By using such examples as virus duplication and adaptation, as well as a criminal case in which he was an expert witness, David Mindell, adjunct professor at the University of California, San Francisco, gave his case as to why evolution exists in his lecture, “Life’s Diversity and Genealogy” on July 17 at the Berry Biodiversity for Conservation Center.
One case in particular was when a criminal court in Louisiana called him in to use his expertise for the criminal case, Louisiana vs. Richard S. Schmidt.
In this case, a gastroenterologist had infected one of his phlebotomists with the HIV virus when she was sleeping.
In order to prove that the virus was spread from one of his patient’s samples to his employee, Mindell and his fellow colleagues went through samples from both parties, and prove through genetics and adaptation, that the virus had indeed come from the original host.
In doing so, Schmidt was found guilty of his charges and sentenced to 55 years in prison.
According to Mindell, the conclusion of this case was the first time a U.S. criminal court ruled on admissibility of phylogenetic analysis.
Other mitigating factors that Mindell used to prove the likelihood of evolution were the fact that both diseases and viruses adapt to their natural surroundings over time.
The result of this, leads to small pandemics that have occurred over time, with such viruses as the swine flu and bird flu.
Mindell not only looked at organisms and plants as proof of evolution, but he also described how humans have adapted to their surroundings over centuries.
“It’s interesting, we don’t really have a theory of health. People tend to think that health is just the absence of disease.
