[continued from previous message]   
      
   > at the project published with 2500 human genomes.  They found that each   
   > relatively unrelated human differed from any other by around 1 in 1,000   
   > base-pairs for SNP (single nucleotide polymorphisms).  This is 0.1% and   
   > is around 3 million differences for a 3 billion base-pair genome.  You   
   > have a different 0.1% difference with another human  It is mainly due to   
   > the standing genetic variation that exists in our species.  Because of   
   > the limit of the number of individuals that have been tested the cut off   
   > for standing genetic variation used to be down to 0.01 (1%), but larger   
   > populations like the human genome can push accurate estimates out to   
   > 0.005 (0.5%).  Around 40 million people would have a variant found at   
   > 0.005 in the extant population, so these variants exist in significant   
   > numbers in the human population.   
   >   
   > As noted the standing genetic variation is the main factor in making   
   > each human around 1 in 1,000 base-pairs different from each other and   
   > this standing genetic variation contains the variants that are   
   > responsible for making each human phenotypically different from the   
   > others (we are not all identical clones).  You can look at the extant   
   > human population and you should understand that there is likely enough   
   > phenotypic variation that exists to make several different species of   
   > humans as some measure phenotypic differences between species.  It was   
   > just noted that the Neanderthal sloped forehead can be observed in Trump   
   > (it may not be that common, but it is easy to find other examples in   
   > news photos) and the Denisovan heavy brow ridges can be found in   
   > Indonesian and Australian populations.  We have quite a range of brain   
   > sizes that do not necessarily correlate with how well that brain works.   
   > Einstein had a smaller than average brain for his body weight.  Our   
   > current range of brain sizes overlaps with Homo erectus.   
   >   
   > This standing genetic variation is constantly being added to.  Due to a   
   > population bottleneck that our species went through we have around 1/3   
   > of the standing genetic variation found in chimps even though their   
   > populations have been declining.  We have around 1/5 of the standing   
   > genetic variation of your average species.  Species have a boat load of   
   > genetic variation segregating within their population.  In the extant   
   > human population every position in the human genome has likely been hit   
   > by a new mutation event on the order of 100 times.  Most of this new   
   > genetic variation is lost through drift, rare deleterious variants are   
   > selected against, and a few might increase in the population due to   
   > positive selection.  Most just drift in the population even if they do   
   > something that you might be able to detect like increase some enzymatic   
   > activity a bit, but not enough to make a significant difference in the   
   > survival of the organism.  As Behe and Dembski have to admit these   
   > "neutral" variants can get together to specify something that does   
   > something different enough to produce a new function that natural   
   > selection can act on.   
   >   
   > When new species form due to isolation of the population it is the   
   > standing genetic variation that initially gets selected to differentiate   
   > the new population from the progenitor population.  Species   
   > differentiation do not have to be selected for, but once two populations   
   > can no longer interbreed the standing genetic variation can drift to   
   > produce phenotypic differences between the two isolated populations.  It   
   > is obvious that this genetic difference already exists within the   
   > population and does not have to be designed into any new species.   
   >   
   > Ron Okimoto   
   >   
      
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