Genes For aldosterone, Existed Prior to their Evolution--Further Evidence Supporting T of Evolutionary Metamorphosis, April 6, 2006

As first theorized by Dr. Rhawn Joseph, in his ground breaking brook, Astrobiology, the Origin of Life, and the Death of Darwinisn, "new" traits do not randomly evolve, as postulated by Darwin and his acolytes. Rather, all traits exist apriori, encoded in silent genes. When silent genes are activated, the traits that they code for, are expressed.

Thus, evolution is not random. Rather, what is called "evolution" is really a process of metamorphosis that could be likened to the genetic transformation that induces an embroyo to become a fetus, then an infant, child, adult.

Further evidence for Joseph's theories has been provided by Joe Thornton, assistant professor of biology at the University of Oregon--finding which refute Darwin's theory.This research will be published in the April 7 issue of SCIENCE.

How natural selection can drive the evolution of complex molecular systems -- those in which the function of each part depends on its interactions with the other parts--has been an unsolved issue in evolutionary biology.

According to Thornton. "New techniques allowed us to see how ancient genes and their functions evolved hundreds of millions of years ago, prior to their expression--exactly as predicted and theorized by Dr. Joseph.

Thorton calls this "Molecular Exploitation -- "old genes, constrained by selection for entirely different functions, have been recruited to participate in new interactions and new functions."

Thorton and his group studied the specific partnership of the hormone aldosterone, which regulates behavior and kidney function, along with the receptor protein that allows the body's cells to respond to the hormone. They resurrected the ancestral receptor gene -- which existed more than 450 million years ago, before the first animals with bones appeared on Earth -- and characterized its molecular functions. That is, they found that these traits were already encoded in these genes, long before they were expressed physicall.

The experiments showed that the receptor had the capacity to be activated by aldosterone long before the hormone actually evolved.

Thornton's group then showed that the ancestral receptor also responded to a far more ancient hormone with a similar structure; this made it "preadapated" to be recruited into a new functional partnership when aldosterone later evolved. By recapitulating the evolution of the receptor's DNA sequence, the scientists showed that only two mutations were required to evolve the receptor's present-day functions in humans.

The stepwise process Thornton was able to reconstruct is entirely inconsistent with Darwinian evolution but completely supports Joseph's theory.

According to Thornton. "By reaching back to the ancestral forms of genes, we were able to show just how this crucial hormone-receptor pair evolved."

The study's other researchers include Jamie T. Bridgham, postdoctorate research associate in evolutionary biology and Sean M. Carroll, graduate research fellow in biology. The work was funded by National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health grants and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship recently awarded to Thornton.