Question: Do you know anything about groups called “gene-testing services?” Apparently they have ...

Question: Do you know anything about groups called “gene-testing services?” Apparently they have convinced many to believe they come from monkeys.

Response: It has been well documented that man actually is closer “genetically” to pigs. That’s why we have for decades used biological parts that have been grown in pigs. As a scientific publication notes, “Pigs share a number of surprising comparable traits with humans. For instance, we both have [relatively] hairless skin, a thick layer of subcutaneous fat, light-colored eyes, protruding noses and heavy eyelashes. Pig skin tissues and heart valves can be used in medicine because of their compatibility with the human body. Medical students often practice suturing on pig’s feet.”

We have not thoroughly researched “customer gene-testing services” and consequently cannot respond with specific details to your question. Nevertheless, there is one point of particular interest: “Apologists” for the theory of evolution point to a similarity between man and chimpanzees of up to 96 percent, leaving only a 4 percent difference in DNA. But even evolutionists point out that, although humans and chimps are judged to have many identical genes, the biological functions are often used in different ways.

Going further, another scientific writer notes, “The sheer fact that pigs and humans are mammals means that we share some genes. But it is simplistic to put an actual figure on the amount of genetic material we have in common,” says animal geneticist Professor Chris Moran from the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Veterinary Science.

“‘Making broad comparisons by saying…98 percent of  [human] genes are similar to a chimpanzee or whatever else…tend to be a little bit misleading,’ says Moran. The amount of genetic material we share with other species depends upon what you compare. All living organisms have genetic information encoded in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), divided into units called genes. Information is transferred from the genes via a chemical called ribonucleic acid (RNA). Some RNA is translated into chains of amino-acid that make up proteins, the building blocks of every living cell. Scientists have discovered about 20,000 mammalian genes that encode proteins with similar basic functions. So if you compare the protein-encoding portion of our DNA we have a lot in common with a lot of mammals.

“‘Mammals have most of the same genes for similar biochemical and physiological functions. If you look at the details of the genes…there’ll be differences between them, but they’ll still be doing the same kind of function,’” says Moran (http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/05/03/2887206.htm).

As Dave Hunt wrote in the February 1997 newsletter, “In his book, The Blind Watchmaker, Oxford University zoologist Richard Dawkins, a leading evolutionist, calls biology ‘the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose’ (Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker (England: Longman 1986, 1). Indeed! One cell, the smallest living unit, could have 100,000 molecules and 10,000 intricately interrelated chemical reactions going on at one time. Cells couldn’t arise by chance! Dawkins admits that every cell contains in its nucleus ‘a digitally coded database larger...than all thirty volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica put together.’ You can’t even imagine the odds against chance creating a thirty-volume encyclopedia! That’s for one cell—and there are trillions in the human body, thousands of different kinds, working in unbelievably complex and delicately balanced relationships!”

Of course, since the Lord used the same building blocks in the creation of all life, we shouldn’t be surprised to see some similarities. Nor do we ignore the distinctions. And, we don’t see people rushing to admit they descended from pigs.