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1.7 use available evidence to analyse, using a named example, how advances in technology have changed scientific thinking about evolutionary relationships
use available evidence to analyse, using a named example, how advances in technology have changed scientific thinking about evolutionary relationships
- Use the available evidence to analyse how advances in technology have changed scientific thinking. You should consider how the results of investigations that use new technology support previously available evidence and theories. Use this to justify the conclusions that indicate changes in scientific thinking about evolutionary relationships.
For example, biochemical taxonomy and gene mapping has changed the relationship of the primate groups.
The web pages below will give you some starting points.
- Evidence Supporting Biological Evolution
Extracts from Science and Creationism: A view from the National Academy of Sciences, Second Edition. Steering Committee on Science and Creationism, National Academy of Sciences. National Academy Press, USA. See New Evidence from Molecular Biology
- The modern view of evolution
M.J. Farabee, Estrella Mountain Community College, Avondale, Arizona, USA
- You may identify or encounter mass media information when studying this syllabus point. Where that occurs, process the information to assess the accuracy of scientific information presented by comparing it with similar information presented in scientific journals.
Sample information
Until the 1950s, the relationships between organisms were worked out by similarities in anatomical features. At this time, it became possible to analyse protein sequence data and DNA sequence data. Proteins, such as haemoglobin, could now be compared and similarities worked out based on biochemical similarity. If the rate of change is approximated, it is possible to work out a molecular clock that estimates the time since two organisms shared a common ancestor.