THE CONCEPT OF BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION — Questions on Evolution

developed electronic instruments and telescopes, which were extremely powerful. Without the limiting effects of the earth’s atmosphere, these space observatories were able to study and photograph remote parts of the universe that were hitherto not observed. But these studies revealed that there existed no planet favourable for life, similar to the earth, anywhere in the vast universe. Thus the concept of ‘Panspermia’ no longer held ground. Explosive Evolution Further research continues in an effort to resolve the issue of the limited time span required for the evolution of life as it is today. One other theory proposed to side step the issue of time is what could be called explosive evolution. This however, does not resolve the actual question regarding evolution. What it does, is provide a new technical term for the justification of the concept of evolution. The traditional concept of evolution was based on the principle of gradual mutations. That is, with slight variations over many successive generations, one species is changed into another. This concept of classical mutation was unable to answer the question as to how exactly this change occurred. For, no research has proved that these innumerable changes can occur gradually. The popularity of the concept of Evolution is not due to the fact that it has been scientifically proved. Its cause certainly is traceable to the attempt at explaining life without the introduction of God. This new theory now only makes a guess based on volcanic eruptions and claim that these evolutionary changes did not occur gradually but explosively. These scientists believe that just as volcanoes erupt all of a sudden, in the same way different forms of life appeared one by one through a series of explosions. It is only an attempt to solve the problem of a limited span for the evolutionary process by supposing that biological evolution has taken place as a form of explosion. One of the statements proposed in this theory is: ‘These are like volcanoes in the genome, blowing out pieces of DNA.’ However, the actual problem still remains unresolved. This theory is only an attempt to explain genetic changes (mutation) based on supposition, rather than on an explanation of how innumerable