What prevents mainstream evolutionists teaching the whole truth about how genomes evolve?

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary biology
• Molecular biology
• Genomics

Background:

• The Modern Synthesis (MS) of evolution, formulated in the 1940s, is widely believed to be supported by molecular biology.
• However, molecular discoveries have instead undermined core assumptions of the MS.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss evolutionary processes revealed by molecular studies and genome sequencing that extend beyond the MS.
• To highlight how these discoveries challenge fundamental MS tenets.

Main Methods:

• Review of molecular biology findings and genome sequencing data.
• Analysis of evolutionary processes such as symbiogenesis, horizontal DNA transfer, and natural genetic engineering.
• Comparison of 21st-century evolutionary concepts with 19th-century ideas of Darwin and Lamarck.

Main Results:

• Molecular studies discredit MS assumptions: DNA's fidelity, one-way information transfer, "selfish DNA," and the Weismann Barrier.
• Genome sequencing reveals processes like symbiogenesis, horizontal gene transfer, and stress-induced genome change.
• The evolving genome is better understood as a Read-Write database, not Read-Only Memory.

Conclusions:

• Modern evolutionary theory, informed by molecular biology, is more dynamic and Lamarckian/Darwinian than the MS.
• Stress-induced genome change in evolution may explain rapid tumor evolution and treatment resistance in oncology.
• Less lethal cancer therapies might promote longer survival by avoiding punctuated evolutionary change triggers.