| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| − | '''Richard Lenski''' is a [[professor]] of microbial [[ecology]] at Michigan State University. He holds a [[doctorate]] from the [[University of North Carolina]] and a B.A. from Oberlin College. He has received numerous prestigious awards during his career including: National Science Foundation's Presidential Young Investigator Award (1988), a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (1996), and twice received the American Society of Naturalists President's Award for Best Paper in ''The American Naturalist'' (1986 & 1992). He was elected into the US National Academy of Science in 2006.<ref>https://www.msu.edu/~lenski/</ref> | + | '''Richard Lenski''' is a professor of microbial [[ecology]] at Michigan State University. He holds a doctorate from the [[University of North Carolina]] and a B.A. from Oberlin College but, oddly, does not disclose his fields for those degrees on his own biographical sketch. <ref>https://www.msu.edu/~lenski/</ref> |
| | | | |
| − | Although already well known to biologists for his his long-term [[E. coli]] [[evolution]] experiment, and his work with digital organisms, Lenski came to public attention in June 2008 for his claim to have observed evolution of E. coli in a long-term laboratory study, insisting that it was not due to contamination. His 2008 paper asserting his claims was [[peer review]]ed in a mere 14 days, sparking questions from the [[user:Aschlafly|owner]] of this site<ref>See [[Conservapedia talk:Lenski dialog]].</ref> about the thoroughness of the review.
| + | Lenski is best known for his claim to have observed [[evolution]] of [[E. coli]] in a long-term laboratory study, insisting that it was not due to contamination. His 2008 paper asserting his claims was [[peer review]]ed in a mere 14 days, sparking questions from the [[user:Aschlafly|owner]] of this site<ref>See [[Conservapedia talk:Lenski dialog]].</ref> about the thoroughness of the review. |
| | | | |
| | When challenged, Lenski thrice referred to the challenges as [[slander]], yet has filed no lawsuit charging that (or [[libel]]). [[Truth]] offers total legal protection from accusations of libel. | | When challenged, Lenski thrice referred to the challenges as [[slander]], yet has filed no lawsuit charging that (or [[libel]]). [[Truth]] offers total legal protection from accusations of libel. |
| | | | |
| − | When Lenski received a public request for the [[data]] underlying for his published claims, he did not provide the actual data even though his study was taxpayer-funded. | + | When Lenski received a public request for the data underlying for his published claims, he did not provide the actual data even though his study was taxpayer-funded. |
| | | | |
| | Undisclosed data from the central claims in Lenski's 2008 paper are noted below (pp. 2-3 from paper, superscripts omitted): | | Undisclosed data from the central claims in Lenski's 2008 paper are noted below (pp. 2-3 from paper, superscripts omitted): |
| | | | |
| − | For those wishing to review the paper personally it may be found at [http://myxo.css.msu.edu/lenski/pdf/2008,%20PNAS,%20Blount%20et%20al.pdf this link] from the Professor's site. Other, closely related papers and additional notes pertaining to his lab's ''E. coli'' Long-Term Evolutionary Experiment (LTEE) are available [https://www.msu.edu/~lenski/ here]. | + | For those wishing to review the paper personally it may be found at [http://myxo.css.msu.edu/lenski/pdf/2008,%20PNAS,%20Blount%20et%20al.pdf this link] from the Professor's site. |
| | | | |
| | <includeonly> | | <includeonly> |
| Line 125: |
Line 125: |
| | | | |
| | Dr. William Dembski explained, "In other words, the computer programmers built into the simulation what they thought evolution needed to make it work. The validity of this study therefore depends on whether the simulation faithfully models biological reality."<ref>http://www.designinference.com/documents/2003.09.UncDiss_Intro_Contribs.pdf</ref> | | Dr. William Dembski explained, "In other words, the computer programmers built into the simulation what they thought evolution needed to make it work. The validity of this study therefore depends on whether the simulation faithfully models biological reality."<ref>http://www.designinference.com/documents/2003.09.UncDiss_Intro_Contribs.pdf</ref> |
| − |
| |
| − | Specifically, the goal of such a simulation is to determine whether selective pressures can enhance and direct the evolution of simple features into an organized genetic construct with complex features. The results of the simulation demonstrates that this does, in fact, happen for mathematically modeled systems. This proof of concept is left to be extended by inference to apply to biological systems. From the simulation entry of Wikipedia, a simulation is "The act of simulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviours of a selected physical or abstract system." This means that in order to understand the complexity of certain systems, simplifying assumptions must be made in order to gain meaningful insights.
| |
| | | | |
| | ==See Also== | | ==See Also== |