Charles Darwin Argumentative Essay

“The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us”. This quote by Charles Darwin states that the start of life is a mystery that cannot be solved. The beginning of life may be a mystery to us, but through genetics, DNA and the theory of evolution, scientists have discovered how life continues naturally and changes over time. It is claimed that “the transmission of heritable characteristics from one generation to the next involves DNA and genes, without which there would be no continuity of life on Earth”. This claim describes that the passing on of characteristics involves DNA and genes and without it, life on Earth would not exist. In this essay, this claim will be justified or contradicted, and a relating research question answered.

In 1831, Darwin set out on a voyage to study animals and plants around the world. On this journey, he noted the wide diversity in characteristics between members of the same species (Sproule, A) The observed characteristics, according to Darwin, “were inherited within those of the same species”. He proposed that the creatures whose characteristics give them a better chance of survival - a different colouration for example – would have a higher frequency within a population, while those that are disadvantageous decrease in frequency (Bailey, J). This is so the more successful characteristics are more common in the following generation. This became Charles Darwin’s concept of natural selection. Darwin describes this concept in his published work “One general law, leading to the advancement of all organic beings, namely, multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die” (C Darwin). Darwin also suggested that over time, the characteristics of a population can change so extensively that a new species is formed. This is the concept of evolution. He theories were supported with the anatomical similarities between diverse species, living and extinct. The Origin of the Species discusses Darwin’s findings and evidence of his theories. As time went on and technology improved, it was found that evolution is caused by accumulated mutations in DNA over a vast amount of time. Sometimes when

Genes are a distinct sequence of nucleotides that form a segment of a chromosome. A gene’s purpose is to instruct an organism's cells to create certain proteins. These proteins perform different tasks like creating eye pigments or regulating a heartbeat. Using garden pea plants, he noted they had different characteristics – what Mendel called traits - and experimented with the genetic inheritance of these plants. Mendel knew inherited traits were passed on in the gametes, the sex cells. Sexual reproduction allows organisms to combine genes with another of the same species, allowing for new combinations of genes produced every generation. Thus, creates genetic variation within a population. These combinations can lead to the mutation of DNA, which in turn, leads to the evolution of a population. These evolutionary traits can be seen in multiple living-species. Biologists frequently compare related gene sequences found in different species. This is to examine how those species are, evolutionarily, related to one another. The concept behind this strategy is that if two or more species that have the ‘same’ gene sequence because it was inherited from a common ancestor. For example, chickens, humans and chimpanzees all have an encoded gene that produces insulin. This gene was present in their last common ancestor, confirming these species are evolutionarily related. The comparison of gene sequences and