Genetic Mutation: Problems in Eden, Part 2

In order to be able to pass on his vocal chord gene, chimpman would have to find a chimpwoman humanzee who had experienced the same genetic mutation (Would they be able to mate if he was vocal and she was bi-pedal?). Otherwise, he would be the first and last of his kind. Further, the best case scenario for propagation of the new humanzee species would have to be lots and lots of these humanzees. Otherwise, in-breeding would occur, and that probably would be bad. Who knows, a genetic mutation might occur and a humanzee would be born who was quadri-pedal, and had no vocal chords (Would that be classified as evolution?)

Beyond the difficulties with vocal chords, bi-pedalism would present its own set of challenges. Chimps use their knuckles for walking, and, thus, have entirely different kinds of hands and musculature than humans. Have you ever tried "walking on all-fours," using your knuckles as opposed to your palms or extended fingers?

How about trying to hang from a vine for a while? Chimps do that all the time; they can hang for a long time without any problem. Humans just do not have the right muscles for vine hanging. Male humans, having significantly more upper body strength than female humans, might get by for a while, but not for long. Neither sex, though, would get very far using their knuckles for walking.

So, when junior was born able to walk upright instead of on all fours, he was also born with a newly configured musculature. He also would have to have been born with a new neural system. Nerves that made the muscles and bones work for quadri-pedal movement would not work for bi-pedalism (Have you ever noticed how chimps of any age walking upright remind you of a small child learning to walk? They never get any better; babies do.). He would have required new kinds of joints, ligaments, muscles, and blood flow. Oh, and that strange looking big toe would have to go. What’s good for four feet is not what is required for two.

A different kind of balance is required, which four-footed chimps do not share with two-footed humans. Human equilibrium is a complex interaction which requires correct input from three sensory receptors — the inner ear, vision, and somatosensory, which is our contact with the earth as perceived by our feet, ankles, muscles and joints. All three signals must then be correctly received by our central nervous system. Then the cerebellum which is the motor control portion of the brain must execute the correct movement of our musculoskeletal system, so that we may maintain our center of gravity. If any one or several components of this complicated system do not work properly, then we will have a loss of surefootedness or movement coordination.

So, while junior was incubating and that mutation was taking place, not just one, but a whole host of genetic changes would have had to have occurred at one time. We might consider, by the way, that bi-pedalism implies changes other that genetic. For instance, diet would change. Since junior is now able to walk upright, he can get to fruit in some trees mom and dad chimp cannot reach. Also, he can go places to get food he could not go before. Perhaps, sadly, he’ll not be able to get to some food he’s enjoyed before, since walking upright limits his mobility in some cases.

But, can he eat all these new foods (Will his chimp digestive system accept new foods?)? Will he like raw food anymore? Will grubs loose their culinary attraction? How about cooking with fire? But, he’d have to kill some of his distant relatives in order to have a barbecue. Then, he might burn himself, and what would he do then?

If junior cuts himself badly, or is injured in other ways, what does he do? There are no chimp hospitals, no chimp doctors, no chimp first-aid. Of course, that’s why the life expectancy of chimps in the wild is only 35-40 years. In captivity, chimps might live to 60. In the "wild," human life expectancy is not much better than chimps. But, we don’t go into captivity to improve our life-expectancy, we develop more civilized, technologically advanced communities. As far as chimp "society" goes, sticks, twigs, and stones are the historical and present-day level of their technology. I am old enough to remember party-line telephone systems where calls were placed by an operator; then came dial phones; then touch-tone; now, cell phones.

In our highly advanced cultures, we use language to communicate, and we work together on a host of complex issues, thus, being able to improve life immeasurably. A minor burn or broken limb is generally not fatal for humans. A broken limb or other wound for a chimp can be and most likely would be fatal. Not only would infection lead to death, but neglect as well. Chimps don’t do well at caring for the sick. Ultimately, sick and injured chimpanzees are left to die. No neosporin.

In the same way, a chimp who all of a sudden stood upright all the time, or spoke instead of grunted, who had little body hair (Would he/she shave or perm what he/she did have? Would nudity produce embarrassment?), and who was not comfortable climbing vines and branches, indeed, lacked the muscles to do so, would be an outcast. He would have been left on his own, as soon as the mutations began to be expressed. He would have been a chimp no longer.

Dinah Washington sang, "What a difference a day makes." And, she was right. But, boy, what a difference 4 percentage points make in a genetic day.

Genetic Mutation: Problems in Eden, Part 1

A fundamental assumption of evolutionary theory is that genetic changes have occurred in one species that have led to the formation of new species. For instance, one might argue as an evolutionist that a group of chimpanzees once existed among whom some genetic mutations occurred that gave rise to early humans. How defensible is such an argument? Many would argue, on the basis of shared genes, that such a scenario is quite plausible. Well, what is the possibility, we might ask?

In the on-line National Geographic News article (August 31, 2005 )"Chimps, Humans 96 Percent the Same, Gene Study Finds," Stefan Lovgren reported that "Scientists have sequenced the genome of the chimpanzee and found that humans are 96 percent similar to the great ape species. . . To map the chimp genome, researchers used DNA from the blood of a male common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) named Clint, who lived at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta. Clint died last year from heart failure at the relatively young age of 24. . . A comparison of Clint's genetic blueprints with that of the human genome shows that our closest living relatives share 96 percent of our DNA. The number of genetic differences between humans and chimps is ten times smaller than that between mice and rats."

Seemingly, based on genetic evidence, chimps and humans should be considered as part of the same family, right? Wrong! But, you argue, science shows we are close genetically. Our DNA is almost the same. The difference is only a mere 4 percent. Are we so different?

Let’s consider a few points. First of all, the idea that our genetic closeness proves anything is a false argument. Chimps are quadri-pedal knuckle walkers, have no vocal chords, do not have opposable thumbs, and are covered in thick body hair. Humans are bi-pedal, can speak, have opposable thumbs, and none of us have full body hair.

So, what is the big deal? Give a chimp a PC and see what happens. Or, better yet, give him a flat-head and a phillips screwdriver and tell him to take the cover off the PC. He wouldn’t understand the instructions; he’d not be able to figure out which screwdriver to use; and, he’d have a hard time manipulating the screwdriver if he were lucky enough to match the right one to the screws.

The lack of fine motor skills and language and speech capability underscore the problem for genetic mutation theorists. To over-simplify, mother chimp had a baby one day. She and a long line of mama chimps had grown frustrated in getting junior to behave. The frustration ultimately produced a mutation, and low and behold, a chimp was born with vocal chords (A firm "Stop that!" is so much better than an angry grunt.).

The problem with the simplification above is that if such a development had occurred, a host of other changes would have been required in order to make the modification work. For instance, do not vocal chords require a different kind of lung action and breathing technique, lip and tongue coordination, and psychological predispositions than grunting chimps commonly use? So, one change requires many others to occur simultaneously in order for the change to be meaningful.

Let’s say, though, that junior chimp (Now chimpman who is a humanzee.), did have those vocal chords. Who would teach him language? Specific languages are not genetic, but learned. The physical and psychological skills required for language are inborn, but language itself must be taught by someone who has mastered that language already. Parents teach children to speak; other babies cannot. So, what use are vocal chords if you have no language? Why speak when grunting gets the job done?

We might also raise the question as to what would have happened to a chimp who was born with vocal chords. Not only would his parents have been unable to teach him language, he would not have grunted any longer in the same manner as old mama chimp. Almost from the outset, he would have been a social outcast. Looks to me like a genetic disaster.

What if chimpman had been born bi-pedal in addition to or instead of having vocal chords? As soon as he walked on his hind legs, he would appear to his chimp family as a freak. Chimps can walk on their hind legs, but doing so is not "natural." Chimps are predisposed to walking on all four limbs, using their knuckles to cushion their hands as they walk. Humans can take only a few steps on "four-feet," but using their knuckles in the process is impossible. Our hands are not designed for walking. As with speaking, walking upright would mark junior as a social outcast.

What does junior do with himself, being all alone? Well, if he’s lucky, all throughout chimp-dom, genetic mutations would be occurring exactly the same as his. A lot of them would have to happen, because being genetically different, he’d probably be unable to breed with other chimps, no longer being a chimp, but a humazee. In trying to find a mate, would he use romantic talk? And, who would listen? Most likely, being able to walk and talk would turn off the really pretty chimp chicks. If he could mate, though, his vocal chord or bi-pedal gene would be recessive, and that would be the end of the line, so to speak.

Thus, the problems mount for chimpman.