by Jeffrey P. Tomkins, Ph.D., and Jerry Bergman, Ph.D.

In Journal of Creation 27 (3): 84-92, December 2013

The ‘tree of life’ (TOL) popularized by Darwin and used as the inferred pattern of life’s history is the centrepiece of evolutionary biology. The molecular genetics revolution has presented many contradictions for the TOL and the modern Darwinian synthesis. Incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) is a discordant and pervasive outcome produced when constructing phylogenetic trees using homologous biological sequence data across all types of life studied. The ILS paradigm is characterized by segments of DNA that produce phylogenetic trees with different topologies compared to hypothetical inferred evolutionary trees. While ILS within closely related taxonomic groups can largely be explained by horizontal genetic variation and limitations on accurately sampling large populations, ILS across clearly different and unrelated kinds of organisms represents a mosaic of DNA sequence patterns that cannot be explained by common ancestry. Other ‘rogue’ genetic data that defy the TOL are microRNA genes and taxonomically restricted genes. MicroRNAs produce completely different trees compared to other gene sequences and appear unexpectedly in taxa. Taxonomically restricted genes also appear abruptly without evolutionary precursors, lack homology to other genes, and uniquely define taxon. Genetics research consistently reveals patterns of DNA mosaics that defy evolution and vindicate biblical creation ‘after their kinds’.

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