Directed Evolution: Applied Darwinism

When Charles Darwin set out on the HMS Beagle in the 1830s, he did not intend revolutionize the way the world thought about their origins. He came back having observed an interesting world, one for which he, like all of us, wanted an explanation. In 1859 he shocked many with that explanation.

Today many have accepted and rejected Darwin's theories and ideas, but nevertheless, "selection", has become a major part of the direction of the scientific community. Especially in terms of what we humans can do when we control the reigns of selection.

Thecourse reading for this section originally interested me in how we have come to apply evolution to our lives.

For answers I turned to MIT OpenCourseWare, because if any one had information online about science, it might be MIT. Once there I came across a class and a specific lecture that interested me.

The Directed Evolution: Engineering Biocatalysts  class provided just one example of the ways that humans physically manipulate the genes available to them, to form a desired product, such as a specific catalyst.
I find it interesting that while some quickly denounce the validity of Darwin's theories, we continue to apply them today, playing the part of nature ourselves. To me this brings up a certain conundrum, how can we apply the principles of a theory we say is false?

This lecture caught my attention because it talks about what DNA says about the dispersal of humanity throughout the world.



I'd like to put in the final thought that while I find biology and evolution fascinating, not on the level of robotics but getting there, if it were really important for us to know how it all happened in detail we would. And maybe if it someday becomes important we will.