be understandable, since sometimes the offspring of musicians cannot play an instrument, or parents of average intelligence have children that are geniuses. Even so, there are some indications that learned behaviors are indeed passed along.
Roundworms and mice have been tested and it was found that their offspring had learned traits that the parents had learned. This was traced back to epigenetics, a modification of the study of genetics that was initiated by Gregor Mendel (peas be upon him). Darwin's disciples are excited, thinking that they have lassoed evidence for their beliefs.
Not happening, Hoss. There have been no indications as yet that the learned behaviors were present after about four generations, where the critter reverted back to its natural state. Evolutionists also wonder if this would lead to speciation. Maybe. Speciation is a concept that is friendly to creation science, and no new genetic information was actually added because the changes were essentially through genetic switches. Remember the engineered adaptability series? This research reminds me of that: the Master Engineer designed living things to respond and adapt to their environment. This is by design, not because of external pressures that Darwin imagined.
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Not happening, Hoss. There have been no indications as yet that the learned behaviors were present after about four generations, where the critter reverted back to its natural state. Evolutionists also wonder if this would lead to speciation. Maybe. Speciation is a concept that is friendly to creation science, and no new genetic information was actually added because the changes were essentially through genetic switches. Remember the engineered adaptability series? This research reminds me of that: the Master Engineer designed living things to respond and adapt to their environment. This is by design, not because of external pressures that Darwin imagined.
Since Mendel, most scientists have believed that acquired traits could not be inherited by offspring. This would mean that if an individual organism were to lose a tail or learn to avoid a predator, for example, these traits could not be passed to the offspring through the DNA. The young would be born with a tail and no innate knowledge of how to avoid a predator. With the discovery and applications of epigenetics in the last few decades, this is changing. A recent article in the peer-reviewed journal Cell discussed the epigenetic inheritance of learned traits in roundworms. Roundworms are not the only organism to exhibit transgenerational learning. Numerous others do as well or utilize some other method of epigenetic inheritance.To read the rest, click on "Can Learned Behaviors be Inherited?"