John C. Sanford

Last updated
John C. Sanford
Portrait John Sanford.png
Sanford in 2014
Born (1950-06-28) 28 June 1950 (age 73)
NationalityAmerican
Education University of Minnesota (BS)
University of Wisconsin–Madison (MS, PhD)
Known for Gene gun, publications, patents
AwardsDistinguished Inventor Award (1990, 1995)
Scientific career
Fields Genetics
Institutions

John C. Sanford is an American geneticist and inventor. From 1980 to 1998 he was a professor at Cornell University. After retirement at Cornell, he continued as courtesy professor. He is known for advocacy of the pseudoscience of intelligent design.

Contents

Biography

Academic career

Sanford graduated in 1976 from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Science in horticulture. He went to the University of Wisconsin–Madison where he received a Master of Science in 1978 and a Ph.D. in 1980 in plant breeding/plant genetics. Although retiring in 1998, Sanford continued at Cornell University as a Courtesy Associate Professor between 1998 and 2017. [1] He held an honorary Adjunct Associate Professor of Botany at Duke University. Sanford has published over 100 scientific publications. [2]

Inventions

At Cornell, Sanford and colleagues developed the "Biolistic Particle Delivery System" or so-called "gene gun". [3] [4] [5] He is the co-inventor of the Pathogen-derived Resistance (PDR) process and the co-inventor of the genetic vaccination process. In 1998 he retired on the proceeds from the sale of his biotech companies and continued at Cornell as a courtesy associate professor.

Genetic Entropy & the Mystery of the Genome

Sanford has argued for genetic load in his book Genetic Entropy & the Mystery of the Genome (2005, 2008). [6] [7]

In it, he claims that natural selection's being the cause of biological evolution (which he calls the primary axiom) "is essentially indefensible". [8]

His argument is as follows. The minimal rate of human mutation is estimated to be 100 new mutations per generation. [9] According to Sanford, Kimura's curve shows that most mutations have a near-neutral effect, and are furthermore slightly deleterious. [10] :31 As such, natural selection is unable to slow the accumulation of harmful mutations. Therefore, over time, fitness will decline and, if unchecked, extinction will ultimately result.

An important corollary is that "beneficial mutations are so rare as to be outside of consideration." [10] :23 Therefore, natural selection is considered too slow to allow evolution. [10] :128Additionally, the selective cost is considered too high to override genetic drift and noise. [10] :57

Mainstream evolutionary biologists disagree with Sanford's ideas.[ citation needed ] Kimura himself disagrees with Sanford's interpretation of the mutation distribution,[ failed verification ] excluding beneficial mutations because they would have too large an effect, not an insignificant one. [11]

Mendel's Accountant

Sanford and colleagues developed the quantitative forward genetic modeling program called Mendel's Accountant, publishing several papers on it and genetic entropy in peer-reviewed venues. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

Mendel's Accountant is designed to track mutations as they accumulate in digital populations. Based on his research, Sanford holds that the human genome is deteriorating, and therefore could not have evolved through a process of mutation and selection as specified by the modern evolutionary synthesis.

Intelligent design and creation

Formerly an atheist [20] from the mid-1980s, Sanford has looked into theistic evolution (1985–late 1990s), Old Earth creation (late 1990s), and Young Earth creation (2000–present). An advocate of intelligent design, Sanford testified in 2005 in the Kansas evolution hearings on behalf of intelligent design, during which he denied the principle of common descent and "humbly offered... that we were created by a special creation, by God".

He stated that he believed the age of the Earth was "less than 100,000" years. [20] Sanford uses an analogy to illustrate evidence of design — that of a car versus a junkyard: "A car is complex, but so is a junkyard. However, a car is complex in a way that is very specific — which is why it works. It requires a host of very intelligent engineers to specify its complexity, so it is a functional whole." [21] Intelligent-design advocate William Dembski cites the accomplishments of Sanford as evidence of the scientific status of intelligent design, since Sanford is a specialist in genetic engineering and a Courtesy Associate Professor in Horticulture. However the mainstream scientific community rejects intelligent design and does not consider it science. [22] [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darwinism</span> Theory of biological evolution

Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. Also called Darwinian theory, it originally included the broad concepts of transmutation of species or of evolution which gained general scientific acceptance after Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, including concepts which predated Darwin's theories. English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley coined the term Darwinism in April 1860.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolution</span> Change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations

Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, resulting in certain characteristics becoming more or less common within a population over successive generations. The process of evolution has given rise to biodiversity at every level of biological organisation.

Irreducible complexity (IC) is the argument that certain biological systems with multiple interacting parts would not function if one of the parts were removed, so supposedly could not have evolved by successive small modifications from earlier less complex systems through natural selection, which would need all intermediate precursor systems to have been fully functional. This negative argument is then complemented by the claim that the only alternative explanation is a "purposeful arrangement of parts" inferring design by an intelligent agent. Irreducible complexity has become central to the creationist concept of intelligent design (ID), but the concept of irreducible complexity has been rejected by the scientific community, which regards intelligent design as pseudoscience. Irreducible complexity and specified complexity, are the two main arguments used by intelligent-design proponents to support their version of the theological argument from design.

Microevolution is the change in allele frequencies that occurs over time within a population. This change is due to four different processes: mutation, selection, gene flow and genetic drift. This change happens over a relatively short amount of time compared to the changes termed macroevolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern synthesis (20th century)</span> Fusion of natural selection with Mendelian inheritance

The modern synthesis was the early 20th-century synthesis of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and Gregor Mendel's ideas on heredity into a joint mathematical framework. Julian Huxley coined the term in his 1942 book, Evolution: The Modern Synthesis. The synthesis combined the ideas of natural selection, Mendelian genetics, and population genetics. It also related the broad-scale macroevolution seen by palaeontologists to the small-scale microevolution of local populations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Behe</span> American biochemist, author, and intelligent design advocate

Michael Joseph Behe is an American biochemist and an advocate of the pseudoscientific principle of intelligent design (ID).

Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and among populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as adaptation, speciation, and population structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molecular genetics</span> Scientific study of genes at the molecular level

Molecular genetics is a branch of biology that addresses how differences in the structures or expression of DNA molecules manifests as variation among organisms. Molecular genetics often applies an "investigative approach" to determine the structure and/or function of genes in an organism's genome using genetic screens. 

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muller's ratchet</span> Accumulation of harmful mutations

In evolutionary genetics, Muller's ratchet is a process which, in the absence of recombination, results in an accumulation of irreversible deleterious mutations. This happens because in the absence of recombination, and assuming reverse mutations are rare, offspring bear at least as much mutational load as their parents. Muller proposed this mechanism as one reason why sexual reproduction may be favored over asexual reproduction, as sexual organisms benefit from recombination and consequent elimination of deleterious mutations. The negative effect of accumulating irreversible deleterious mutations may not be prevalent in organisms which, while they reproduce asexually, also undergo other forms of recombination. This effect has also been observed in those regions of the genomes of sexual organisms that do not undergo recombination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genetic variation</span> Difference in DNA among individuals or populations

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The history of genetics dates from the classical era with contributions by Pythagoras, Hippocrates, Aristotle, Epicurus, and others. Modern genetics began with the work of the Augustinian friar Gregor Johann Mendel. His works on pea plants, published in 1866, provided the initial evidence that, on its rediscovery in 1900's, helped to establish the theory of Mendelian inheritance.

Devolution, de-evolution, or backward evolution is the notion that species can revert to supposedly more primitive forms over time. The concept relates to the idea that evolution has a divine purpose (teleology) and is thus progressive (orthogenesis), for example that feet might be better than hooves, or lungs than gills. However, evolutionary biology makes no such assumptions, and natural selection shapes adaptations with no foreknowledge or foresights of any kind regarding the outcome. It is possible for small changes to be reversed by chance or selection, but this is no different from the normal course of evolution and as such de-evolution is not compatible with a proper understanding of evolution due to natural selection.

Denis O. Lamoureux is the Professor of Science and Religion at St. Joseph's College in the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He has doctoral degrees in dentistry, theology, and biology. The author of Evolutionary Creation and of I Love Jesus and I Accept Evolution, he has also written Darwinism Defeated? The Johnson-Lamoureux Debate on Biological Origins, on the creation–evolution controversy.

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References

  1. Resume – John Sanford
  2. John C. Sanford, NY State Agricultural Experiment Station
  3. Cornell Chronicle, May 14, 1987, page 3.Biologists invent gun for shooting cells with DNA Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Sanford, John C.; Klein, Theodore M.; Wolf, Edward D.; Allen, Nelson (1987). "Delivery of Substances into Cells and Tissues Using a Particle Bombardment Process". Particulate Science and Technology. 5: 27–37. doi:10.1080/02726358708904533.
  5. Klein, TM et al (1987) High-velocity microprojectiles for delivering nucleic acids into living cells. Nature 327:70-73.
  6. Sanford, John C. (2005-10-25). Genetic Entropy & the Mystery of the Genome. Ivan Press. ISBN   978-1-59919-002-0.
  7. Sanford, John C. (2008). Genetic Entropy & the Mystery of the Genome 3rd Ed. FMS Publications. p. 248. ISBN   978-0-9816316-0-8.
  8. John C. Sanford (March 2008), Genetic Entropy & the Mystery of the Genome, Feed My Sheep Foundation, Incorporated, pp. vi–vii, ISBN   978-0-9816316-0-8
  9. Dolgin, Elie (27 August 2009). "Human mutation rate revealed: Next-generation sequencing provides the most accurate estimate to date". Nature. doi: 10.1038/news.2009.864 . Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  10. 1 2 3 4 John C. Sanford (2005). Genetic Entropy & the Mystery of the Genome. Elim Publishing. ISBN   978-1-59919-002-0.
  11. Kimura, Motoo (1979-07-01). "Model of effectively neutral mutations in which selective constraint is incorporated". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 76 (7): 3440–3444. Bibcode:1979PNAS...76.3440K. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.7.3440 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   383841 . PMID   16592684.
  12. Sanford, J.C., Baumgardner, J., Brewer, W., Gibson, P., ReMine, W. (2007). Mendel's Accountant: a biologically realistic forward-time population genetics program. Scalable Computing: Parctice and Experience 8(2): 147-165. http://www.scpe.org.
  13. Sanford, J.C., Baumgardner, J., Brewer, W., Gibson, P., ReMine, W. (2007). Using computer simulation to understand mutation accumulation dynamics and genetic load. In Shi et al. (Eds.), ICCS 2007, Part II, Lecture Notes in Computer Science 4488 (pp.386-392), Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg.
  14. Sanford, John (2012). "A new look at an old virus: patterns of mutation accumulation in the human H1N1 influenza virus since 1918". Theoretical Biology and Medical Modelling. 9: 42. doi: 10.1186/1742-4682-9-42 . PMC   3507676 . PMID   23062055.
  15. Sanford, John (Jul 2013). "Can Purifying Natural Selection Preserve Biological Information?". Biological Information: New Perspectives. World Scientific. pp. 264–297. doi:10.1142/9789814508728_0011. ISBN   978-981-4508-71-1. S2CID   56164535.
  16. Sanford, John (Jul 2013). "Using Numerical Simulation to Test the "Mutation-Count" Hypothesis". Biological Information: New Perspectives. World Scientific. pp. 298–311. doi:10.1142/9789814508728_0012. ISBN   978-981-4508-71-1. S2CID   55345765.
  17. Sanford, John (Jul 2013). "Can Synergistic Epistasis Halt Mutation Accumulation? Results from Numerical Simulation". Biological Information: New Perspectives. World Scientific. pp. 312–337. doi:10.1142/9789814508728_0013. ISBN   978-981-4508-71-1. S2CID   87678520.
  18. Sanford, John (Jul 2013). "Computational Evolution Experiments Reveal a Net Loss of Genetic Information Despite Selection". Biological Information: New Perspectives. World Scientific. pp. 338–368. doi:10.1142/9789814508728_0014. ISBN   978-981-4508-71-1. S2CID   87679715.
  19. Sanford, John (Jul 2013). "Information Loss: Potential for Accelerating Natural Genetic Attenuation of RNA Viruses". Biological Information: New Perspectives. World Scientific. pp. 369–384. doi:10.1142/9789814508728_0015. ISBN   978-981-4508-71-1. S2CID   87692970.
  20. 1 2 Transcripts of the Kansas Evolution Hearings Talkorigins.org
  21. Intelligent Design: Professors discuss Teaching the Controversial Subject Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine Xiaowei Cathy Tang. Cornell Daily Sun, November 15, 2005
  22. "AAAS statement on intelligent design". 1 July 2013.
  23. "National Centre for Science Education statement on evolution".