Posted: Dec 22, 2014 2:21 pm
Rumraket wrote:
Yes it does, it's just that one of the mutations would be deleterious, not outright lethal.
So yes, the does in point of fact confirm that.BooBoo wrote:It confirms that two mutations are necessary and, crucially, that "the mutations be added in a specific order to avoid decreases in chloroquine transport."
Yes, necessary for effective chloroquine resistance. Not necessary to avoid lethality, the mutation has lower fitness associated with it, it is not lethal. Lower fitness is not synonymous with instant extinction, evolution can in point of fact progress through periods of lower fitness. Some times, passing through a valley is required to find another peak in the fitness landscape. This is evolution 101.
See for example: http://pleiotropy.fieldofscience.com/2014/07/death-of-fittest.html
As was mentioned, Larry Moran provides a reference demonstrating that strains with only one mutation have been observed in the wild. So Behe's claim has been empirically disproven. Don't think he'll be doing any victory dances over that. He'll just hope none of his sycophants will notice. Which, as BooBoo has demonstrated, they won't, even if the evidence is put right under their noses.