Junk DNA from Three Perspectives: Some Key Quotes – Discovery Institute

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Shortly Ill be debating Rutgers University biology professor Dr. Dan Stern Cardinale about junk DNA. Thats at 5:30 pm Pacific time.You can see it here. The question before us will be: Is the Human Genome Largely Junk DNA? The following are some key quotes on the subject that will be relevant to our conversation. They are divided into three categories:

Many of these quotes are from mainstream scientific papers, books, or book chapters of a technical nature, while quite a few are from mainstream scientific or journalistic sources of a more popular style. The latter sources, while not peer-reviewed technical papers, are nonetheless quite valuable.

Quotes from evolutionists claiming (or repeating the widespread belief) that non-coding DNA is junk and has no function.

Note: Many of these quotes are from decades ago, showing how the idea of junk DNA was born and bred in the evolutionary paradigm. But some are more recent.

Early quotes from intelligent design theorists predicting function for non-coding junk DNA.

Note: There are many such quotes, but the most relevant ones are from the late 1990s and early 2000s before it was widely thought that junk DNA was functional.

Quotes from mainstream scientific sources saying that weve experienced a shift in our thinking that junk DNA actually has function.

Note: Some of these quotes also acknowledge that evolutionary thinking stopped science from discovering function for junk DNA.

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Junk DNA from Three Perspectives: Some Key Quotes - Discovery Institute