ID the Future Intelligent Design, Evolution, and Science Podcast
Author

Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig

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A giant panda walking, portrait
Image Credit: Pascale Gueret/Wirestock Creators - Adobe Stock

More Than a Thumb: Integrated Design in the Giant Panda

Is the famous “panda’s thumb” evidence of unguided evolutionary processes, or is it a masterpiece of engineering and the result of intelligent design? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid concludes his conversation with retired geneticist, Dr. Wolf-Eckehard Lönnig, an intelligent design pioneer who has been offering robust criticism of Darwinian theory and advocating for intelligent design for over 50 years. The topic is Dr. Lönnig's new paper reviewing the debate over the panda’s thumb. Giant pandas have an extra digit, an elongated wrist bone, that aids the animal in walking and manipulating bamboo with great dexterity. Some claim it's a clumsy structure produced by evolutionary processes. It wouldn't win any design awards, but it gets the job done. Others call it one of the most extraordinary manipulation systems in the mammalian world and clear evidence of purposeful engineering. So which is it? Dr. Lönnig helps us answer that question. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Read More ›
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Panda bear eating bamboo and wave
Image Credit: Photobookroom - Adobe Stock

Evolved or Engineered? A Geneticist Evaluates the Panda’s Thumb

In 1980, influential paleontologist and evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould wrote that “we can know that evolution has happened by the imperfections and oddities that life shows.” But is that true? And what if we take a closer look at those assumed evolutionary oddities and see instead evidence of engineered elegance? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes retired geneticist Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig to the podcast to discuss his new paper reviewing the debate over the panda’s thumb. Giant pandas have an elongated wrist bone, the radial sesamoid, that allows them to handle and eat bamboo with great dexterity. Some claim it’s an imperfectly and inefficiently formed structure that is clear evidence of evolutionary processes at work. Others Read More ›

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Mikiola fagi, galls of insect pest on beech leaves
Image Credit: Jitka - Adobe Stock

Do Plant Galls Falsify Darwinism?

Plant galls are novel forms that benefit the intruding insect, not the plant. Do these structures falsify Darwinism, as Darwin himself suggested they might? Retired geneticist Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lonnig explains. Read More ›
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Mendel vs. Darwin, Pt. 3

On this episode of ID the Future, Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig, an expert in plant breeding and formerly affiliated with the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Germany, further explores that clash of views modern evolutionists often paper over — Darwinism vs. Mendel. Lönnig discusses how Darwinian evolutionary biology held back acceptance of the laws of inheritance, discovered by Gregor Mendel, abbot at the Augustinian Abbey of St. Thomas, Brunn.

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Photo of a fresh bright green pea pod on a pea plant in a garden. Growing peas outdoors.
Image Credit: baon - Adobe Stock

Mendel vs. Darwin, pt. 2

On this episode of ID the Future, geneticist Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig digs further into Gregor Mendel’s laws of inheritance and how they opposed the thinking of Darwin. Lönnig explains how Darwinian evolution hindered the acceptance of Mendel’s genetic laws, and how the laws still came to be accepted.

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number plates on the field
Image Credit: Evgeny Govorov - Adobe Stock

Mendel vs. Darwin

On this episode of ID the Future, geneticist Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig discusses Gregor Mendel’s laws of inheritance and how they opposed the thinking of Darwin. Listen in as he explains Mendel’s laws and why they are still relevant for biology, and particularly genetics.

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Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig: The Origin of Carnivorous Plants, Pt. 2

On this episode of ID the Future, Casey Luskin continues his talk with Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig, a retired biologist at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Germany. Tune in as Dr. Lönnig discusses the origin and biology of carnivorous plants, and how evolutionary theory offers no clear explanation for the unique features of these plants.

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Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig: The Origin of Carnivorous Plants

On this episode of ID the Future from the vault, Casey Luskin sat down with Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig to talk about Dr. Lönnig’s direct area of specialty: carnivorous plants. Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig is a retired geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Germany.

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Paul Nelson & Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig: Randomness in Natural Selection

On this episode of ID the Future, the CSC’s Dr. Paul Nelson talks with Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig, retired geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Germany, about randomness in natural selection and why randomness is such a controversial topic.

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Mendel Vs. Darwin, pt. 3

On this episode of ID the Future, Casey Luskin finishes his interview with Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig, an expert in plant breeding formerly affiliated with the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Germany. Dr. Lönnig discusses how Darwinian evolutionary biology held back the acceptance of the laws of inheritance, discovered by the famous monk Gregor Mendel.

Read More ›