Can Natural Selection Increase Genetic Information?

Scientists claim that natural selection is a mechanism for macroevolution, but they’re ignoring this crucial genetic component.

What Is Natural Selection?

Natural selection is the name Charles Darwin gave to an observable process, which results in small changes in the plant and animal world, such as fur color or plant height.

A common perception, popularized by many scientists, is that natural selection is a primary mechanism of evolution.1 According to the National Academy of Sciences, “Natural selection . . . can have radically different evolutionary effects over different time scales.”2

Darwin’s finches (public domain). Charles Darwin discovered a confusing array of plump little birds on the Galápagos Islands, but he didn’t realize they were all finch species. Contrary to popular opinion, Darwin never claimed to observe natural selection on the islands.

Darwin believed that, given enough time (millions of years), natural selection could lead to large changes (such as a dinosaur evolving into a bird) and was the underlying mechanism of unobservable molecules-to-man evolution. However, natural selection and evolution are different concepts, though many mistakenly interchange the two today.

What’s the Difference Between Natural Selection and Evolution?

Natural selection is the process by which plants or animals possessing a set of traits that have a survival advantage in a given environment pass that advantage on to their offspring (such as traits for fur color or plant height). These offspring then survive to reproduce in the next generation.

Evolution, as commonly defined today, is the idea that all life on earth has come about through descent with modification from a common single-celled ancestor. We refer to this as molecules-to-man evolution. Inherent in this process is the requirement for the origination of new genetic information as organisms evolve from simple to complex.3

How Does Natural Selection Work?

Natural selection is a mechanism that allows a group of organisms of the same species (a population) to deal with changing environments. An example of this is shown in the blind cavefish exhibit. Many species possess a great diversity of genetic information for various traits, which are selected for or against. The result is a population with characteristics most favorable for a given environment with an overall loss of genetic information (diversity).

These changes are nondirectional (i.e., fish remain fish).4

Natural selection preserves the viability of a population by removing those members with severely harmful or lethal characteristics. An example of these types of characteristics is shown in the blind mice exhibit.

Although natural selection results in the death of some organisms, it shows God’s care for his creation through a mechanism that preserves populations of organisms in a sin-cursed, post-fall world.

When you visit the Creation Museum, you can learn more about natural selection, evolution, how to view the world around you from a biblical worldview, and so much more. Start planning your trip today!