Inside the Human Genome: A Case for Non-Intelligent Design

John C. Avise

Feb 2010 · Oxford University Press

About this ebook

Humanity's physical design flaws have long been apparent--we get hemorrhoids and impacted wisdom teeth, for instance--but do the imperfections extend down to the level of our genes? Inside the Human Genome is the first book to examine the philosophical question of why, from the perspectives of biochemistry and molecular genetics, flaws exist in the biological world. Distinguished evolutionary geneticist John Avise offers a panoramic yet penetrating exploration of the many gross deficiencies in human DNA--ranging from mutational defects to built-in design faults--while at the same time offering a comprehensive treatment of recent findings about the human genome. The author shows that the overwhelming scientific evidence for genomic imperfection provides a compelling counterargument to intelligent design. He also develops a case that theologians should welcome rather than disavow these discoveries. The evolutionary sciences can help mainstream religions escape the shackles of Intelligent Design, and thereby return religion to its rightful realm--not as the secular interpreter of the biological minutiae of our physical existence, but rather as a respectable philosophical counselor on grander matters of ultimate concern.

Ratings and reviews

I wanted to ask the writer how we would be in terms of evolution if there were no any defective mutations in our genes? Come on folks,time to wake up. Fable time is over and let's see the realities of life and cosmos. Who can accept and approve that for no any purpose we live and die? I want real hard core science talking about my personality and real human side. I know I am not only flesh and bone..

About the author

John C. Avise is Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, at the University of California, Irvine, and an elected member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.