Neutral Model, genetic drift and the Third Way…a synopsis of the self-inflicted demise of the evolutionary paradigm | The Institute for Creation Research

 
Neutral Model, genetic drift and the Third Way…a synopsis of the self-inflicted demise of the evolutionary paradigm

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

In Journal of Creation 31 (3): 94-102, December 2017

Because of grievous deficiencies in the standard neo-Darwinian Model of evolution, which is largely selection driven, scientists proposed an alternative postulate called the ‘Neutral Model’ in the late 1960s. The Neutral Model is also mutation driven, but selection is deemed to be an insignificant force of change. Instead, random genetic drift is alleged to be the main driver. Since its inception, the Neutral Model has come to be incorporated in many theoretical evolutionary scenarios at some level. However, due to numerous discoveries in genomics and genome function, the Neutral Model has also become deficient, prompting a new move in science called the ‘Extended Evolutionary Synthesis’ or ‘The Third Way’, which takes a position of blissful ignorance and offers nothing tangible to extend or support evolutionary theory. While Third Way proponents recognize the deficiency of all popular evolutionary models, they maintain that more research is needed to elucidate unknown evolutionary mechanisms and processes despite the fact that the progress of scientific discovery is revealing nothing but unimaginable complexity.

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