> You reply, "It seems to me that the very fact that there is so much
> similarity between such diverse organisms (e.g. in the genetic code,
> transcription/translation machinery, etc.), is evidence -- at least
> anecdotal -- that evolutionary innovations are sometimes shared between
> different species." Yes, I think you're right. But such horizontal gene
> transfer doesn't have to occur frequently to show itself in the
> similarity of so many diverse organisms. Given the evolutionary
> timescale it only has to appear infrequently.

Then we'll agree that these smart biologists would be so kind as to define
what they mean by infrequent versus frequent, in the context of nearly 4
billion years of biological evolution!

> As the below article states, "In evolutionary terms, the practice of
> genetic engineering represents a sudden, astronomically large increase
> in the rate of gene transfer between species whose genomes have been
> isolated from another for aeons. Genetic engineering opens up completely
> new pathways of gene transfer. Releasing genetically engineered
> organisms into the environment can be expected to generate new selective
> pressures that have never before operated during biological evolution."

Agreed -- genetic engineering certainly has the appearance of allowing us to
step outside the painstakingly slow process that is the natural mutation (or
horizontal gene transfer, etc.) rate.  But why see genetic engineering as
the great step in human evolution?  What if we wanted to endow our progeny
with the ability to, say, survive the harsh confines in space; through
genetic engineering we might introduce genes for radiation resistance or
heightened DNA repair, next genes which make our skin and mucous membranes
so tough as to resist exploding in a vacuum as well as insulating against
the extreme cold and desiccation.  But why do all that when our brains have
already provided us with the next great evolutionary mechanism --
innovation.  Just build a spaceship or a spacesuit to get into space.
Genetically engineer humans that can swim like fish?  Nah, just design
submersibles.  Want to evolve a higher consciousness?  Build the internet
and let it evolve for a few decades.

It seems if we could only just engineer, within these novel innovations, the
ability to self-replicate with fidelity (spaceships that can build baby
spaceships), we'd no longer reside within the tortuously slow confines of
biological evolution.

Relinquish Darwin -- Long Live Lamarck!
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