Rodriguez 1 Wendy J. Rodriguez Dr.

Bradd Shore Anthropology 101-EC2 26 January 2014 What Darwin Never Knew In Darwins time, there was any underlying motive to how his overall concept of evolution. However, recently, scientists have been able to provide explanations to support Darwins foundations. Modern science has brought about new ways of looking inner makings of species in order to understand these evolutionary changes. The evolutionary changes occur through natural selection, in which the creatures gradually adapt to external changes that affect their ability to compete for survival, finalizing in the birth of a new species. DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) is a coding that has the genetic instructions used in the all known living organisms and makes each of the organisms unique. With the ability to observe and decode DNA we are able to understand where and how creatures evolve, function, and develop. DNA is a helix that is made up of stair steps containing a diverse combination of G (guanine), A (adenine), T (thymine), and
C (cytosine). Each of these combinations contains indications of what phenotypes we will have as we

develop. There are also sections in DNA that controls which genes appear during development by switching on or off some genes. This is the reason for so many species look different but share the same genes. These genes can change the overall identification of a creature. In some of the studies shown in this documentary, there were human alterations to the DNA of the species they were observing. One of the scientists was observing fruit flies and the reasons why one had dark spots on their wings when another one did not. He found out that both fruit flies had the same DNA coding but one was choosing not to use it. The scientist added a glow in the dark trait to the gene

Rodriguez 2 one of the fruit flies was choosing not to use. This is similar to what another scientist did to an embryo to understand why certain genes are not used and what the genes do for the species development. As I watched this documentary, I thought of current news I have read on the he possibility of altering the DNA of future offspring. This makes me think of all that could possibly go wrong. Darwin clearly states all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited
variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. Why would we want to change who we are as humans? We are the offspring of our ancestors, and we are who we are for the clear reason of competing, surviving, and reproducing. For instance, if we had the ability of altering the DNA that contributes to our skin color many might want to be tanner or lighter. Unfortunately, our skin color was evolved to the way it is because at some point your ancestry may have lived in a placed that needed more or less of a pigment to protect you from the sun. By changing the essence of our DNA, we are alternating the DNA of your generations instead of allowing natural selection to take its course. It has worked on its own without the interference of humans for millions of years. But, there is a positive aspect to changing DNA in humans that does not have to do with cosmetic reasons. We could use this new knowledge to help prevent certain ailments from affecting our future world. This could prevent a lot of congenital diseases from occurring which would save people from a lot of pain and loss. In conclusion, I believe that we must be ethically responsible with the decisions taken in altering the very sensitive genes that our DNA encodes.