Will Never Create a Fly
By Alaâ Yusuf Kabha
The Arab-American University, Department of Biology and the biological techniques, Palestine-Djenin
O men! Here is a parable set forth! So Listen to it! Those on whom besides Allah ye call willnevercreate a fly even if they all combine together for this purpose! And if the fly should snatch away a thing from them they would have no power to release it from the fly: feeble are those who petition and those whom they petition! }
(Al-Hajj 73).
Scientists, all over the world, persevered for about a century to use small creatures to depict our knowledge of Genetics. I have studied the fruit fly (which is considered by farmers a hostess insect) in many labs and now it is helping in some researches in Assorted illnesses from the cancer until disease of Alzheimer
The fruit fly, which her length not more than few millimetres, is characterised by two giant red eyes of the same size of its head approximately. It has three pairs of feet and thin armour made of Ketine(horny substance) that covers its body, in addition to two transparent coloured wings. Even being in somehow a complicated living creature, it lives a short boring life, it starts when the female puts the eggs on the surface of spoiled fruits. And after one day, the eggs hatch giving many larva of very small size which grow fast and are fed on the living beings of yeast and fungal that grow on the fruits; then the larva would dispels its skin to transform into chrysalis then her body changes radically, and her wings grow. After that the fly begins a short, aerobic life. her body covered with sensible ranges of hair; which used to sense anything it touches whether it is draught or small particles of yeast. The drosophila (fly of fruit) runs with all its energy after food and sex before it dies in few days.
There are three major reasons makes Drosophila useful for scientist : First, its very small in size so you could stock thousands of it in one tube where in the bottom we put food, and close the tube with a piece of cotton. Second, it reproduce fast because the average of its age does not go beyond two weeks. and Third, Drosophila has been under many researches for very long time, to the point that a lot of available details about it can fill many encyclopaedias.
This great amount of information and knowledge gives scientist an easy and strong start in any new research. The Drosophila remained since the beginning of the past century an important means in scientific researches that look for the way physical and behavioural details of each living being are codified inside its genes.
Even differences between Humans and Drosophila helps researchers too. For example, Drosophila does not have lungs; instead, it absorbs oxygen through holes on its body. This fly has developed a special type of haemoglobin that is not exposed to catch the many diseases that humans catch. The scientists hope by finding the cause of the character of the Drosophila haemoglobin in flexibility and adaptability, they will be able to discover the reason of transmission the anomalies of the blood hereditarily.
Latest undergo researches about cancer have pointed out that harmful effects like radiations and air pollution consider from the main reasons to the destruction and blurring the cells which can be the reason to cause cancer. But there was no observation to any changes from this kind neither in humans nor micro biological creatures till now. To prove this, scientists have done many experiments on Drosophila for many years, and they got 400 different kinds of its descendants. And Professor Attef Shenkoun gives us more information about these experiments:
“Though we notice no radical changes in its entity, some changes have happened because of the capering it underwent. But no new generation has resulted from fecundation between these insects” 1.
The conclusion is, that the many experiments done on 400 fruit flies showed that –though slight changes have happened- it’s impossible to change its kind or entity. There were some unimportant changes did result from the influence of the conditions and the environment on it like changes that happen for humans like the tanning of the skin or the elevation of the blood pressure. And when fecundation were done between these flies which underwent the changes, no new descendants were obtained, that means these flies have become sterile, and there was many distortions appeared.
Human has been given the opportunity and the right to interfere in changing Nature but to some extent, as he is the successor of Allah on earth and he is ordered to protect it and discover the sciences that serve him; this is why he is obliged to interfere. Nevertheless, his interference will never change the species of animals to another. As for Plants, human can (according to the rules Allah has put) exercise engrafting to get another kind of trees, yet it is not possible for all trees. But for animals such thing does not exist, only for the case of bettering one species, like inseminating one cow with the sperm of a good bull to have calves of good quality.
These information prove that scientists have tried hardly to create one small fly, bu they failed.
Scientistshave triedto expose big numbers of thisflyto differentkindsof radiations, chemicalsubstances andhighheatto provokecapering andobtainnew kind, theyonlyobtainedabnormal, deformedandsterileflieswithno positive change on thisliving creature)
This is what the sacred verse proves:
( …willnevercreate a fly even if they all combine together for this purpose!...)
By Alaâ Yusuf Kabha
Translated by: Dalal Mustapha Sarnou
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