Entries by Jonathan McLatchie

Massimo Pigliucci: Theodosius Dobzhansky, in His Famous Comment about Evolution, Was "Patently Wrong"

Writing on his “Rationally Speaking” blog, internationally acclaimed evolutionary biologist turned philosopher Massimo Pigliucci has weighed in on a recent paper published by Addy Pross entitled “Toward a general theory of evolution: Extending Darwinian theory to inanimate matter.” What was of particular interest to me was Pigliucci’s comments on Theodosius Dobzhansky’s famous statement that “Nothing […]

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The GULO Pseudogene and Its Implications for Common Descent

L-gulonolactone oxidase (GULO), the final enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), is a subject that comes up often in discussions of common ancestry. The functioning GULO gene allows most plants and many animals to produce vitamin C from glucose or galactose. In some taxa, however, the GULO gene does not function […]

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Is Banning Same Sex Marriage Discrimination?

[Note: This is an exchange which took place between myself and an anonymous correspondant regarding a recent article I published on Blogos.org (and also posted here). The correspondant’s comments are appended below and immediately followed by my response.] Dear Blogos Editor, First of all, congratulations on your new site. I’m glad and excited for your […]

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Joining the Conversation: Perspectives on the Discussion with James Shapiro

I have followed with interest the discussion (“Is James Shapiro a Design Theorist?”) initiated by Bill Dembski and now involving James Shapiro, Ann Gauger and Douglas Axe. The nub of the issue seems to relate to conflicting conceptions about what constitutes a legitimate scientific explanation (what philosophers call the “demarcation problem”). Click here to continue […]

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The Year in Review: Intelligent Design in the UK

An often-heard criticism of intelligent design claims that it is exclusively an American phenomenon, since presumably the rest of the world is too smart to fall for the stuff. Of course this is nonsense. ID is making impressive strides in Europe and Asia. As I can report from personal experience, the future looks particularly bright […]

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Larry Moran Defends "Junk DNA"

Earlier, I responded to remarks made by PZ Myers at the recent Skepticon 4 conference. His subject: “Junk DNA.” On his Sandwalk blog, University of Toronto biochemist Larry Moran has posted a response to my article. Since the post is relatively civil (unusually for Moran, he refrains from calling me an “IDiot”) and offers some […]

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