Page 283 - Signs from the Qur'an
P. 283
Accidental mutations develop
into defects in humans as well
as other living beings. The
Chernobyl disaster is an eye-
opener for the effects of mu-
tations.
contrary, they are always
harmful.
The reason for this is very
simple: DNA has a very complex structure,
and random effects can only harm it. The
American geneticist B. G. Ranganathan ex-
plains this as follows:
First, genuine mutations are very rare in nature.
Secondly, most mutations are harmful since they are ran-
dom, rather than orderly changes in the structure of genes;
any random change in a highly ordered system will be for
the worse, not for the better. For example, if an earthquake
were to shake a highly ordered structure such as a build-
ing, there would be a random change in the framework of
the building which, in all probability, would not be an im-
provement. 9
Not surprisingly, no mutation example, which is useful,
that is, which is observed to develop the genetic code, has been
observed so far. All mutations have proved to be harmful. It
was understood that mutation, which is presented as an "evo-
lutionary mechanism," is actually a genetic occurrence that
harms living things, and leaves them disabled. (The most com-
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