NOVA Season 9 Episode 6 Did Darwin Get It Wrong?

In the NOVA season 9 episode 6 titled "Did Darwin Get It Wrong?", experts and scientists investigate whether Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection that he propounded over 150 years ago overturns evolutionary science or not.

In the episode, the focus is primarily on the traditional belief that evolution is a slow and gradual process that occurred over millions of years. The NOVA team tries to understand if, during the course of millions of years, nature has ever bypassed the standard evolutionary process, creating jumps in the path of evolution. They investigate the process of spontaneous mutation being crucial in Darwin's model and argue that it is not reliable since it would take an infinite amount of time to occur naturally.

The NOVA team takes a closer look and compares the genomes of different animals. They found out that the genomes of humans and chimps are very similar: they have more than 95% identical DNA. However, there were some areas of the genome that were very different. Looking into these differences, some scientists argue that humanity's major evolutionary leaps could have been caused by sudden, rare, and random events. NOVA investigates the possibility of these rare events being responsible for the evolution of humans, which have had significant effects on our remarkable intelligence, large brains, upright walking, and fine dexterity.

Furthermore, the episode dives into the idea of epigenetics. Epigenetics refers to the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself. This field of study has shown that the environment, along with the individual's experiences, can affect the way genes are expressed and therefore influence and shape the organism. The NOVA team investigates whether epigenetics plays an important role in evolution.

Finally, the NOVA team tries to establish whether Darwin's idea of natural selection still reigns supreme in the current era of Evolutionary science. The NOVA team poses the difficult question of whether Darwin had limitations in his understanding and if current science has surpassed his discoveries. The team investigates newer theories and models, different from Darwin's ideas. The insights and evidence gathered during the episode lead toward new areas of inquiry and future avenues of research.

Overall, the NOVA team, with its probing and engaging style, examines and explores some of the most challenging and polarizing questions in evolutionary science. The episode, "Did Darwin Get It Wrong?", aims to make the viewer think critically about Darwin's theories and the possibility of new discoveries that might reshape the science of evolution. It supports the statement that every scientific discovery is a building block, and each of them, added together, adds to our understanding of the world across time.