The “new wave” in evolutionary theory is molecular evolution—looking at the molecules of life such as DNA and then attempting to produce an evolutionary “tree of life.” But these results have been dismal, producing no real evolutionary evidence.
Even if we can reconstruct the phylogenetic tree for living land plants with DNA sequences, it will tell us rather little about the steps in the evolution of the plants around us today. ! – Olmstead, Science 280(1998): 393
Even with DNA sequence data, we have no direct access to the processes of evolution, so objective reconstruction of the vanished past can be achieved only by creative imagination. – Takahata, Annual Review of Ecology & Systematics, 1995
Even with the appropriate genes, the molecular tree of life is difficult to interpret. – Erwin, Valentine& Jablonski, American Scientist 85(1997): 127
Even with millions of research dollars and bright minds, no one has been able to produce compelling evidence for molecular evolution—because it didn’t happen!
