Dr. Crompton Publishes Three-Part Journal Series on Genetics

Dr. Nigel Crompton, professor of biology at Cornerstone University, was recently featured in the German publication “Studium Integrale” for his research in genetics. The first article of three, entitled “Mendelian Speciation and the Origin of Species,” was published in the October 2019 issue. The second article will be published in April 2020.

Mendelian speciation involves a biological process universally accepted by scientists and scholars. The research and discoveries of Austrian scientist Gregor Mendel led to the Mendelian laws of genetics, describing biological inheritance that have become tenets of standard science.

Crompton, however, takes the research one step further in his article series, using Mendel’s laws to explain how genetic material, not mutation, leads to biological diversity in species.

“Mendel was a contemporary of Charles Darwin,” Crompton said. “He was familiar with Darwin’s ideas in ‘The Origin of Species.’ Still, Darwin and Mendel didn’t know about DNA or genomes. It wasn’t part of their language.”

Mendel’s discoveries in peas and beans led to the insight that DNA contains all of the genetic information necessary for variations in species. Crompton used the example of cats—the cat family has more than 30 species, all with different traits. Their different traits aren’t necessarily the work of genetic mutation, but the result of latent genetic information passed down through generations.

Crompton poses this research as an alternative to evolutionary biology. “Biological diversity was in the mind of God when He created animals and plants, and He put that information into their genomes,” Crompton said.

He does not, however, intend for his research to alienate evolutionary biologists. “I don’t want people to feel offended or intimidated by this information,” Crompton asserted. “This is accepted within science but not brought to its logical conclusion.”

While Crompton’s research is being published in a faith and science journal and offers evidence for intelligent design, Crompton realizes that the understanding of our origins vary greatly among scientists and scholars.

“Science is not opposed to biblical understanding of origins, and typically they complement each other,” Crompton said. “I teach Evolution and Origins to give CU students a chance to think it through at their own pace and for it not to be contrary to their faith.”