[This is aparently an argument against evolution]
Can you clone evolution?
St. Catherine's monastery claims to have the actual "burning bush" that we read about in our Bible. Of course the story in the Bible took place 3500 years ago, so how could this bush still be alive today? Is this like the 5,000 year old "Methuselah Tree," said to be the world's oldest tree?
Actually, the Bush clones itself in what is known as asexual reproduction. So where is the opportunity for evolution to take place here? There is no selection involved. As anyone who has ever attended a ivy league college knows, you can not get rid of ivy. In theory it is because as long as you have a half inch section of the root, it will grow into a whole plant. Weeds are the same way. Chop the root up into little tiny peices and all of those peices will reproduce themselves and grow a weed identical to the origional. Some flowers reproduce that way also. You do not need a seed, you just need to keep a section of the root moist. As long as it does not dry out, it will reproduce itself.
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Come here, dingbat. *thud* That's better. First off, St. Catherine's monastery were sold a dud bush by some passing palmer. I daresay he threw in a splinter of the True Cross to seal the bargain. Second, asexual reproduction by budding is not cloning. Third, cloning does not produce a perfect copy of the original. Either way, variants will arise, and the ones that best fit the envoronment will survive to reproduce, and the ones that don't, won't (on average). Thus, selection takes place. Now go and put some liniment on that bruise I just gave you.
The comedy stylings of JohnR7 ladies and gentleman! He'll be appearing this week at the 'Ha-Ha Shack' and this weekend at 'Groucho's', get your tickets fast, there IS limited seating.
"Cloning" is probably one of the less well understood scientific terms, thanks to countless misuses of the concept in science fiction (and even common metaphors nowadays). That said, however, this interpretation is just plain childish in its simple-mindedness.
So, the burning bush has cloned itself through asexual reproduction? Guess what, John. It wouldn't be the same bush.
You know... I've heard many stories about Jesus' grandmother having 7 heads or so. (As they are each held by various churches, and they have all been confirmed as real by the Catholic Church)... Now... if that is true, did she have separate heads when she was alive? Or were they cloned from the one head? (And does the 7 headed dragon in revelations refer to her, showing that even God fears his mother-in-Law?)
Actually, the Bush clones itself in what is known as asexual reproduction.
John'sIQR7
Many plants can be started from a cutting or a section of root, which produces a genetically identical copy, or clone, of the original. This is just one of many forms of asexual reproduction in plants. These increase the plant's chances of surviving to reproduce sexually , which makes it much more prolific, helps it spread more quickly, and, of course, allows it to evolve.
<<Can you clone evolution?>>
Simple, Johnnyboy, whenever a cell divides there's a chance for mutation to occur.
.... and if you cut off an aligator's tail, another aligator grows out of it, twice as big as the original!
I know this is a lost cause, but John, there are more types of selection than just sexual. Every time a cell divides, mutations can occur. If the new plant grows from a cutting, there are some small genetic differences between the 'parent' plant and the 'clone'.
oh fuck...attended a ivy league college knows ", not "an Ivy League College".
Better not tell him that there's a species of holly in Tasmania that does actually clone itself, so as a consequence, one of it's bushes is 40,000 years old.
<<< Actually, the Bush clones itself in what is known as asexual reproduction. So where is the opportunity for evolution to take place here? >>>
Moses smoked the entire burning bush, so I'll hear no more of this "monastery"
Give me a break, "they have the Burning Bush" Got a Tim Horton's and a Gift Shop too,I bet.
Then we go into Pseudo-Horticulture that would make a Druid roll his eyes. Just wow
Plants don't work like animals? Evolution MUST be a lie.
Oh, and everyone knows mutation never, ever happens in cases of asexual reproduction. (It does, but not as often. That's why one-celled organisms started swapping genomes, and inventing sex).
Look, guys. This actually isn't such a dumb statement, in that most of the heritable phenotypic variation in eukaryotic populations comes from sexual recombination. Anyone with a little understanding of natural selection and the origins of phenotypic variation may have ventured the same thing...I don't know about JohnR7's history with fstdt, but I think I have read many quotes on this site that represent deeper ignorance than this one.
expl:
That being said, asexual plants are rarely obligately asexual...for instance creosote (King Clone) may live as long as 12,000 years reproducing vegetatively, but during this time they may also give rise to progeny sexually (resulting in novel allelic combinations, phenotypic variability). Whether somaclonal variation plays an important role in generating much phenotypic variance on which selection can act is unknown for most clonally reproducing plants, and is an interesting question. However, if it does, it will certainly be a slower generator than sexual recombination.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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