miraculous Evo-Devo and HOX genes

I know you will be interested in ‘evo-devo’.

I kind of caught the phrase evo-devo [evolutionary development] from somewhere, and when I first heard it I had a sneaky feeling it was going to be interesting.
Having now spent several weeks getting my head around the new genetic science of evo-devo and more importantly the implications of ‘evo-devo’ I can now say it’s much more than just interesting. It’s mind boggling.
It’s implications for the standard models of evolutionary philosophy and theories are devastating.
When I begin to thinking of evo-devo, I find it is so fantastic; that it is hard to believe that it is a proven theory, and that it is backed up with accepted, peer reviewed, experimentation.
Anyway, here goes.
What has been discovered are sets of regulatory master genes [180 base pairs] that control the development of the embryo. Not just one type of embryo but many types of embryo.
these genes, by the way have been named HOX genes. They appear to be transcriptors which produce proteins that bind to D.N.A and are capable of turning genes on and off to varying degrees. This allows the development of the embryo to proceed in an ordered fashion.
Still not impressed? Hang on. Let’s take one set of HOX genes that control the development of the eye of the fruit fly Drosophila. The HOX genes control the development of the eye in such a way that the fly ends up with a nice set of compound eyes. [Sometimes there is a mutation in this HOX gene and the poor fly ends up with a leg growing where its eye should be], anyway that’s not as interesting as to what comes next.
The HOX genes for the fruit fly eye have been fully identified and their base sequences are fully understood. There has also been research into HOX genes in other animals such as the mouse. Sure enough there is a HOX gene for the mouse’s eye that regulates the development of a typically mammalian eye for the mouse.
BUT, and it’s massive BUT, the HOX gene that regulates and controls the development of the insect eye is EXACTLY the same as the HOX gene that regulates and controls the development of the mammalian eye !!!!
[The HOX eye gene has been taken from the fruit fly and inserted into the genome of the mouse and the mouse ends up with a normal mouse eye]
I have to pause here for a moment as I take in all of the implications of all this.
Firstly, the invertebrates and the vertebrates parted company 0.65 billion years ago. That means the HOX eye gene of the invertebrate and vertebrates have lead independent existences for 0.65 billion years but there has been no change in all that time. There has been no retained mutation in either mouse HOX or fly HOX genes in all that time.
[We evolutionist argue that random mutation drives evolution, but here we have a gene that can regulate the development of all the different eyes found in the animal kingdom but has not undergone any retained mutations. It has remained the same for at least .65 billion years in both vertebrates and invertebrates.]
A standard evolutionary explanation for the evolution of the eye would go something like this,
Animals with primitive eyes would generate variation by random genetic mutation. The variants would be subjected to natural selection and drip by drip, mutation by mutation you end up with the brilliant eye of the cephalopods or a bit down the excellence scale, our own eye .
But with evo-devo and the existence of the universal and incorruptible, long lived HOX gene you no longer need the drip drip effect of mutations.
The genetic information for all eyes has been in existence as far back as the common ancestor of the invertebrates and vertebrates.
If that’s not mind blowing I don’t know what is?
The very long and stable life of the HOX eye gene suggests it’s very resistant to mutation. It has remained exactly the same for at least 0.65 BILLION years.
The big question is, how did this highly conservative in- corruptible gene get here in the first place?
We might argue that it arrived by mutation and natural selection up until about 0.65 billion years ago and then remained incorruptible from then until now. Considering the immense stability of the HOX genes over 100s of millions of years, this explanation looks very shaky. One important thing to consider is that to get from primitive to advanced specialised eyes you don’t need an endless stream of mutations, you just need the HOX gene turning other genes on and off to varying degrees.
It could also be argued that Darwin, when on the Galapagos was fooled by the effect of a HOX gene.
Darwin’s idea was that a common ancestral finch become isolated on different islands and by natural selection, evolved into different species, each with a different shaped beak.
No one has ever made any objective tests to ascertain whether the finches are in fact separate species. He and we just accept that they are. They have to be separate species if we are to believe that evolution has taken place.
The existence of the different finch morphs, however, may be just a manifestation of bill plasticity controlled by a HOX gene. They might not be separate species at all.
The beaks of the finches have varying degrees of bony base overlaid with keratin giving them a variety of shape and robustness. Research in evo-devo shows that the amount of bone laid down in the beak is controlled by a HOX gene. [Experiments on embryonic chicken chicks involving the turning off and on of the HOX gene that controls the deposition of bone, results in a whole multitude of beak types similar in range to Darwin’s finches.]
Perhaps Darwin’s finches are merely a manifestation of morph plasticity rather than speciation
Don’t you think it’s a tad weird that the HOX gene that initiates and controls the development of the mammalian eye existed before the mammals had evolved?
Both evolutionists and creationist can take comfort from the HOX gene phenomenon.
The commonality of the HOX gene is evidence for a common ancestor for many organisms.
BUT, we could argue that they are evidence of a truly intelligent designer.

"Yes you can have eyes, as many kinds as you want but don’t expect me to re invent each one, you can have the HOX gene as a template and use it create as many eyes as you want”
God.