• Question: do you believe in evolution?

    Asked by ehab2k11 to Steve, Julian, Jemma, Eoin, Charlie on 19 Mar 2011. This question was also asked by jpkw2k11.
    • Photo: Julian Rayner

      Julian Rayner answered on 18 Mar 2011:

      Hi ehab2k11.

      Absolutely! I see evidence for it in my work all the time – malaria parasites evolving to evade the drugs that we throw at them, for example, or humans evolving to become more resistant to malaria parasites. Evolution is one of the great breakthroughs of science, it helps to explain so much about how the world works.

    • Photo: Eoin Lettice

      Eoin Lettice answered on 18 Mar 2011:

      Hi,
      Yes I do. There is lots of firm scientific evidence to back up the idea of evolution and I believe it explains how species developed very well.
      I know some people don’t believe it or feel that it clashes with their religious beliefs. I don’t think this is the case at all. There are lots of really good scientists and biologists who accept evolution but are still firm believers!
      Even the pope accepts that evolution is correct!

      Eoin

    • Photo: Stephen Moss

      Stephen Moss answered on 19 Mar 2011:

      Hi Ehab2k11

      To me it’s not really a question of ‘belief’. It’s a bit like asking me, do you believe the earth goes round the sun, or do you believe that grass is green. Evolution is the reason we’re here, and all the amazing variety of plants and animals and too. And as far as we can tell, it’s still going on.

    • Photo: Jemma Ransom

      Jemma Ransom answered on 19 Mar 2011:

      Absolutely. And i don’t think belief comes into it either, there has never been a single shred of evidence that has gone against the theory of evolution, and as a scientist I simply can’t ignore that weight of evidence. It has been proven on the level of the fossil record, right down to the level of inheritance of genes.

    • Photo: Charlie Ryan

      Charlie Ryan answered on 19 Mar 2011:

      yes i do believe in evolution, although im no expert on it (scrub that – i know very little about it!!). It does seem though to explain the variety of plants and animals we have on earth, and seems to be strongly backed up by lots and lots of evidence.
      You’d probably get a much better answer from a biologist though!!

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