One of the often repeated statements in support of evolution is the claim that chimp DNA is 97% similar to human DNA. This is considered by many as proof of our evolutionary origin. Yet textbooks omit the following perspectives as they lead students toward only evolutionary conclusions:
1. A Corvette and a Volkswagen could be considered 97% similar depending on the features selected. Yet one did not evolve from the other, but both exist because they were designed and built by intelligent people.
2. DNA similarity is required for survival in similar environments. If humans were totally different than other forms of life, what would they eat and how could they process food?
3. Consider the following 97% similar sentences:
a. “Many scientists reject evolution because it lacks evidence, contradicts laws of science, and is the foundation of atheism.”
b. “Not many scientists reject evolution because it lacks evidence, contradicts laws of science, and is the foundation of atheism.”
This mere 3% difference (3 out of 102 letters) totally change the meaning, function, and purpose of the sentence. Furthermore, the amount of information contained within 3% of our total DNA code is equivalent to thousands of pages of specific instructions. A 3% difference is not a small change, but an enormous amount of information which could never have arisen by chance mutational changes.
From A Closer Look at the Evidence by Kleiss, June 12.
