030 – Interview with Dr Zachary Moore – Understanding Evolution
I talk with Dr Zachary Moore, from the Department of Biophysics and Molecular Genetics from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, regarding evolution, and to tackle the questions that some nay-sayers have about it.
Dr Moore’s website is
http://www.drzach.net/
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June 16th, 2007 at 14:11
i can’t seem to find any listing of a dr. zachary moore at UT Southwestern’s website?? any idea why??
June 16th, 2007 at 16:44
Hi there Sterling.
This is probably because he’s not at the actual university itself, but at the medical centre associated with the university (that is common practice in medical sciences in Australia as well). Dr Moore’s website states:
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Department of Biophysics and Molecular Genetics
so I would look up the UT SW Medical Centre staff list, not the UT SW staff list.
Kind regards,
OG
June 23rd, 2007 at 14:48
I thought this episode was, by far, the best. I absolutely loved listening to it. It was not only informative, as usual, but I found it very entertaining as well, (I especially liked your “slip up” at the end). Dr. Zachary was a good choice for an interviewee. Keep up the awesome job that you’re doing!!
June 23rd, 2007 at 17:02
Thanks Dawn! I’m happy to hear that you liked this episode a lot. (I’m also glad – and surprised, that you were entertained by my ‘slip-up’ ! My sense of humour is generally less than brainy!)
February 23rd, 2009 at 14:46
Dear Dr. Moore,
Over the years I have read and studied lots of information cocening evolution and still continue to be pessimistic at best regarding the evolution process. Maybe if you could anser one small question I have concerning evolution that seems to have alluded every single “expert” in the field that actually believes in evolution. My question: If man evolved from monkey, and both man and monkey both exist in their currect state, then where is the “in-between”? I am sure you must get a headache just thinking about this one question as there is no answer for it that can satisfactorily answer it and without an answer to this question as most of your collegues know, the evolutionary’s entire world dissolves and retreats back to the truth that God made man in his own image.
Mark
February 24th, 2009 at 19:38
Mike,
I’ve forwarded your comment to Dr Moore, however it seems plainly obvious that you are mistaking Lemarckian “evolution” with that of Darwin (by natural selection). Many church groups seem to either make this fundamental mistake, or intentionally try to confuse the matter, which is unfortunate, as it is the same scientific principles which most members rely on daily.
Evolution by natural selection can be seen in such instances as dog breeding – certain traits being selected for or against, in elephants (thanks to humans hunting them) such that tusks are no longer naturally selected for – this has been happening in the last one hundred years and has been shown to happen as Darwinian selection predicts.
The search for a ‘missing link’ is a bit of a furphy, and the assumption that something must continually evolve where there is no need to be selected for is erroneous.