Summary Of Evolution By Thomas Carroll

DNA is the blueprint to all creatures, as Carroll points out in his preface. DNA testing extends from forensics to the testing for carriers of genetic diseases, yet many people deny the reality of evolution. Through the study of genomics, fossil genes and the comparison of DNA across many different species, Carroll explains how biological evolution is real, and that it can and does repeat itself. He uses the algebraic equation of evolution and applies it the wild. Carroll also goes on to say that the DNA record is preserved by “immortal genes” and is used as evidence for common ancestors. Lastly, Carroll demonstrates how new functions and genes are made from “old” genes, using the origin and evolution of eye vision to explain this concept. One section in the book that stood out to me points out that the court system often relies on DNA evidence to either give liberty to or incarcerate a person, and all U.S. citizens are supportive of this. Yet half or more of the public opinion doubts or denies that biological evolution is …show more content…
This is important, as it gave me a more succinct understanding as to how natural selection works as the main tool for biological evolution. Carroll gives several examples of how evolution does this. For example, different species acquire similar vision or similar toxins. Statistics illustrate that over the vast amount of time and having had many offspring, "identical or equivalent mutations will arise repeatedly by chance" (156). One thing I found interesting was the idea of selection coefficients, which shows the incremental difference in survival and reproductive success between individuals with a trait and those without it. He discusses the melanic mice of an Arizonan desert and how a subgroup of these mice developed darker fur, since they inhabited areas with darker lava, through genetic mutation that we can clearly see in the