PBS Special: The Great Works of Charles Darwin

In the PBS special several people came together to marvel in the great works of Charles Darwin and the scientific advancements that have really put his theory to the test. Many things have come about since Darwin proposed his ideas that both challenged and strengthened his ideas. Things like DNA and scientific technologies. Even though Darwin got the ball rolling for the theory of evolution he really did not fully grasp everything. He didn’t know exactly how it all worked mechanically. He was very good with his observations of changes that took place, but why these changes took place he just didn’t yet understand.
DNA technology and advancements in technology in general, advancements in scientific discoveries and scientists who shared the love of evolution and wanted to further Darwin’s work brought an outstanding amount of evidence and information to be used to further expand on the theory of evolution. One of the most astonishing technological advancements was the mapping of the human genome and the genome of other species and the ability to compare DNA. With this gene sequencing were analyzed and compared showing various similarities and differences, this ultimately strengthened the idea that somewhere millions to billions of years ago there is a common ancestor of all species. We can see that many of the same genes that perform very specific duties are almost identical among species. Hox genes, which are found among all complex species, are a very important discovery because they show how closely related species really are. The same genes that code for one body part in one species are the she same genes that code for the same body part in a non-related species.
Another fascinating idea mentioned in the PBS special was that...

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... things have come to the light that strengthened those things he couldn’t answer. DNA, mapping the human genome, other species’ genomes, discovery of HOX genes and switches, the discoveries that link species together like the paddle fish and Tiktalik have all helped contributed to understanding and accepting Darwin’s theory of evolution. The fossil record is not complete, but with Darwin’s Ideas, scientists and believers of evolution the theory of evolution has become an accepted aspect of life and how species adapted to survive. The dedication of Darwin and others after Darwin led to some pretty amazing discoveries about life. I do not believe that evolution would be as important as it is today had Darwin not been so adamant to prove that evolution does happen and because of all the discoveries along the way many things have benefitted especially that of medicine.