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

non-coding DNA

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rough colored ocean wave falling down at sunset time
Image Credit: willyam - Adobe Stock

Casey Luskin on the Rising Tide of Intelligent Design Research

Any scientific theory for the origin of life and the universe is only as strong as its research program. For intelligent design, this is good news. On today's ID The Future, Dr. Casey Luskin describes the current growth and scientific maturity of the Intelligent Design (ID) movement. Luskin describes the progress of ID across three main areas: successful scientific predictions, the unresolved failures of Neo-Darwinism to account for life, and the growth of the ID community as well as scientists outside ID who are looking for alternatives to modern evolutionary proposals. Dr. Luskin compares the growth of the ID research program to a snowball; it started small and faced early setbacks, but it is now rapidly picking up size, speed, and scientific weight as it rolls forward. Read More ›
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Peppered Moth(Biston betularia)
Image Credit: Alexanor - Adobe Stock

Evolution’s Stubborn Icons: Peppered Moths and Miller-Urey Still Shambling Along

By now, you might think that the icons of evolution that Dr. Jonathan Wells wrote about 24 years ago have been put out of our misery. And indeed, much has changed, and these icons have even less ground to stand on than they did back then. But they don’t call them icons for nothing! Whatever else they are, they’re stubborn, and it’s not uncommon to see evidence of them still popping up in popular science articles, cartoons, movies, and even scientific journals. On this episode of ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes back freelance science reporter David Coppedge to give us a few recent examples of the icons of evolution that keep shambling along, including recent sightings of the peppered moth myth and the Miller-Urey experiments. Read More ›
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MicroRNA illustration
Image Credit: Artur - Adobe Stock

How Evolutionary Thinking Delayed a Nobel Prize Discovery

For decades, evolutionary biologists considered non-coding regions of DNA as evolutionary junk, a paradigm that long dissuaded researchers from studying these little-understood portions of the genome. But a series of discoveries starting in 2008 has forced a major change in thinking about so-called "junk" DNA. Many examples of function have since been identified for the non-coding regions of DNA, and more are being uncovered each year. On this ID The Future, Dr. Casey Luskin reports on a pair of American biologists who were recently awarded the Nobel Prize for their discovery of function in what was previously considered junk DNA. Read More ›
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Excavator working at the demolition of an old industrial buildin
Image Credit: Monika Gruszewicz - Adobe Stock

Jay Richards on the “Ground Clearing” Work of Jonathan Wells

Before the positive case for intelligent design can be received effectively, the case against the Darwinian evolutionary mechanism must be clearly laid out. One man who was instrumental in this initial "ground clearing operation" was biologist Dr. Jonathan Wells, our friend and colleague who passed away in 2024. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes Dr. Jay Richards back to the podcast to share his memories of Dr. Wells and discuss the significance of Wells's life and work. Read More ›
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Panther chameleon on a tree branch
Image Credit: DS light photography - Adobe Stock

How Animal Complexity Challenges Evolution

Does animal complexity suggest a Darwinian origin, or is it evidence of intelligent design? On this ID The Future, host Casey Luskin begins a two-part conversation with Dr. Uditha Jayatunga, a medical doctor and consultant in rehabilitation medicine in the UK, about the challenges that biological complexity poses to evolutionary theory. Part 1 of the conversation covers the complexity of cells, the need for the simultaneous origin of complex systems, and some fascinating examples of design and complexity from the animal world. Read More ›
Big genomic data visualization
Image licensed from Adobe Stock

Casey Luskin Reflects on His Recent Junk DNA Debate

For decades we were told that non-coding regions of our DNA are littered with evolutionary junk. But in recent years, numerous discoveries have revealed that function is the rule, not the exception, in the genome. On this episode of ID The Future, Casey Luskin reflects with host Jonathan McLatchie about his recent debate over junk DNA with Rutgers University evolutionary biology professor Dr. Daniel Stern Cardinale, known as Dr. Dan online. Luskin breaks down the main points he made in his debate as well as Dr. Dan's responses. He and McLatchie conclude with a reminder of why intelligent design is a far superior approach to studying the genome than an evolutionary approach. Read More ›
Abstract construction of a DNA molecule from particles. Concept of digital DNA. DNA code structure with glow. Medical research, genetic engineering, biology.
Image licensed from Adobe Stock

How the Myth of Junk DNA Hindered Science

On this ID The Future, host Eric Anderson and Dr. Casey Luskin unpack the myth of junk DNA and how it has hindered the progress of science. Read More ›
dna sequencing analysis
Abstract graphic of Human Genome dna sequencing analysis, Sequencing DNA means determining the order of the four chemical building blocks called bases
Image Credit: immimagery - Adobe Stock

Jonathan Wells Dives into “the Genome’s Uncharted Territories”

On this ID the Future, Icons of Evolution author Jonathan Wells sat down with host and fellow biologist Ray Bohlin at the August 2021 Insiders’ Briefing near Seattle to discuss some fresh discoveries into the workings of the human genome detailed in a recent article in the journal Axios, “Diving into the Genome’s Uncharted Territories.” As the article details, researchers continue to discover important functions in the noncoding regions of the human genome, once regarded by evolutionists as junk DNA. Wells and Bohlin explore the exciting new findings and some of their implications for modern evolutionary theory and intelligent design.

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ID and the CSC Summer Seminar: Transformative

On this episode of ID the Future, host Emily Kurlinski interviews “Mary,” a PhD biochemistry student who tells about her experiences at the annual Center for Science and Culture’s summer seminar program in Seattle, and how her relationships there developed into a community of friendship, professional connection, and support. What about the charge that ID is a “curiosity killer,” tempting scientists to answer every natural mystery with a shrug and a “God did it”? Mary says ID had just the opposite effect on her. Her pro-design perspective actually led her to choose a career in research, and the conviction that nature is a meaningful and purposeful affair makes her more eager and optimistic about uncovering deeper layers of order and Read More ›

Portrait of a sea lion. Close-up. Galapagos Islands. An excellent illustration.

Robert Waltzer on Evolutionary Theory’s Room for Humility

On this episode of ID the Future, biologist and professor Robert Waltzer talks with host Andrew McDiarmid about Waltzer’s chapter in the new Discovery Institute Press volume Evolution and Intelligent Design in a Nutshell. Waltzer’s chapter covers some key terms in the evolution/ID conversation that are often misunderstood or misused. These include the word “evolution” itself, “change over time,” “common descent,” and “natural selection.” He offers quick definitions and explains some of the confusion surrounding them. Waltzer also describes an encouraging success story of his about fostering open dialogue and exploration of the evidence for design in nature.