Re: Haldane's Dilemma

From: Walter ReMine (science_at_minn.net)
Date: 02/05/05 

Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2005 01:25:44 -0500 (EST)

John Edser wrote:
> Do you maintain that Haldane's Dilemma
> exists today given the proven tiny size of the
> human genome and the small number of alleles
> that separate man and chimp which are assumed
> to be descended from the same common ancestor
> about 5-10 million years ago?

That mis-states my argument in two important respects.

1) My argument is not about the genetic difference between separate
lineages. (Though that is how my argument is almost always
misrepresented.) My argument focuses on a single lineage leading to
humans. See here:
http://www1.minn.net/~science/Haldane.htm#chimps-humans

2) My argument is not about the "tiny size of the human genome".
Rather, my argument is about the tiny number of beneficial
substitutions that can occur in the ten-million years of evolution
leading to humans -- about 1,667, under Haldane's analysis -- and the
vast majority of those would be single nucleotide replacements
(according to current evolutionary theory). See here:
http://www1.minn.net/~science/Haldane.htm#What_is_Haldanes_Dilemma

-- Walter ReMine