Charles Darwin: The Father of Evolution and Genetics, Essay Example

Many students and workers around the world today have learned about Charles Darwin at some point in their lives. He is probably one of the best known scientists of the modern era and he has allowed humanity to gain a greater understanding of life on Earth. While people tend to remember Darwin because he went on an exciting journey to the Galapagos Islands where he studied bird populations, his scientific findings allowed for great discoveries in science even after his death (Fitzroy). It can therefore be considered that Charles Darwin is one of the most influential scientists in history due to his ability to creatively design studies that helped humanity understand how populations have changed over time in addition to aspects of their lives that help them survive compared to other organisms.

Charles Darwin is best known for his theory of natural selection, which he uses to explain evolution. Basically, he says that animals change because of different parts of their environment. When animals cannot survive in their environment due to specialized traits they have, they will die and allow the animals with the best traits to survive (Verlyn). This will result in the creation of more animals with this trait, which means it will be most likely that animals in later generations will have this one trait because of the ability of the original animals to reproduce more, thereby allowing the gene to enter the population more frequently. Darwin came to this discovery by noticing that there were many different types of finches in the Galapagos Islands. He hypothesized that different types of birds had different types of beaks because of their need to get food. Certain beaks were meant for eating seeds, while others were meant for eating insects and other foods. This difference in beak led to the development of special traits that allowed both bird populations to have good access to food because of these differences and they no longer had to compete with one another to survive.

While Darwin’s discovery can be said to be important on its own, it is necessary to consider that it led to many other discoveries by modern scientists that have important relationships to human health. For example, Darwin’s study of evolution contributed to the discovery of the gene and the gene’s mutation impact on human health. Knowing this information allowed scientists to find that the different evolutions of genes can cause diseases in humans and that knowing what the correct gene should be could potentially lead to a cure for these diseases. Specifically, doctors are looking to find the DNA sequence of these genes to find the exact mutations that are preventing the genes from making the proteins that they are supposed to normally. Then, they are making medication to prevent the proteins from folding abnormally which will help the health of the patients. If Darwin didn’t notice that different traits of organisms impacted survival, we would not understand that genes are an important part of human health and we would not be able to fix these genes in order to prevent people from dying (Across the Curriculum Reader). While it appears that we are violating the laws of nature by doing this, it just goes to emphasize the importance of Darwin’s discovery to mankind.

Many people call Gregor Mendel the father of genetics because he conducted an experiment that is responsible for finding the genetic principles of inheritance. These studies defined exactly how genes are transferred from a parent to an offspring in addition to determining how these genes are expressed in terms of each other. In Darwin at 200: The Ongoing Force of His Unconventional Idea, the author discusses that Darwin would have been very happy to have learned about Gregor Mendel’s discovery because it proves much of the research that he had been working on his entire life. While we can certainly consider Gregor Mendel’s contributions important to modern science because the discovery of the gene helps doctors understand what to do in order to treat their patients, Darwin was really the first person to have discovered the gene. By noticing that there are different traits for different animals that lead to different survival, he basically discovered the basic idea of information that codes for traits (Desmond). Furthermore, he noted that these trait variants, which are now known as alleles, must also exist. Therefore, it is possible to consider Charles Darwin, rather than Gregor Mendel as the father of genetics because if it weren’t for Darwin’s findings, it is likely that Mendel would never have completed his famous pea plant experiment to find the principles of genetics that are still mostly relevant today. Darwin’s work is important because it allowed other scientists to build off on it because it was the first type of scientific work that tried to understand where different traits come from.

Even though Darwin’s work came before Mendel’s, many people argue that his pea plant experiment was necessary to show that genes exist, and as a result many scientists believe that he should truly be considered the “Father of Genetics”.  In his experiments, he selected pea plants with purple flowers that produced offspring with purple flowers for many generations and called them true breeding. He did the same thing with white flowers. When he bred purple flowers with white flowers, he found that at first, all of the offspring flowers would be purple. Through this study he found that certain traits were dominant, meaning that they would be preferentially expressed over other traits that were called recessive. When he took two of these second generation purple flowers and made them have offspring, he found that for every three purple flowers he had there would be one white flower. This showed that the white trait was not lost but somehow covered. He used this principle to show that there are two or more variations for each trait. In future experiments, he showed how certain traits could be passed down together, or combined to make different genetic effects. This showed us how many of the principles that guide human traits from parents work, which is why he was called the “Father of Genetics”.

While Mendel’s contribution to science was important, he shouldn’t be considered the “Father of Genetics” because he wasn’t technically the first person to study genetics. Even though Darwin didn’t give words to many of the ideas that Mendel later developed, he was the first person to notice that there could be more than one variation of trait in a population and that there were many factors that had the potential for making this relationship between complicated. Mendel’s study can be said to validate his findings, but his study design and therefore later produced results were completely dependent upon the findings of Darwin. While Darwin’s study was observational and not experimental, it provided a lot of data that showed how population change over time, which is related to the tendency of genes to enter and leave a population. The word gene was not used for this research, but Darwin accurately described a lot of natural phenomena that later came true in Mendel’s work. This shows that if the “Father of Evolution” had not conducted his pioneering work, we may not have even had modern genetics as we understand it today.

Prior to Darwin’s development of the theory of natural selection, the world believed a theory that was created by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck that stated that changes that organisms encounter would occur to them over time (Gissis). The most famous example that illustrates this theory is the idea that since giraffes need to stretch their necks to get food, their necks would become longer and longer over time. By this theory, the earliest giraffes had very short necks. Because they needed to stretch their necks to get food, these necks would get longer and longer over the years because the giraffes who would stretch their necks out during their lifetime would pass their slightly longer neck to their offspring and this trend would continue. While this type of theory appears to be laughable in the modern era, it was consistent with some of the observations made by people who studied life. Interestingly, if Darwin had not created his theory of natural selection and then Gregor Mendel had completed his noteworthy experiments, it is likely that the majority of the world would not have accepted any of this work because it would not have agreed with the most current understanding of biology.

In fact, Darwin’s work was the science that was primarily responsible for ending the world’s belief in Lamarck’s theory of adaptation (Madaule). Through observing the animals and plants on the Galapagos Islands, he observed firsthand how these evolutionary adaptations could have come about. Basically, the different traits in seemingly similar species showed him that there must be a reason for these changes. While these observations may have initially agreed with Lamarck’s findings because the end result of the finch’s beaks was related to their different use, he found that instead of the change in the environment causing the alteration, the alteration in the environment caused the change in the organisms. If traits simply became more or less over time, it is likely that Darwin would have observed some of this in his natural environment. His theories then showed that it is most likely that if there were at one time giraffes with short necks, there were mutations that caused some to have long necks. Ultimately, the long neck mutation was helpful to the giraffes because it allowed them to select food from locations that many other animals couldn’t reach. Because this was a survival advantage, the giraffes with long necks were able to reproduce better and the ones with the short necks were less likely to reproduce and more likely to die out. Because of this, there are more giraffes with long necks in the world than there are giraffes with short necks.

Another concern that many people who do not think that Darwin is the “Father of Genetics” has is that they simply do not believe in the principle of evolution. Darwin’s theories are controversial because he contradicts the opinion of many religious organizations that a God created humans. Rather, his principles show that because humans are very similar to the Great apes such as chimpanzees, bonobos, and orangutans, it is likely that humans and all three of these animals evolved from a common ancestor a very long time ago. People who do not believe in Darwin think that evolution must not be true because it contradicts what is said in the Bible. However, many modern religions are coming to understand that what was written in the Bible can agree with Darwin’s findings because man did not have an excellent understanding of science when it was written, and the Bible was written by man under the direction of God, so it is possible that there are some human errors (Moore).

In fact, many people believe that the Bible is correct over Darwin even though the official position of the Roman Catholic Church is currently that evolution exists and was a part of God’s creation plan. Many people who are religious and don’t believe in evolution state that this is not possible because evolution is just a theory and that God created the earth in only seven days, so evolution would have taken too long for this to be possible. However, the Pope has specifically said that he believes that the time aspect of the Bible is relative. Therefore, the creation of the earth may have felt like a seven day experience for God, but this may be a very long time compared to the length of time that man has existed on earth. Therefore, there is a place for both the creation myth and the understanding of evolution. Mendel is generally more accepted as the “Father of Genetics” because he was a monk and was therefore committed to the church. Thus, it was more challenging to view him as a man that was attempting to contradict the information contained in the Bible.

A second problem that many critics of Darwin’s position as both the “Father of Evolution” and the “Father of Genetics” is that many people claim that evolution is just a theory so the information that explains cannot be true. Based on this assumption, Mendel would be more important because it appears that the information he has discovered has been confirmed by modern science. However, it is important for these individuals to understand the definition of a scientific theory. Scientific theories cannot be proven because they cannot reasonably be observed, and this is true of evolution because all aspects of past evolution cannot be observed and many modern aspects of evolution cannot possibly be observed within our lifetimes. On the other hand, scientific knowledge would not be labeled as a theory unless all scientific evidence points to its validity. A combination of the studies conducted by Darwin in addition to modern scientists have shown that evolution is responsible for directing a variety of aspects of the modern world. At this point, we are almost certain that evolution is real and there is much more convincing evidence for evolution than there is negative evidence against it. Therefore, Darwin is an important scientists because he contributed to our understanding of an important scientific theory that guides a majority of modern practice.

An additional claim that many people who don’t believe in evolution or Darwin’s theories claim is that the earth has not been around a long enough time for evolution to have occurred. They believe that evolution is not possible because it is supposed to be slow change that has occurred over many thousands or millions of years. However, there are currently many scientific tools that are able to disprove this claim. One of the most important types of these tools is Carbon dating, which allows scientists to figure out the age of something by seeing how much radioactivity it has. This process has allowed scientists to find remains of early humans that are as old as a million years old, and new skeletons are being found regularly. This process provides evidence that evolution is real because it is possible for us to piece together the earth’s ancient history. Critics of this believe that evolution is a hoax and that scientists are trying to trick them by planting fake skeletons in the ground. However, there are many discoveries on a yearly basis and a lot of funds are spent to unearth these skeletons so it is more likely that these unearthings are a reality. If this were a hoax, it would be a waste of valuable time and resources.

In conclusion, Charles Darwin’s most important achievement was the discovery of evolutionary principles that led to our modern understanding of genetics. Darwin was an excellent scientists because he was one of the first individuals to notice that there are different traits among animals in a population and these traits change depending on location and time. Therefore, he found that these alternate traits are impacted by the environment and these traits change in order to help keep animals alive. Animals with more environmentally favorable characteristics are more likely to live a longer period of time and because of this they are more likely to pass this trait down to future generations, which will keep the trait in the population longer. Many critics of Darwin believe that evolution is not real or that Gregor Mendel should be considered to be the real “Father of Genetics”. However, this is not true because it is clear that Mendel’s work relied on Darwin’s. Without Darwin, even if he had been able to design his famous experiment, people would not have believed his results and it is possible that he would have interpreted his findings differently.

It is important to consider that many of Darwin’s findings are important to science today and that without these findings it is likely that we would not be living in a medically advanced community. Darwin has helped us gain a better understanding of genes, which doctors and researchers study to get a better appreciation of the causes and solutions of disease. In the future, it is likely that scientists will continue to build upon the understanding that Darwin has provided us with, which will continue to benefit human health and survivability for many years to come. Without Darwin, this great success that humanity has achieved would not be able to be possible. Therefore, it can be said that he is one of the greatest scientists that ever lived.

Works Cited

Across the Curriculum Reader. Ed. Gilbert Muller. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013. 295-97/711-13. Print.

Desmond, Adrian; Moore, James. Darwin. London: Michael Joseph, Penguin Group, 1991.

FitzRoy, Robert. Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, Volume II. London: Henry Colburn, 1839.

Gissis, Snait. Jablonka, Eva. Zeligowski, Anna. Transformations of Lamarckism: From Subtle Fluids to Molecular Biology. MIT Press, 2011.

Madaule, Madeleine Barthélemy. Lamarck, the Mythical Precursor. Mit Pres, 1982.

Moore, James. Evolution and Wonder – Understanding Charles Darwin. Speaking of Faith, 2006.

Verlyn. “Darwin at 200: The Ongoing Force of His Unconventional Idea.” New York Times. 12 Feb. 2009. Web. 27 April 2014.