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The Significance Of Charles Darwin's Theory Of Natural Selection

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Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection has been described as one of the most fascinating ideas in the natural sciences, seeing as it gave other disciplines the opportunity to explore within many fields. Darwin’s theory, however, did have its fair share of challenges.
According to Hayden (2009), Darwin was hesitant in publishing his ideas on evolution and natural selection, but encouragement from a fellow naturalist named Alfred Russel Wallace proved effective. The first public airing of Darwin’s theory caused little interest, but after his works published it caused a media frenzy. Hayden (2009) notes that allies in Darwin’s field applauded his work and called it a “unifying” breakthrough, whilst rivals in the field called out many of …show more content…

What Darwin Never Knew (2009) mentions a few examples of how Darwin’s theory influenced their studies. Michael Nachman of the University of Arizona concluded that natural selection was present in pocket mice of the Pinacate Desert – gene mutations gave mice living in the sandy desert tan fur, whilst the mice that lived on darker rocks had black fur.
Another example of how Darwin’s works influenced modern science is with that of Sean B. Carroll of the University of Wisconsin and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Carroll was able to create a new species of fruit fly by studying why some species of fruit fly have the gene for wing spots, but lies dormant. By injecting DNA from a spotted fruit fly into an unspotted fruit fly and adding a protein that cause organisms to glow in the dark, it activated the gene for wing spots causing the spots to glow.
My last example from the documentary is that of Dr Christopher Walsh of the Boston Children’s Hospital. By studying the genes that causes microcephaly, Dr Walsh is able to predict whether unborn children will be born with the condition, so that future parents can start necessary treatment

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