NeoDarwinist conjecture contends the mud-to-molecule-to-man scenario explains the origin of all living things. Still, despite a century of public misperception, the natural limits to biological change continue to stymie Darwin's dream of natural selection.

Dazzling change and variety thanks to information present in the dynamic genome of every life form - absolutely!  But the radical transformation of one life kind into an entirely new format, without adding new genetic information - never!

While studying the rainforest fruit fly's ability to adapt, a team of Australian scholars from Victoria's La Trobe University encountered the stark reality of the limits to change imposed by the Drosophila birchii's genetic material.

Ary A. Hoffmann's scientists tested the limits of the fruit fly’s ability to adapt to an increasingly dry environment.  Starting with the most "desiccation resistant... they subjected the insects to very dry conditions until 90 percent had died, and then they bred the survivors."¹

The hardy, remaining 10 percent were bred further for 50 more generations. The researchers expected to produce "even more dryness-tolerant flies.  But what they got were flies basically no different from the ones straight out of the rainforest."

NeoDarwinists tend to recycle alleged "proofs" of evolution that are nothing more than the potential for variations expressed by a dynamic genome. A litany of favorites include "...bacterial antibiotic resistance, insect pesticide resistance, industrial melanism [peppered moth], sickle-cell anemia, and increased fitness in irradiated populations of Drosophila."²

These examples prove only the variety possibilities of the dynamic genome - not the natural selection envisioned by Darwin.  The adaptive change potential in every plant and animal kind is limited to the expression of its own, pre-existing genetic information.  Lack of new information coupled with a "shortage of useful genes" imposes barriers to radical, evolution-style change.

Bacteria immune to antibiotics remain bacteria; peppered moths continue as peppered moths sporting a variety of light to dark shades; and those ubiquitous fruit flies never evolve into dragon flies or butterflies - no matter Darwin’s wishful thinking.

And by the way, the Galapagos finches spotted by Darwin continue as finches - ad infinitum!

1.  David Brown, "Limits to Genetic Evolution," The Washington Post, July 7, 2003, p. A7.
2.  Lane P. Lester & Raymond G. Bohlin, The Natural Limits to Biological Change, Probe Books, 1989, p. 73.  This resource offers related scientific data in depth.

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