Just like old times: Generating RNA molecules in water

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology ^ | Nov 20, 2009 | Unknown

[IronKros]

Here is a quick and dirty wiki write-up on a long term e-coli experiment which went on for over 20 years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._coli_long-term_evolution_experiment

[LiberConservative]

Indeed. Quite an interesting read. But it says little to support evolution. This is the saliant quote: ... the bacteria in each population are thought to have generated hundreds of millions of mutations over the first 20,000 generations, Lenski has estimated that only 10 to 20 beneficial mutations achieved fixation ...

And we are talking about one of the simplest lifeforms on the planet.

These mutations could very well have been in the genetic code of the bacteria for generations and repressed and appeared only after extreme numbers of generations. Furthermore, after all of these generations they are still only one genus or family: the e-coli bacteria. This is natural selection. Not evolution. There is a huge difference.

[IronKros]

Yes, this is scientific proof that natural selection is a fact. It is also amazing how many changes the e coli went through during the 20 years of the experiment (this was just a quick and dirty explanation).

Evolution has not bee proved in a lab. However, it does not need to be. There are mountains of evidence of evolution throughout our world.