Resolution: Evolution is an observed fact

Thank you Zets! To be clear I didn't "change my mind", zets only misunderstood what I was asking to debate about. A single study is too limited in scope to really discuss this issue. To begin, as this debate is about evolution, I will clarify what is meant by the term: Change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations[1] This is the only meaning of the term relevant to this debate. Note that "natural selection" is not at issue here. What we are debating is that evolution- that is genetic change over time- has been observed. The study Zets references is the most direct example to date. In the study successive generations of E. coli were grown and cultured; eventually a new, functional gene emerged that allowed the organism to digest citrate. As these bacteria were grown under controlled laboratory conditions, horizontal gene transfer between these E. coli and some bacteria with the ability to metabolize citrate could not have occurred. Even if a particular sample was somehow contaminated, that would not explain the results obtained, as scientists (using samples of the bacteria they had frozen at various points in time) re-ran the bacterial divisions from different points in the past and found that the ability re-emerged in most of the cellular populations originating after 20,000 generations. In other words- it was not a contaminant in the single population in which the ability emerged. Nor was it a contaminant in the generation-20,000 population- if that were the case the ability to metabolize citrate would have appeared more immediately, not hidden out for 10,000 generations. [2] Evolution has also been observed in other contexts. For example, polyploidy (the duplication of the entire genome) is a common event in plants. A parent and its polyploid progeny are incapable of creating viable offspring, and thus are considered to be different species. This type of event has been observed many times [3] In another example from the microbial world, antibiotic resistance is becoming a major issue, especially in hospitals. When antibiotics were first discovered, they were extremely effective against a wide variety of disease-causing agents. [4] Today that is no longer the case. So called "superbugs" such as MRSA have emerged in hospitals (where antibiotics are most commonly used) that cannot be killed by standard antibiotics. [5] In fact, these bugs are common forms of bacteria that have acquired new genes that provide them protection against the medicine meant to kill them. As a final example, I will offer this link from my opponent's own source: http://www.pbs.org... Ring species can be thought of as an a-temporal array of the various intermediate forms that occur during the process of evolution. Rather than being distributed over time, they are distributed over space, yet still they change as their environment does. Thats enough for now. I would be happy to elaborate on any of these points if you have challenges or questions. 1. http://www.thefreedictionary.com... 2. http://www.newscientist.com... 3. http://www.talkorigins.org... 4. http://www.textbookofbacteriology.net... 5. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com...