Bailey Among The Creationists

Nihilan

That is an interesting article. A couple comments

Romesberg and his colleagues believe that cells are not just the passive victims of random mutations, but have ways of initiating mutations in their own DNA. Evidence for this includes the fact that the rates of mutation in some cells does not seem consistent with the mutation rates associated with DNA replication.

Romeserg and his colleagues “believe” what they believe because it is a universally acknowledged fact, known for decades.

The so-called SOS repair system which is initiated when bacterial cells are stressed (i.e., subjected to DNA damaging conditions, such as exposure to an antibiotic which damages DNA) is known to be mutagenic. Note that the Romesberg is not suggesting that cells are directing certain codons to be mutated. Rather Romesberg is merely stating that mutations are increased under certain cellular states. Is it advantageous to initiate these responses for the survival of the species? Arguably, yes.

Another fact to keep in mind when reading these sorts of press releases:

http://www.achaogen.com/founders.html

Achaogen is pursuing unique strategies to combat these drug-resistant pathogens. Our scientific strategy is without precedent and represents a fundamentally new approach to address this growing healthcare crisis.

When you read “fundamentally new” in this context it means “we are filing patents”.

Which brings up an interesting issue: from time to time the USPTO holds online “chat rooms” where you can ask the PTO questions. I tried desperately one day to get the PTO to address the following question:

I have developed a method for showing that an organism and/or a sub-component of the organism’s biological structure was designed by a non-human intelligent alien being. Theoretically, is my method patentable?

Do you know what? The online examiners refused to answer my question! I think you can guess why. :)