Museum says Darwin’s theory never more relevant

By Anna Driver

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution
is nearly 150 years old and under fresh attack, but thanks to
him scientists today understand the danger bird flu poses to
humans, curators of a new Darwin exhibit say.

“Without his insights, we would fail to appreciate the
dangerous potentials of rapid evolution in the avian flu
virus,” Michael Novacek, curator of paleontology at the museum,
told a news conference on Tuesday.

The show chronicling the life of Darwin and his work opens
on November 19 at the American Museum of Natural History in New
York with original manuscripts, live Galapagos tortoises,
orchids, personal effects and fossil specimens Darwin collected
during his five-year voyage aboard the HMS Beagle.

The deadly H5N1 avian influenza first infected birds, has
mutated, and is known to have killed 64 people in Asia. Health
experts say it is crucial to control the virus’ spread in birds
to prevent more people from becoming infected.

Darwin’s theory, published in “The Origin of the Species”
in 1859, says that all life evolves according to natural
selection and is constantly changing.

“As we seek new cures for disease and means to avert
bioterrorism, Darwin’s work remains vitally important,” said
Ellen Futter, the museum’s president.

Intelligent design has been proposed as an alternative to
evolution. The theory holds that some aspects of nature are so
complex they must be the work of an unnamed creator.

Earlier this month, Pennsylvania voters ousted a local
school board that required a statement on intelligent design to
be read in biology classes prior to the teaching of evolution.
A new slate promising to remove the concept from science
classes was elected.

The Darwin exhibit, which runs through May 29, 2006, was
planned more than three years ago, before the national debate
over intelligent design and evolution heated up.

In a nod to the debate, sections of the exhibit address the
controversy Darwin’s book stirred when it was published and a
timeline detailing protests through 2005.

The exhibit will travel to museums in Toronto, Chicago,
London and Boston.