EACH SPECIES EXISTS AS AN INDIVISIBLE UNIT OF LIFE, A GREAT DISCOVERY

At the time of Darwin biology was in its infancy and little was known about the laws of genetic material and the laws of inheritance. Hence most of Darwin’s work was speculative laid on general and sundry observations under his firm belief that species have evolved from previously existing species by gradually developing variations over a long time. In 1953 the science of biology witnessed a great breakthrough with the discovery of heredity material known as DNA. It was after a lapse of about one century the Origin Of Species was published that James Watson and Francis Crick discovered a chemical structure of the genetic material, which existed in the nucleus of each cell of the organism. This genetic material, which firmly holds all the characteristics of the organism, is called deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA). DNA is a long molecule consisting of a double backbone of alternation sugar and phosphate units. The long double-strand molecule which contains and controls all features of the organism is twisted into a helix and the double helical structure is such that the molecule can ‘unzip’ and each half-strand of the DNA can synthesize the complementary half-strand. This is what happens when the chromosomes replicate themselves during cell division. It is the sequence of the basis which spells out the genetic message of the DNA molecule. The remarkable thing is that the genetic code appears to be universal. The discovery revealed that all the characteristics of each species remain firmly held in the nucleus DNA in each cell and the same are passed on genetically from generation to generation without a slight change in them. This great discovery in the field of biology totally rejected occurrence of variations due to environmental or any other external conditions in the characteristics of any species as it established the fact that each species firmly held all its features in the DNA molecule contained in the nucleus of each cell and passed on the same without any variation to its off-springs. This discovery further established that the somatic (bodily) events acquired by parents through exercise or lack of it, injury or disease as well as small phenotype changes produced by organisms due to environmental conditions do not pass on to the off-springs of the species as the same are not translated into changes in the genetic information as firmly preserved in the DNA molecule of each cell. The discovery revealed that genetic information can flow in one direction, that is, through DNA heredity molecule only.

Darwin had laid his evolutionary theory on the belief that species have descended from the preceding species by slowly and gradually developing variations which were preserved and selected by nature as a new species. If there were no variation, natural selection could do nothing as it acted on variation only. Since the new discovery rejected occurrence of any variation (except slight natural phenotype varieties among the individual of the same species) it established that each species was a direct individual creation and preserved its distinction by passing on its genetic material from generation to generation without any variation. These facts reject the theory of ‘ Origin Of Species’ authored by Darwin. The modern biology regards it today as unscientific work laid on speculations and sundry observations under Darwin’s belief that nature does not make leaps; it acts mechanically without any break.

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