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Over 400 Eminent Scientists Sign “A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism”

SEATTLE, Washington, July 22, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) — Eighty years after the infamous Scope trials, more than 400 scientists from all disciplines have signed onto a growing list of those who are “skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life.”

“Darwin’s theory of evolution is the great white elephant of contemporary thought,” said Dr. David Berlinski, a mathematician and philosopher of science with Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture (CSC). “It is large, almost completely useless, and the object of superstitious awe.”

Discovery Institute first published its Statement of Dissent from Darwin in 2001 and a direct challenge to statements made in PBS’ “Evolution” series that no scientists disagreed with Darwinian evolution.

“The fact is that a significant number of scientists are extremely skeptical that Darwinian evolution can explain the origins of life,” said Dr. John G. West, associate director of the CSC. “We expect that as scientists engage in the wider debate over materialist evolutionary theories, this list will continue to grow, and grow at an even more rapid pace than we’ve seen this past year.”

In the last 90 days, 29 scientists, including eight biologists, have signed the “Scientific Dissent From Darwinism.” The list includes over 70 biologists.

The most recent signatories are Lev V. Beloussov and Vladimir L. Voeikov, two prominent Russian biologists from Moscow State University. Dr. Voeikov is a professor of bioorganic chemistry and Dr. Beloussov is a professor of embryology an Honorary Professor at Moscow State University and a member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.

“The ideology and philosophy of neo-Darwinism, which is sold by its adepts as a scientific theoretical foundation of biology, seriously hampers the development of science and hides from students the field’s real problems,” said Professor Voeikov.

“Lately in the media there’s been a lot of talk about science versus religion,” said West. “But such talk is misleading. This list is a witness to the growing group of scientists who challenge Darwinian theory on scientific grounds.”

The list includes scientists from Princeton, Cornell, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Ohio State University, Purdue and University of Washington among others.

Simultaneous with the public presentation of the list of scientific luminaries, Italian geneticist Giuseppe Sermonti has published his book entitled “Why is a Fly Not a Horse?” which maps what he depicts as a growing scientific case against neo-Darwinism.

Sermonti challenges the myth that all critics of Darwinism are American religious fundamentalists and argues that since genetics does not explain even the present forms of life, genetic mutations cannot alone explain their origin.

Dr. Leendert Van Der Hammen, a member with Sermonti of the Osaka Group for the Study of Dynamic Structures, defended Sermonti’s book. He said that by tying together insights from disciplines often studied in isolation—genetics, molecular biology, morphogenetics, physics, chemistry and mathematics—Sermonti was able to uncover new weaknesses in the modern theory of evolution.

Sermonti is a retired Professor of Genetics at the University of Perugia. He discovered what is called genetic recombination in antibiotic-producing Penicillium and Streptomyces and was Vice President at XIV International Congress of Genetics (Moscow, 1980). He is Chief Editor of Rivista di Biologia, one of the world’s oldest biology journals still in publication.

See the list of scientists: http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/filesDB-download.php?command=download&am...

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