ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

I like your post, Tom.


My proposition:

The nuclei of living cells are in a perpetual state of generating new 
DNA.  Using the strand with which the cell was born as a template, new 
DNA strands are assembled, nearly replicating the original, but in 
which some proteins are substituted for others.  This genetic variance 
occurs in no distinguishable pattern, but the rate of variance is 
certainly influenced by energies (cosmic rays, for example) and certain 
molecular compounds (toxins, for example) that enter a cell.
Some of these variations are inherited by offspring; and, while the 
vast majority appear to have no expression in the overall function, 
behavior and appearance of any given organism, some contribute to 
characteristics quite different from those of the parent(s).  [insert 
natural selection]


Inaccuracies atttributable to the writer's lack of expertise in biology 
aside, where others have used "random," "chance," "mistake," 
"accident," "imperfections," etc., I have tried to use words that, if 
they imply a value-judgment, imply at least as positive a value as the 
phrase "Intelligent Design."


thinking of co-opting "Intelligent Design" as a DBA,
Jason

***********************************************************************
More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org.
To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]