It has been much touted lately that the Atlantic tomcod present in the heavily polluted waters of the Hudson River has evolved, in just 50 years, to become resistant to toxic chemicals" (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1358316/Atlantic-tomcod-immune-Hudson-Rivers-toxic-chemicals-just-50-YEARS.html). However, is this "super-fish" really all that it seems to be? On closer examination, it turns out that it is not at all!
The mutation that made the fish resistant to poisons was, according to Dr. Mark Hahn of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Research Institution , a loss of two of the 1,104 amino acids normally found in this protein (the protein was a gene called AHR2). The AHR2 gene was the receptor for the dioxins and PCB's which attacked the fish.The mutation resulted in the dioxins and PCB's not being able to latch onto the gene as they previously had been able, thereby making the fish resistant to the chemical poisoning. So, it turns out that the fish really has evolved, right?
One would like to think so, but when you realize that these "super-fish" account for only 5% of the population of Atlantic tomcods in cleaner waters. This is because the missing information results in the fish becoming more susceptible to other diseases, as well as growing slower (http://creation.com/rapid-tomcod-evolution). The mutation actually resulted in the damaging of perfectly fine original equipment, in order to survive in a polluted environment. The thing to note, however, is that if the pollution cleared up, the super-fish would die out rapidly! This mutation would actually have been harmful in any other environment, and was not the creation of new data (as real Evolution is), but was rather the loss of old data, that cannot be regained.
The mutation that made the fish resistant to poisons was, according to Dr. Mark Hahn of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Research Institution , a loss of two of the 1,104 amino acids normally found in this protein (the protein was a gene called AHR2). The AHR2 gene was the receptor for the dioxins and PCB's which attacked the fish.The mutation resulted in the dioxins and PCB's not being able to latch onto the gene as they previously had been able, thereby making the fish resistant to the chemical poisoning. So, it turns out that the fish really has evolved, right?
One would like to think so, but when you realize that these "super-fish" account for only 5% of the population of Atlantic tomcods in cleaner waters. This is because the missing information results in the fish becoming more susceptible to other diseases, as well as growing slower (http://creation.com/rapid-tomcod-evolution). The mutation actually resulted in the damaging of perfectly fine original equipment, in order to survive in a polluted environment. The thing to note, however, is that if the pollution cleared up, the super-fish would die out rapidly! This mutation would actually have been harmful in any other environment, and was not the creation of new data (as real Evolution is), but was rather the loss of old data, that cannot be regained.
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