The Fourth Revolt / The "Devil's Mathematician" and the
"majesty" of malaria.
"majesty" of malaria.
The majestic and the pitiless
Below are four picturesque examples of the type of scenes that Creationists often use to
highlight the "majesty of God's Design." When you place your cursor over each picture, it will
change to show the less seemly side of life that exists in that same type of environment. An
unflinching look at nature shows it for what it is -- not a special and beloved creation of a
conscious and benevolent being but an unthinking byproduct of the vagaries of heredity and
the ruthless winnowing by natural selection.
Below are four picturesque examples of the type of scenes that Creationists often use to
highlight the "majesty of God's Design." When you place your cursor over each picture, it will
change to show the less seemly side of life that exists in that same type of environment. An
unflinching look at nature shows it for what it is -- not a special and beloved creation of a
conscious and benevolent being but an unthinking byproduct of the vagaries of heredity and
the ruthless winnowing by natural selection.
 | |  | |  |
"I cannot persuade myself
that a beneficent and
omnipotent God would
have designedly created
parasitic wasps with the
express intention of their
feeding within the living
bodies of Caterpillars."
--Charles Darwin
that a beneficent and
omnipotent God would
have designedly created
parasitic wasps with the
express intention of their
feeding within the living
bodies of Caterpillars."
--Charles Darwin
The Devil's Mathematician
Malaria has killed more people in the world than all other plagues and wars combined.
Currently, it infests 200 to 500 million people world wide each year, resulting in the deaths of
two to three million annually – mostly children from sub-Saharan Africa. Some Africans who
live in these regions have evolved certain types of red blood cells that offer resistance to this
dreaded disease (see figs. 1-2).
Normal red blood cells tend to be doughnut shaped, but the red blood cells that appear
to fend off the worst consequences of malaria are shaped like a sickle. Interestingly, the
sickle cell trait in some African-Americans and African-Europeans was discovered long
before its disease-fighting benefit was realized. The evolutionary purpose of the sickle cell
remained mysterious until the geneticist, J.B.S Haldane, anticipated the possibility that such
genetic abnormalities may confer immunological advantages and noted in 1949 that the
geographical distribution of the sickle cell gene coincides almost exactly with malaria
throughout the world (see maps below).
Malaria has killed more people in the world than all other plagues and wars combined.
Currently, it infests 200 to 500 million people world wide each year, resulting in the deaths of
two to three million annually – mostly children from sub-Saharan Africa. Some Africans who
live in these regions have evolved certain types of red blood cells that offer resistance to this
dreaded disease (see figs. 1-2).
Normal red blood cells tend to be doughnut shaped, but the red blood cells that appear
to fend off the worst consequences of malaria are shaped like a sickle. Interestingly, the
sickle cell trait in some African-Americans and African-Europeans was discovered long
before its disease-fighting benefit was realized. The evolutionary purpose of the sickle cell
remained mysterious until the geneticist, J.B.S Haldane, anticipated the possibility that such
genetic abnormalities may confer immunological advantages and noted in 1949 that the
geographical distribution of the sickle cell gene coincides almost exactly with malaria
throughout the world (see maps below).
Creationists must explain the evolution of malaria and the
sickle cell relationship in a very peculiar way. First they must
assume that God created Plasmodium falciparum, the
protozoan parasite responsible for the deadliest form of
malaria, and that He designed it specifically to spread by
mosquitoes and take advantage of the human/mammalian
circulatory system, infest the liver and spread therefrom. Then
God reshaped the red blood cells of some people who lived in
these regions to help prevent the severest reactions to the
infestation.
But here's the problem: While one sickle cell allele is
beneficial and offers some protection, any child who acquires
two sickle cell alleles, one from each parent, will develop sickle
cell disease and many of them will then die from that (see
figure 3.) The evolutionary explanation for this is rather
obvious. Malaria in certain regions is so devastating that it was
more genetically advantageous, in terms of creating the most
successful offspring, to have a sickle cell gene and have 25%
of your children suffer from Sickle Cell Disease rather than
have all of your children exposed to the deadliest
consequences of malaria. This is clearly the handiwork of that
remorseless mathematician -- natural selection.
Creationists, however, must now face two troublesome
alternatives: The first is that God is not omnipotent and made
here a few catastrophic mistakes, one in creating malaria and
not realizing its consequences and then in bungling the cure by
creating a gene that leads to another deadly disease. The
second alternative for Creationists is far more obscene,
perhaps, even blasphemous: If God is not fallible, then the
Designer intentionally created malaria to wreak havoc on the
sickle cell relationship in a very peculiar way. First they must
assume that God created Plasmodium falciparum, the
protozoan parasite responsible for the deadliest form of
malaria, and that He designed it specifically to spread by
mosquitoes and take advantage of the human/mammalian
circulatory system, infest the liver and spread therefrom. Then
God reshaped the red blood cells of some people who lived in
these regions to help prevent the severest reactions to the
infestation.
But here's the problem: While one sickle cell allele is
beneficial and offers some protection, any child who acquires
two sickle cell alleles, one from each parent, will develop sickle
cell disease and many of them will then die from that (see
figure 3.) The evolutionary explanation for this is rather
obvious. Malaria in certain regions is so devastating that it was
more genetically advantageous, in terms of creating the most
successful offspring, to have a sickle cell gene and have 25%
of your children suffer from Sickle Cell Disease rather than
have all of your children exposed to the deadliest
consequences of malaria. This is clearly the handiwork of that
remorseless mathematician -- natural selection.
Creationists, however, must now face two troublesome
alternatives: The first is that God is not omnipotent and made
here a few catastrophic mistakes, one in creating malaria and
not realizing its consequences and then in bungling the cure by
creating a gene that leads to another deadly disease. The
second alternative for Creationists is far more obscene,
perhaps, even blasphemous: If God is not fallible, then the
Designer intentionally created malaria to wreak havoc on the
| Fig.1 The "majesty" of malaria. Malaria kills one to three million people a year, mostly children. |
| The top figure shows the extent of malaria prior to the eradication of mosquitoes in Europe, and the bottom figure shows the distribution of the sickle cell gene, with darker blues showing greater density. |
References
Fig. 1 is from http://www.aerzte-ohne-grenzen.at/site/local/themen/the_krank_malaria.html
Fig. 2 is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria#_note-0
Fig. 3 is from http://sickle.bwh.harvard.edu/malaria_sickle.html
Malaria maps from http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/_0_0/history_19
See also:
Lederberg, J. (1999) Haldane J.B.S. (1949) on infectious disease and evolution. Genetics,
153, 1–3.[Free Full Text]
Fortin, A., Stevenson, M.M. and Gros, P. (2002) Susceptibility to malaria as a complex trait:
big pressure from a tiny creature. Hum. Mol. Genet., 11, 2469–2478.[Abstract/Free Full
Text]
Fig. 1 is from http://www.aerzte-ohne-grenzen.at/site/local/themen/the_krank_malaria.html
Fig. 2 is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria#_note-0
Fig. 3 is from http://sickle.bwh.harvard.edu/malaria_sickle.html
Malaria maps from http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/_0_0/history_19
See also:
Lederberg, J. (1999) Haldane J.B.S. (1949) on infectious disease and evolution. Genetics,
153, 1–3.[Free Full Text]
Fortin, A., Stevenson, M.M. and Gros, P. (2002) Susceptibility to malaria as a complex trait:
big pressure from a tiny creature. Hum. Mol. Genet., 11, 2469–2478.[Abstract/Free Full
Text]
Malaria
distribution
distribution
| Sickle cell distribution |
human race, leading to the slaughter of millions of children each year – year after year,
generation after generation, for many millennia. And then, in a cruel mathematical
experiment, He graced certain populations confronting the parasite with the double-edged
sickle cell genes, forcing parents to wait anxiously each year to see if their sons and
daughters would succumb to malaria or sickle cell disease. So which is He -- The Grand
Bungler or The All-Powerful Sadist?
The more reasonable answer, the one that has been the result of countless years of
careful study and rational investigation, is that both malaria and the sickle cell are the result of
natural selection – an imperfect and unfeeling process that is guided only by statistics.
generation after generation, for many millennia. And then, in a cruel mathematical
experiment, He graced certain populations confronting the parasite with the double-edged
sickle cell genes, forcing parents to wait anxiously each year to see if their sons and
daughters would succumb to malaria or sickle cell disease. So which is He -- The Grand
Bungler or The All-Powerful Sadist?
The more reasonable answer, the one that has been the result of countless years of
careful study and rational investigation, is that both malaria and the sickle cell are the result of
natural selection – an imperfect and unfeeling process that is guided only by statistics.
| Fig. 2. The "grand design" of malaria. Click on figure to enlarge and see how the life-cycle of the Plasmodium parasite has adapted to the circulatory system. |
Fig. 3. The brutal lottery. Children who
receive both genes for normal
hemoglobin (left) are particularly
vulnerable to death from malaria.
Children who receive one gene for
normal and one gene for the sickle
cell are particularly resistant to malaria
symptoms. Children who receive both
sickle cell genes (left) are particularly
vulnerable to death from sickle cell
anemia.
receive both genes for normal
hemoglobin (left) are particularly
vulnerable to death from malaria.
Children who receive one gene for
normal and one gene for the sickle
cell are particularly resistant to malaria
symptoms. Children who receive both
sickle cell genes (left) are particularly
vulnerable to death from sickle cell
anemia.