Behe Meets the Peaceful Science Forum

[Giltil (Gilbert Thill)]

@Chris_Falter

Thanks, Stephen, that was really helpful. What I am concluding is this:

1. The biochemical definition of degradation helps biochemists describe an important attribute of a protein.
2. However, Behe commits a category error to when he tries to apply that definition to a discussion of evolution, because evolutionary processes care about protein function rather than protein stability , and these are not synonymous.

Is that a fair characterization of the situation?

No, not at all. When Behe speaks of degradation, he is not referring to protein degradation but to degradation/loss of function. I invite you to read the review he wrote in 2010 on the subject.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/49764025_Experimental_evolution_loss-of-function_mutations_and_the_first_rule_of_adaptive_evolution