Is it true that most mutations produce negative effects??...

[reverendjeremiah]

Rule #1 is never listen to any creationist shithead about evolution. They believe in fairy tales.... they are morons.

Rule #2 - always remember rule #1.

[Arcturus]

This is what I've heard from someone who is a Creationist-that most mutations are harmful, and that's why he doesn't "buy" evolution. I have also read the argument that mutations don't result in different species-ie, a fly is still a fly, even with mutations.

Yes most of them are harmful, and it is through the process of natural selection that they are not passed down to the next generation. Evolution has as much evidence in biology as quantum mechanics does in physics, and anyone who denies it simply does not understand it, to say the least. Many creationists also confuse somatic mutations with genetic mutations, which is probably the result of too much misinformation being spread among themselves.

Evolution is a very slow process; one that takes millions of years, or at least thousands, before any significant change in genetic makeup of organisms can be observed. It is important to note that any one offspring should have an almost identical genetic makeup as compared to its parents, even if a 'large' genetic mutation were to occur. Evolution works through the differential survival of organisms with favourable genes, which has the result of gradual evolution. If we were to observe say, a fly producing a cockroach offspring, the theory of evolution by natural selection would then be rendered false, because of its statistical improbability. This means that all species are, by definition, transitional species.