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{{short description|American biochemist, author, and intelligent design advocate}}
'''Michael J. Behe''' (born ], ], in ]) is an ] ] and ] advocate. Behe is ] of biochemistry at ] in ] and a senior fellow of the ]'s ]. He advocates the idea that some structures are too ] at the biochemical level to be adequately explained as a result of evolutionary mechanisms. He has termed this concept "]".
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| birth_name = Michael Joseph Behe
| image = MichaelBehe.jpg
| caption = Behe in Mary 2008
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1952|1|18}}<ref>{{Facebook|id=Michael-Behe-105567612814890|name=Michael Behe}}</ref>
| birth_place = ], U.S.
| fields = ]
| workplaces = ]<br />]'s ]
| alma_mater = ] (])<br/>{{nowrap|] (])}}
| thesis_title = Investigation of some physical chemical factors affecting the gelation of sickle cell hemoglobin
| thesis_url = https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/244991630
| thesis_year = 1978
| known_for = ]
| occupation = Professor, ]
}}
{{Intelligent Design}}
'''Michael Joseph Behe'''<ref>{{Google books|sD5CAQAAIAAJ|Directory of Graduate Research|page=503|text="BEHE, MICHAEL JOSEPH"}}</ref> ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|iː|h|iː}} {{respell|BEE|hee}}; born January 18, 1952) is an American ] and an advocate of the ] principle of ] (ID).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Boudry |first1=Maarten |author-link1=Maarten Boudry |last2=Blancke |first2=Stefaan |last3=Braeckman |first3=Johan |author-link3=Johan Braeckman |date=December 2010 |title=Irreducible Incoherence and Intelligent Design: A Look into the Conceptual Toolbox of a Pseudoscience |journal=] |volume=85 |issue=4 |pages=473–482 |doi=10.1086/656904 |pmid=21243965|url=https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/952482/file/6828579.pdf |hdl=1854/LU-952482 |s2cid=27218269 |hdl-access=free }} Article available from </ref><ref name="EurekAlert! 2019">{{cite web | title=Defending Darwin: Scientists respond to attack on evolution | website=EurekAlert! | date=February 11, 2019 | url=https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-02/tcuo-dds021119.php | access-date=February 9, 2020}}</ref>


Behe serves as professor of biochemistry at ] in ], and as a senior fellow of the ]'s ]. He advocates for the validity of the argument for ] (IC), which claims that some biochemical structures are too ] to be explained by known ] and are therefore probably the result of ]. Behe has testified in several court cases related to intelligent design, including the court case '']'', where his views were cited in the ruling that intelligent design is not science and is religious in nature.<ref name="conclusion">]</ref>
Behe's claims about the irreducible complexity of key ] structures are strongly contested by the ]. The Department of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University has published an official position statement which says "It is our collective position that intelligent design has no basis in science, has not been tested experimentally, and should not be regarded as scientific." <ref>, Lehigh Department of Biological Sciences</ref> Behe's ideas about intelligent design have been rejected by the ] and characterized as ].<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref></ref>


Behe's claims about the irreducible complexity of essential ] structures have been rejected by the vast majority of the ],<ref>{{cite news |last=Abbey |first=Tristan (Pro) |date=May 13, 2005 |title=Are Darwinists Chickens? |url=http://www.stanfordreview.org/Archive/Volume_XXXIV/Issue_8/Opinions/Opinions3.shtml |department=Opinions |newspaper=] |series=Debating the Merits of Intelligent Design. |volume=34 |issue=8 |location=Stanford, CA |publisher=] |issn=0092-0258 |access-date=January 21, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080808120635/http://www.stanfordreview.org/Archive/Volume_XXXIV/Issue_8/Opinions/Opinions3.shtml |archive-date=August 8, 2008 }}
Behe's testimony in ] is extensively cited by the judge<ref name="p28">]</ref><ref name="p68">]</ref><ref name="p70">]</ref><ref name="p79">]</ref> in his ruling that intelligent design is not ] but essentially ] in nature.<ref>]</ref>
*{{cite news |last=Laddis |first=Paul (Con) |date=May 13, 2005 |title=The Dogmatists' New Clothes |url=http://www.stanfordreview.org/Archive/Volume_XXXIV/Issue_8/Opinions/Opinions3.shtml |department=Opinions |newspaper=The Stanford Review |series=Debating the Merits of Intelligent Design. |volume=34 |issue=8 |location=Stanford, CA |publisher=Stanford University |issn=0092-0258 |access-date=January 21, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080808120635/http://www.stanfordreview.org/Archive/Volume_XXXIV/Issue_8/Opinions/Opinions3.shtml |archive-date=August 8, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Case |first=Steve |date=August 27, 1999 |title=Why Evolution Must Not Be Ignored |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/zforum/99/nat082799.htm |newspaper=] |type=Web chat |access-date=January 21, 2014}}</ref> and his own biology department at Lehigh University published a statement repudiating Behe's views and intelligent design.<ref name="Lehigh_position">{{cite web |url=https://www.lehigh.edu/~inbios/News/evolution.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051013060737/http://www.lehigh.edu/~inbios/news/evolution.htm| archive-date=October 13, 2005|title=Department Position on Evolution and 'Intelligent Design' |website=Department of Biological Sciences |publisher=] |location=Bethlehem, PA |access-date=January 31, 2024}} Also </ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Intelligent-design backer fires back at critics |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna9741900 |work=] |location=New York |publisher=] |agency=]; ]; ] |date=October 18, 2005 |access-date=January 21, 2014}}</ref>


==Early life and education==
==Academics==
Behe grew up in ], where he attended grade school at St. Margaret Mary's Parochial School and later graduated from ].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.godspy.com/issues/Scientific-Orthodoxies-by-Michael-Behe.cfm| year=2004| title=Scientific Orthodoxies|first=Michael| last=Behe| publisher=Godspy Magazine| accessdate=2007-01-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.nndb.com/people/637/000058463/| year=2007| title=Bio, Michael Behe|first=| last=| publisher=Soylent Communications| accessdate=2007-01-15}}</ref> He graduated from ] in 1974 with a ] in ]. He got his ] in ] at the ] in ] for his ] research on ]. From ] to ], he did postdoctoral work on ] structure at the ]. From 1982 to ], he was assistant professor of chemistry at ] in ], where he met his wife, Celeste. In 1985 he moved to ] and is currently a Professor of Biochemistry. Due to Behe's views on evolution, Lehigh University exhibits the following disclaimer on its website: Behe was born in ], and grew up in ], where he graduated from ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.godspy.com/issues/Scientific-Orthodoxies-by-Michael-Behe.cfm |title=Scientific Orthodoxies |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |date=January 25, 2006 |work=] |publisher=Transmodern Media LLC |location=Pelham Manor, NY |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061101120821/http://www.godspy.com/issues/Scientific-Orthodoxies-by-Michael-Behe.cfm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = November 1, 2006 |access-date=January 30, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nndb.com/people/637/000058463/ |title=Michael Behe |website=] |publisher=Soylent Communications |location=Mountain View, CA |access-date=January 15, 2007}}</ref> He graduated from ] in ] in 1974 with a ] in chemistry. He received his ] in ] at the ] in 1978 for his ] research on ].


From 1978 to 1982, he did postdoctoral work on ] structure at the ]. From 1982 to 1985, he was assistant professor of chemistry at ] in New York City, where he met his wife, Celeste. In 1985, he moved to ] in ], where he is currently a professor of biochemistry. From 2005 to 2024, Lehigh University's department of biological sciences exhibited a position statement on its website stating that its faculty reject Behe's views on ]:
{{cquote|While we respect Prof. Behe's right to express his views, they are his alone and are in no way endorsed by the department. It is our collective position that intelligent design has no basis in science, has not been tested experimentally and should not be regarded as scientific.<ref></ref>}}


{{blockquote|The department faculty, then, are unequivocal in their support of evolutionary theory, which has its roots in the seminal work of Charles Darwin and has been supported by findings accumulated over 140 years. The sole dissenter from this position, Prof. Michael Behe, is a well-known proponent of "intelligent design." While we respect Prof. Behe's right to express his views, they are his alone and are in no way endorsed by the department. It is our collective position that intelligent design has no basis in science, has not been tested experimentally, and should not be regarded as scientific.<ref name="Lehigh_position" />}}
==Personal life==
Behe is married and has nine children.<ref></ref>


As of 2024, his faculty webpage states: "My arguments about irreducible complexity and intelligent design are my own, and are not endorsed either by Lehigh University in general or by the Department of Biological Sciences in particular."<ref name="Lehigh University">{{cite web | title=Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Faculty; Michael Behe, Ph.D. | website=Lehigh University | url=https://www.lehigh.edu/~inbios/Faculty/Behe.html | access-date=January 31, 2024}}</ref>
==Controversy: irreducible complexity and intelligent design==


==Career==
{{main|Irreducible complexity|Intelligent design}}
{{Further|Irreducible complexity|Intelligent design}}
Behe claims he once fully accepted the ] of ], but that after reading '']'', by ], he came to question evolution.<ref>{{cite visual | crew=Michael Behe (Interviewee) | date=2003 | url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0459139/ |title=Unlocking the Mystery of Life | medium=Video|location=USA|distributor=PBS}}</ref> Later, Behe came to believe that there was evidence, at a biochemical level, that there were systems that were "]". These were systems that he thought could not, even in principle, have evolved by ], and thus must have been ] by an "intelligent designer," which he believed to be the only possible alternative explanation for such complex structures.
Behe says he once fully accepted the ] of evolution, but that after reading '']'' (1985), by ], he came to question evolution.<ref>]</ref> Later, Behe came to believe that there was evidence, at a biochemical level, that some biological systems were "]". He thought that these systems could not, even in principle, have evolved by ]. He believed that the only possible alternative explanation for such complex structures was that they were ] by an "]". Irreducible complexity has been rejected by the ].<ref name="dover_behe_ruling">"We therefore find that Professor Behe's claim for irreducible complexity has been refuted in peer-reviewed research papers and has been rejected by the scientific community at large." ]</ref>


After the 1987 '']'' decision in which the ] barred the required teaching of ] from public schools but allowed evolutionary theory on the grounds of scientific validity, creationists felt that new strategies and language was necessary to return religious notions to science classrooms. The books of lawyer ] on intelligent design, which strayed away from direct statements about a ] and stuck to criticisms of evolutionary theory and purported biased "]" science, provided such a model. Through his efforts and those of his colleagues a new organization devoted to what they called intelligent design sprung up, the ]. In ] Behe became a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's ] (later renamed the Center for Science and Culture) dedicated to promoting intelligent design. The 1987 '']'' ] decision barred the required teaching of ] from ] but allowed ] on the grounds of scientific validity. After the decision, a later draft of the textbook '']'' (1989) systematically replaced each and every cognate of the word "]" with the phrase "intelligent design" or similar ID terms.<ref name="p32">]</ref> The books of lawyer ] on ] dealt directly with criticism of evolutionary theory and its purported biased "]" science, and aimed to legitimize the teaching of creationism in schools. In March 1992, a conference at ] brought Behe together with other leading figures into what Johnson later called the "]." In 1993, the "Johnson-Behe cadre of scholars" met at ], and Behe presented for the first time his idea of irreducibly complex molecular machinery. Following a summer 1995 conference, "The Death of Materialism and the Renewal of Culture," the group obtained funding through the ].


For the 1993 edition of ''Pandas'', Behe wrote a chapter on ], presenting arguments which he later presented in very similar terms in a chapter in his 1996 book '']''. Behe later agreed that they were essentially the same when he defended intelligent design at the Dover trial.<ref name="Matzke Jan09">{{cite web |url=http://pandasthumb.org/archives/2009/01/god-of-the-gapsin-your-own-knowledge-luskin-behe-blood-clotting.html |title=God of the Gaps…in your own knowledge. Luskin, Behe, & blood-clotting |last=Matzke |first=Nick |author-link=Nick Matzke |date=January 4, 2009 |website=] |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |type=Blog |access-date=January 5, 2009}}</ref><ref name="KvDd11">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/dover/day11am.html |title=Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District Trial transcript: Day 11 (October 18), AM Session, Part 1 |website=] |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=July 28, 2009}}</ref>
By this time, Behe had published his ideas on irreducible complexity in his book '']'', which was popular with the public{{Fact|date=September 2007}} but rejected by the scientific community. Scientists argued that Behe's comments and examples were based only on a refined form of "]", rather than any demonstration of the actual impossibility of evolution by natural processes. Furthermore, Behe aimed the publication of this book at the general public,<ref>"...] publishes nonfiction and fiction for the general reader in hardcover and paperback.", ]</ref> gaining maximum ] while ] from fellow scientists or performing new ] to support his statements, contrary to normal interpretations of the ].<ref name="behe.shtml">{{cite web| url=http://www.simonyi.ox.ac.uk/dawkins/WorldOfDawkins-archive/Catalano/box/behe.shtml| title=Behe's Empty Box| date=November 28, 2001| accessdate=2007-05-03| first=John |last=Catalano}}</ref><ref></ref>


In 1996, Behe became a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture, later renamed the ], an organization dedicated to promoting intelligent design.<ref>]</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.msu.edu/~pennock5/research/papers/Pennock_DoverExptRpt.pdf |title=Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District – Expert Report |last=Pennock |first=Robert T. |author-link=Robert T. Pennock |date=March 31, 2005 |page=25 |access-date=December 19, 2007 |quote=Our strategy has been to change the subject a bit so that we can get the issue of intelligent design, which really means the reality of God, before the academic world and into the schools. (], ], January 10, 2003, broadcast)}}</ref>
Nevertheless, Behe's credentials as a biochemist gave the ] a key proponent. Behe's refusal to identify the nature of any proposed ] frustrates scientists, who see it as a move to avoid any possibility of testing the positive claims of ID while allowing him and the intelligent design movement to distance themselves from some of the more overtly religiously motivated critics of evolution.<ref name="behe.shtml"/>


===''Darwin's Black Box''===
Unlike ] <ref> (archived)</ref> and others in the intelligent design movement, Behe accepts the ] of species,<ref>{{cite web
{{Main|Darwin's Black Box}}
|url = http://www.arn.org/docs/behe/mb_dm11496.htm
In 1996, Behe published his ideas on irreducible complexity in his book '']''. Behe's refusal to identify the nature of any proposed intelligent designer frustrates scientists, who see it as a move to avoid any possibility of testing the positive claims of ID while allowing him and the intelligent design movement to distance themselves from some of the more overtly religiously motivated critics of evolution.<ref name="behe.shtml">{{cite web |url=http://www.simonyi.ox.ac.uk/dawkins/WorldOfDawkins-archive/Catalano/box/behe.shtml |title=Behe's Empty Box |date=November 28, 2001 |editor-last=Catalano |editor-first=John |website=The World of Richard Dawkins |publisher=] |location=Oxford, UK |type=Reviews and criticisms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070404182747/http://www.simonyi.ox.ac.uk/dawkins/WorldOfDawkins-archive/Catalano/box/behe.shtml <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=April 4, 2007 |access-date=May 3, 2007}}</ref>
|title = Darwin Under the Microscope
|accessdate = 2007-11-02
|last = Behe
|first = Michael
|date = 1996-10-29
|work = ]
}}</ref> including that ]s descended from other ]s, although he states that common descent does not by itself explain the differences between species. He also accepts the scientific consensus on the ] and the ].


As to the identity of the intelligent designer, Behe responds that if, deep in the woods, one were to come across a group of flowers that clearly spelled out the name "LEHIGH", one would have no doubt that the pattern was the result of intelligent design. Determining who the designer was, however, would not be nearly as easy.
In a November 8, 1996 interview ] said of Behe:
<blockquote>
"He's a straightforward ]. What he has done is to take a standard argument which dates back to the 19th century, the argument of irreducible complexity, the argument that there are certain organs, certain systems in which all the bits have to be there together or the whole system won't work...like the ]. Darwin answered (this)...point by point, piece by piece. But maybe he shouldn't have bothered. Maybe what he should have said is...maybe you're too thick to think of a reason why the eye could have come about by ] steps, but perhaps you should go away and think a bit harder."
</blockquote>


In the March/February 1997 issue of Boston Review, Prof. Russell F. Doolittle wrote a rebuttal to the statements about irreducibly complexity of certain systems, in particular he mentioned the issue of the blood clotting in his "A Delicate Balance". . Later on, in 2003, Doolittle's lab published a paper in the peer-reviewed journal '']'', <ref>{{ cite journal In 1997, ], on whose work Behe based much of the blood-clotting discussion in ''Darwin's Black Box,'' wrote a rebuttal to the statements about irreducible complexity of certain systems. In particular, Doolittle mentioned the issue of the blood clotting in his article, "A Delicate Balance."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Doolittle |first=Russell F. |author-link=Russell Doolittle |date=February–March 1997 |title=A Delicate Balance |url=http://new.bostonreview.net/BR22.1/doolittle.html |journal=] |issn=0734-2306 |access-date=January 30, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203003611/http://new.bostonreview.net/BR22.1/doolittle.html |archive-date=February 3, 2014 }}</ref> Later on, in 2003, Doolittle's lab published a paper in the ] journal '']'' which demonstrates that the ] lacks at least three out of 26 blood clotting factors, yet still has a workable blood clotting system. According to Doolittle, this defeats a key claim in Behe's book, that blood clotting is irreducibly complex.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Yong |last2=Doolittle |first2=Russell F. |date=June 24, 2003 |title=The evolution of vertebrate blood coagulation as viewed from a comparison of puffer fish and sea squirt genomes |journal=] |volume=100 |issue=13 |pages=7527–7532 |bibcode=2003PNAS..100.7527J |doi=10.1073/pnas.0932632100 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=164620 |pmid=12808152 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
| author = Jiang Y and Doolittle R.F.
| year = 2003
| title = The evolution of vertebrate blood coagulation as viewed from a comparison of puffer fish and sea squirt genomes.
| journal = ]
| volume = 100
| issue = 13
| pages = 7527-7532
| url = http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/100/13/7527
}}</ref>
which demonstrates that the ] lacks at least three blood clotting factors, and still is a workable system, defeating a key claim in Behe's book, that blood clotting is 'irreducibly complex'.


In reviewing a book by ], Behe took issue with the "intelligent design" group being associated with "creationism," saying readers would typically take that to mean ] and ] (YEC). In 2001 Pennock responded that he had been careful to represent their views correctly, and that while several leaders of the intelligent design movement were young Earth creationists, others including Behe were "]" and "creationists in the core sense of the term, namely, that they reject the scientific, evolutionary account of the origin of species and want to replace it with a form of special creation."<ref name="Pennock2001">{{cite journal |last=Pennock |first=Robert T. |author-link=Robert T. Pennock |date=May–August 2001 |title=Whose God? What Science?: Reply to Michael Behe |url=http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/pennock_behe.html |journal=Reports of the National Center for Science Education |volume=21 |issue=3–4 |pages=16–19 |issn=2158-818X |access-date=September 27, 2008}}</ref>
=== Behe and Snoke (2004) ===
Behe published a paper, together with ], in the ] ''Protein Science'',<ref>{{cite journal
| author = Michael Behe and ]
| year = 2004
| title = Simulating evolution by gene duplication of protein features that require multiple amino acid residues
| journal = ]
| volume = 13
| issue = 10
| pages = 2651-2664
| url = http://www.proteinscience.org/cgi/content/short/13/10/2651
}}</ref> which he states supports irreducible complexity, based on the calculation of the probability of mutations required for evolution to succeed. However, the paper does not mention intelligent design nor irreducible complexity, which were removed, according to Behe, <!-- New Scientist 29 Oct !--> at the behest of the reviewers. Nevertheless, The Discovery Institute lists it as one of the "Peer-Reviewed & Peer-Edited Scientific Publications Supporting the Theory of Intelligent Design".<ref>, ]</ref>


===Behe and Snoke article===
] authored a response,<ref>{{cite journal
In 2004, Behe published a paper with ], in the ] '']'' that uses a simple ] to simulate the rate of evolution of proteins by point mutation,<ref name="Behe&Snoke">]</ref> which he states supports irreducible complexity, based on the calculation of the probability of mutations required for evolution to succeed. However, the paper does not mention intelligent design nor irreducible complexity, which were removed, according to Behe, <!-- New Scientist Oct 29 !--> at the behest of the reviewers. Nevertheless, the Discovery Institute lists it as one of the "Peer-Reviewed & Peer-Edited Scientific Publications Supporting the Theory of Intelligent Design."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.discovery.org/a/2640 |title=Peer-Reviewed & Peer-Edited Scientific Publications Supporting the Theory of Intelligent Design (Annotated) |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=February 1, 2012 |website=Center for Science and Culture |publisher=Discovery Institute |location=Seattle, WA |access-date=January 30, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070804092839/http://www.discovery.org/a/2640 |archive-date=August 4, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| author = ]
| year = 2005
| title = Simple evolutionary pathways to complex proteins
| journal = ]
| volume = 14
| issue = 9
| pages = 2217-2225
| url = http://www.proteinscience.org/cgi/content/abstract/14/9/2217
}}</ref> to which Behe and Snoke responded.<ref>{{cite journal
| author = Michael Behe and ]
| year = 2005
| title = A response to Michael Lynch
| journal = ]
| volume = 14
| issue = 9
| pages = 2226
| url = http://www.proteinscience.org/cgi/content/full/14/9/2226
}}</ref> Protein Science discussed the papers in an editorial.<ref>{{cite journal
| author = Mark Hermodson
| year = 2005
| title = Editorial and position papers
| journal = ]
| volume = 14
| issue = 9
| pages = 2215
| url = http://www.proteinscience.org/cgi/content/full/14/9/2215
}}</ref>


] authored a response,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lynch |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Lynch (geneticist) |date=September 2005 |title=Simple evolutionary pathways to complex proteins |journal=Protein Science |volume=14 |issue=9 | pages=2217–2225 |doi=10.1110/ps.041171805 |issn=0961-8368 |pmc=2253472 |pmid=16131652 |ref=Lynch 2005}}</ref> to which Behe and Snoke responded.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Behe |first1=Michael J. |last2=Snoke |first2=David W. |date=September 2005 |title=A response to Michael Lynch | journal=Protein Science |volume=14 |issue=9 |doi=10.1110/ps.051674105 |issn=0961-8368 |pmc=2253464 |pages=2226–2227 }}</ref> ''Protein Science'' discussed the papers in an editorial.<ref name="Hermodson">{{cite journal |last=Hermodson |first=Mark |date=September 2005 |title=Editorial and position papers |journal=Protein Science |volume=14 |issue=9 |pages=2215–2216 |doi=10.1110/ps.051654305 |issn=0961-8368 |ref=Hermodson 2005|pmc=2253483 }}</ref>
Numerous scientists have ] the work, pointing out that not only has it been shown that a supposedly irreducibly complex structure can evolve, but that it can do so within a reasonable time even subject to unrealistically harsh restrictions, and noting that Behe & Snoke's paper does not properly include ] and ]. Some of the critics have also noted that the Discovery Institute continues to claim the paper as 'published evidence for design', despite it offering no design ] or attempting to model the design process, and therefore not providing an alternative to evolution.<ref> ], ], and ], ]</ref>


Numerous scientists have ] the work, pointing out that not only has it been shown that a supposedly irreducibly complex structure can evolve, but that it can do so within a reasonable time even subject to unrealistically harsh restrictions, and noting that Behe and Snoke's paper does not properly include natural selection and ]. When the issue raised by Behe and Snoke is tested in the modern framework of evolutionary biology, numerous simple pathways to complexity have been shown. In their response, Behe and Snoke assumed that intermediate mutations are always damaging, where modern science allows for neutral or positive mutations.<ref>See for example:
Many of Behe's statements have been addressed by biologist ] in his book, '']''. Behe has subsequently addressed Miller's points in an essay.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arn.org/docs/behe/mb_trueacidtest.htm |title=A True Acid Test: Response to Ken Miller |accessdate=2006-11-20 |last=Behe |first=Michael |date=2000-07-31 |format=HTML |publisher=Discovery Institute |language=English}}</ref>
*]
*]
*{{cite journal |last1=Lynch |first1=Michael |last2=Abegg |first2=Adam |date=June 2010 |title=The Rate of Establishment of Complex Adaptations |journal=] |volume=27 |issue=6 |pages=1404–1414 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msq020 |issn=0737-4038 |pmc=3299285 |pmid=20118190 }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Masel |first1=Joanna |author-link=Joanna Masel |date=March 2006 |title=Cryptic Genetic Variation Is Enriched for Potential Adaptations |journal=] |volume=172 |issue=3 |pages=1985–1991 |doi=10.1534/genetics.105.051649|issn=0016-6731 |pmc=1456269 |pmid=16387877 }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Bershtein |first1=Shimon |last2=Tawfik |first2=Dan S. |year=2008 |title=Ohno's Model Revisited: Measuring the Frequency of Potentially Adaptive Mutations under Various Mutational Drifts |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=25 |issue=11 |pages=2311–2318 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msn174 |issn=0737-4038 |pmid=18687656 |doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Durrett |first1=Rick |author-link1=Rick Durrett |last2=Schmidt |first2=Deena |date=November 2008 |title=Waiting for Two Mutations: With Applications to Regulatory Sequence Evolution and the Limits of Darwinian Evolution |journal=Genetics |volume=180 |issue=3 |pages=1501–1509 |issn=0016-6731 |doi=10.1534/genetics.107.082610 |pmc=2581952 |pmid=18791261 }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Farmer |first1=Mark A. |last2=Habura |first2=Andrea |date=January–February 2010 |title=Using Protistan Examples to Dispel the Myths of Intelligent Design |journal=Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=3–10 |doi=10.1111/j.1550-7408.2009.00460.x |issn=1066-5234 |pmid=20021544 |s2cid=2272580 }}</ref> Some of the critics have also noted that the Discovery Institute continues to claim the paper as 'published evidence for design,' despite its offering no design theory nor attempting to model the design process, and therefore not providing an alternative to random chance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pandasthumb.org/archives/2004/10/theory-is-as-th.html |title=Theory is as Theory Does |last1=Musgrave |first1=Ian F. |last2=Reuland |first2=Steve |last3=Cartwright |first3=Reed A. |date=October 11, 2004 |website=The Panda's Thumb |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |type=Blog |access-date=January 30, 2014}}</ref>


Many of Behe's statements have been challenged by biologist ] in his book, '']'' (1999). Behe has subsequently disputed Miller's points in an online essay.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.discovery.org/a/441 |title='A True Acid Test': Response to Ken Miller |last=Behe |first=Michael |date=July 31, 2000 |website=Center for Science and Culture |publisher=Discovery Institute |location=Seattle, WA |access-date=January 30, 2014}}</ref>
=== Popular writing ===


===''The Edge of Evolution''===
Behe has written editorial features in the '']'', '']'', and '']''. Behe, along with fellow Discovery Institute associates ] and ], "tutored" ] on science and evolution for her book '']''.<ref></ref> Coulter devotes approximately one-third of the book to ]al attacks on evolution, which she terms "]".<ref></ref>
{{Main|The Edge of Evolution}}
In 2007, Behe's book '']'' was published arguing that while evolution can produce changes within species, there is a limit to the ability of evolution to generate diversity, and this limit (the "edge of evolution") is somewhere between ] and ].


In this book Behe's central assertion is that Darwinian evolution actually exists but plays only a limited role in the development and diversification of life on Earth. To this aim, he examines the genetic changes undergone by the ] plasmodium genome and the ] in response to each other's biological defenses, and identifies that "the situation resembles ], not an ]", by considering the ]-destroying, protein pump-compromising as a "war by attrition". Starting from this example, he takes into account the number of mutations required to "travel" from one genetic state to another, as well as population size for the organism in question. Then, Behe calculates what he calls the "edge of evolution", i.e., the point at which Darwinian evolution would no longer be an efficacious agent of creative biological change, arguing that purposeful design plays a major role in the development of biological complexity, through the mechanism of producing "non-random mutations", which are then subjected to the sculpting hand of natural selection
== Dover testimony ==
.<ref name="Levin" />


The book was reviewed, by prominent scientists in '']'',<ref name="Dawkinsreview">{{cite news |last=Dawkins |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Dawkins |date=July 1, 2007 |title=Inferior Design |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/books/review/Dawkins-t.html |newspaper=The New York Times |type=Book review |access-date=July 29, 2007}}</ref> '']'',<ref name="NewRepublicJerry">{{cite magazine |last=Coyne |first=Jerry |author-link=Jerry Coyne |date=June 18, 2007 |title=The Great Mutator |url=http://old.richarddawkins.net/articles/1271 |magazine=] |type=Book review |issn=0028-6583 |access-date=January 30, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201221735/http://old.richarddawkins.net/articles/1271 |archive-date=February 1, 2014 }}</ref> '']'',<ref>{{cite news |last=Ruse |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Ruse |date=June 2, 2007 |title=Design? Maybe. Intelligent? We have our doubts |url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6430603.html |newspaper=] |type=Book review |location=Toronto, Ontario |publisher=The Globe and Mail Inc. |issn=0319-0714 |access-date=January 30, 2014}}</ref> '']'',<ref name="Caroll">{{cite journal |last=Carroll |first=Sean B. |author-link=Sean B. Carroll |date=June 8, 2007 |title=Evolution: God as Genetic Engineer |journal=] |type=Book review |volume=316 |issue=5830 |pages=1427–1428 |doi=10.1126/science.1145104 |issn=0036-8075 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and '']''<ref name="Naturereview">{{cite journal |last=Miller |first=Kenneth R. |author-link=Kenneth R. Miller |date=June 28, 2007 |title=Falling over the edge |journal=] |type=Book review |volume=447 |issue=7148 |pages=1055–1056 |doi=10.1038/4471055a |bibcode=2007Natur.447.1055M |doi-access=free }}</ref> who were highly critical of the work noting that Behe appears to accept almost all of evolutionary theory, barring random mutation, which is replaced with guided mutation at the hand of an unnamed designer.<ref name="Levin">{{cite journal |last=Levin |first=David E. |date=January–April 2007 |title=Review: The Edge of Evolution |url=http://ncse.com/rncse/27/1-2/review-edge-evolution |journal=Reports of the National Center for Science Education |type=Book review |volume=27 |issue=1–2 |pages=38–40 |issn=2158-818X |access-date=January 30, 2014}}</ref> The book earned Behe the ] for the year 2007.
In '']'', the first direct challenge brought in ] to an attempt to mandate the teaching of intelligent design on ] grounds, Behe was called as a primary witness for the defense, and asked to support the idea that intelligent design was legitimate science. Behe's critics have pointed to a number of key exchanges that they say further undermine his statements about irreducible complexity and intelligent design. Under ], Behe conceded that "there are no peer reviewed articles by anyone advocating for intelligent design supported by pertinent experiments or calculations which provide detailed rigorous accounts of how intelligent design of any biological system occurred".<ref></ref> During this testimony Behe conceded that the definition of 'theory' as he applied it to intelligent design was so loose that ] would qualify as a theory by definition as well.<ref></ref> Also while under oath, Behe admitted that his simulation modelling of evolution with Snoke had in fact shown that complex biochemical systems requiring multiple interacting parts for the system to function and requiring multiple, consecutive and unpreserved mutations to be fixed in a population could evolve within 20,000 years, even if the parameters of the simulation were rigged to make that outcome as unlikely as possible.<ref name="p88">]</ref> <ref name="Behe testimony"></ref>


=== ''Darwin Devolves'' ===
], the judge of the case, in his final ruling relied heavily upon Behe's testimony for the defense in his judgment for the plaintiffs, citing:
Behe also promotes ] in his 2019 book, ''Darwin Devolves''<ref>{{Cite book|title=Darwin devolves : the new science about DNA that challenges evolution|last=Behe, Michael J., 1952-|isbn=9780062842619|edition= First|location=New York, NY|oclc=1049576124|date = February 26, 2019}}</ref> whose central premise is that the combination of random ] and ], apart from being incapable of generating novelty, is mainly a degradative force. Like his previous books, ''Darwin Devolves'' received negative reviews from the scientific community, including a scathing review in '']'' by ], ], and ],<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lents|first1=Nathan H.|last2=Swamidass|first2=S. Joshua|last3=Lenski|first3=Richard E.|date=February 8, 2019|title=The end of evolution?|journal=Science|volume=363|issue=6427|pages=590|doi=10.1126/science.aaw4056|bibcode=2019Sci...363..590L|s2cid=59621727|issn=0036-8075}}</ref> a harsh critique by ] in '']'',<ref>{{cite news |last1=Coyne |first1=Jerry A. |title=Intelligent design gets even dumber |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/intelligent-design-gets-even-dumber/2019/03/08/7a8e72dc-289e-11e9-b2fc-721718903bfc_story.html |newspaper=] |access-date=December 17, 2020 |date=March 9, 2019}}</ref> and a scholarly rebuttal in '']'' from Gregory Lang and Amber Rice, Behe's colleagues at ].<ref name="LangRice">{{Cite journal|last1=Lang|first1=Gregory I.|last2=Rice|first2=Amber M.|date=April 2019|title=Evolution unscathed: Darwin Devolves argues on weak reasoning that unguided evolution is a destructive force, incapable of innovation|journal=Evolution|volume=73|issue=4|pages=862–868|doi=10.1111/evo.13710|issn=0014-3820|doi-access=free}}</ref> Lents said of ''Darwin Devolves'' and ''The Edge of Evolution'': "his two books totally missed their marks and were easily dismissed by the scientific community."<ref name="Skeptical Inquirer">{{cite web|last1=Palmer|first1=Rob|author-link=|date=May 3, 2021|title=Nathan H. Lents on Our Not So Intelligent Design|url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/nathan-h-lents-on-our-not-so-intelligent-design/#rob-palmer|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503182528/https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/nathan-h-lents-on-our-not-so-intelligent-design/#rob-palmer|archive-date=May 3, 2021|access-date=May 3, 2021|website=Skeptical Inquirer}}</ref>
*"Consider, to illustrate, that Professor Behe remarkably and unmistakably claims that the plausibility of the argument for ID depends upon the extent to which one believes in the ]."<ref name="p28"/>
*"As no evidence in the record indicates that any other scientific proposition's validity rests on belief in God, nor is the Court aware of any such scientific propositions, Professor Behe's assertion constitutes substantial evidence that in his view, as is commensurate with other prominent ID leaders, ID is a religious and not a scientific proposition."<ref name="p28"/>
*"First, defense expert Professor Fuller agreed that ID aspires to "change the ground rules" of science and lead defense expert Professor Behe admitted that his broadened definition of science, which encompasses ID, would also embrace astrology. Moreover, defense expert Professor Minnich acknowledged that for ID to be considered science, the ground rules of science have to be broadened to allow consideration of ] forces."<ref name="p68"/>
*"What is more, defense experts concede that ID is not a theory as that term is defined by the NAS and admit that ID is at best "]" which has achieved no acceptance in the scientific community."<ref name="p70"/>
*"We therefore find that Professor Behe's claim for irreducible complexity has been refuted in peer-reviewed research papers and has been rejected by the scientific community at large."<ref name="p79"/>
*"ID proponents primarily argue for design through negative arguments against evolution, as illustrated by Professor Behe’s argument that “irreducibly complex” systems cannot be produced through Darwinian, or any natural, mechanisms. However, … arguments against evolution are not arguments for design. Expert testimony revealed that just because scientists cannot explain today how biological systems evolved does not mean that they cannot, and will not, be able to explain them tomorrow. As Dr. Padian aptly noted, “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”… Irreducible complexity is a negative argument against evolution, not proof of design, a point conceded by defense expert Professor Minnich."<ref name="p71">]</ref>
*"Professor Behe’s concept of irreducible complexity depends on ignoring ways in which evolution is known to occur. Although Professor Behe is adamant in his definition of irreducible complexity when he says a precursor “missing a part is by definition nonfunctional,” what he obviously means is that it will not function in the same way the system functions when all the parts are present. For example in the case of the bacterial flagellum, removal of a part may prevent it from acting as a rotary motor. However, Professor Behe excludes, by definition, the possibility that a precursor to the bacterial flagellum functioned not as a rotary motor, but in some other way, for example as a secretory system."<ref name="p74">]</ref>
*"Professor Behe has applied the concept of irreducible complexity to only a few select systems: (1) the ] ]; (2) the ] ]; and (3) the ]. Contrary to Professor Behe’s assertions with respect to these few biochemical systems among the myriad existing in nature, however, Dr. Miller presented evidence, based upon peer-reviewed studies, that they are not in fact irreducibly complex."<ref name="p76">]</ref>
*"...proponents assert that they refuse to propose hypotheses on the designer’s identity, do not propose a mechanism, and the designer, he/she/it/they, has never been seen. ...


Lang and Rice's assessment noted that while Behe rightfully acknowledges that organisms have common ancestry, it is posited that a designer is required for more distant relationships like at the family level, and that the presentation of degradative processes is exaggerated with evidence of beneficial adaptations dodged. The article also criticized the use of false analogies and neglecting evidence of new genetic raw material production for evolution ("Behe is correct that the loss of genetic information is an important mechanism. However, the opposing processes of gene duplication, horizontal gene transfer, and introgression balance out gene loss, providing a source of new genetic material"). They then concluded with examples of adaptation that contradict the book's conclusions and expound on the flaws of Irreducible Complexity, adding that "why evolution by natural selection is difficult for so many to accept is beyond the scope of this review; however, it is not for a lack of evidence."<ref name="LangRice" />
===Other cases===
Behe testified as an expert witness in 2007 on behalf of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by ], a group representing a number of Christian schools against the University of California. The 2005 filing claimed that University of California's rejection of several of their courses was illegal "viewpoint discrimination." He received $20,000 for his testimony in ''Association of Christian Schools International v. Roman Sterns''.<ref> Mike Dunford. The Questionable Authority, September 5, 2007.</ref> Behe's expert witness report claimed that the Christian textbooks are excellent works for high school students and defended that view in a deposition.<ref></ref><ref></ref>


===Publications===
==Published material==
Behe has written for the '']'', '']'', and ''].''
=== Books ===

* '']''. ], 1996. ISBN 0-684-83493-6
==Court cases==
* '']''. ], June 2007. ISBN 0-743-29620-6
=== Dover testimony ===
* ''Science and Evidence for Design in the Universe (Proceedings of the Wethersfield Institute)'', September 25, 1999. ISBN 0-89870-809-5
{{main|Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District}}
=== Videos ===
In ''],'' the first direct challenge brought in ] to an attempt to mandate the teaching of intelligent design on ] grounds, Behe was called as a primary witness for the defense and asked to support the idea that intelligent design was legitimate science. Some of the most crucial exchanges in the trial occurred during Behe's ], where his testimony would prove devastating to the defense. Behe was forced to concede that "there are no peer reviewed articles by anyone advocating for intelligent design supported by pertinent experiments or calculations which provide detailed rigorous accounts of how intelligent design of any biological system occurred"<ref name="Behe testimony">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/dover/day12am.html |title=Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District Trial transcript: Day 12 (October 19), AM Session, Part 1 |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=January 30, 2014}}</ref> and that his definition of 'theory' as applied to intelligent design was so loose that ] would also qualify.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Biever |first=Celeste |date=October 19, 2005 |title=Astrology is scientific theory, courtroom told |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8178 |journal=] |location=London |publisher=] |access-date=March 29, 2011}}
* ''Intelligent Design: From the Big Bang to Irreducible Complexity''
*]</ref> Earlier during his direct testimony, Behe had argued that a computer simulation of evolution he performed with Snoke shows that evolution is not likely to produce certain complex biochemical systems. Under cross examination however, Behe was forced to agree that "the number of prokaryotes in 1 ton of soil are 7 orders of magnitude higher than the population to produce the disulfide bond" and that "it's entirely possible that something that couldn't be produced in the lab in two years... could be produced over three and half billion years."<ref name="Behe testimony" /><ref name="p88">]</ref><ref name="Behe testimony2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/dover/day12am2.html|title=Kitzmiller v. Dover: Day 12, AM: Michael Behe (continued)|website=www.talkorigins.org}}</ref>
* ''Unlocking the Mystery of Life'' 2002

* ''Irreducible Complexity: The Biochemical Challenge to Darwinian Theory''
Many of Behe's critics have pointed to these exchanges as examples they believe further undermine Behe's statements about irreducible complexity and intelligent design. ], the judge in the case, would ultimately rule that intelligent design is not scientific in his 139-page decision, citing Behe's testimony extensively as the basis for his findings:
* ''Where Does the Evidence Lead?'' 2004
*"Consider, to illustrate, that Professor Behe remarkably and unmistakably claims that the plausibility of the argument for ID depends upon the extent to which one believes in the ]."<ref name="p28">]</ref>
*"As no evidence in the record indicates that any other scientific proposition's validity rests on belief in God, nor is the Court aware of any such scientific propositions, Professor Behe's assertion constitutes substantial evidence that in his view, as is commensurate with other prominent ID leaders, ID is a religious and not a scientific proposition."<ref name="p28" />
*"First, defense expert Professor ] agreed that ID aspires to 'change the ground rules' of science and lead defense expert Professor Behe admitted that his broadened definition of science, which encompasses ID, would also embrace astrology. Moreover, defense expert Professor Minnich acknowledged that for ID to be considered science, the ground rules of science have to be broadened to allow consideration of ] forces."<ref name="p68">]</ref>
*"What is more, defense experts concede that ID is not a theory as that term is defined by the ] and admit that ID is at best ']' which has achieved no acceptance in the scientific community."<ref name="p70">]</ref>
*"We therefore find that Professor Behe's claim for irreducible complexity has been refuted in peer-reviewed research papers and has been rejected by the scientific community at large."<ref name="p79">]</ref>
*"ID proponents primarily argue for design through negative arguments against evolution, as illustrated by Professor Behe's argument that 'irreducibly complex' systems cannot be produced through Darwinian, or any natural, mechanisms. However, … arguments against evolution are not arguments for design. Expert testimony revealed that just because scientists cannot explain today how biological systems evolved does not mean that they cannot, and will not, be able to explain them tomorrow. As Dr. ] aptly noted, 'absence of evidence is not ].'… Irreducible complexity is a negative argument against evolution, not proof of design, a point conceded by defense expert Professor Minnich."<ref name="p71">]</ref>
*"Professor Behe's concept of irreducible complexity depends on ignoring ways in which evolution is known to occur. Although Professor Behe is adamant in his definition of irreducible complexity when he says a precursor 'missing a part is by definition nonfunctional,' what he obviously means is that it will not function in the same way the system functions when all the parts are present. For example in the case of the bacterial flagellum, removal of a part may prevent it from acting as a rotary motor. However, Professor Behe excludes, by definition, the possibility that a precursor to the bacterial flagellum functioned not as a rotary motor, but in some other way, for example as a secretory system."<ref name="p74">]</ref>
*"Professor Behe has applied the concept of irreducible complexity to only a few select systems: (1) the bacterial flagellum; (2) the blood-clotting ]; and (3) the ]. Contrary to Professor Behe's assertions with respect to these few biochemical systems among the myriad existing in nature, however, Dr. Miller presented evidence, based upon peer-reviewed studies, that they are not in fact irreducibly complex."<ref name="p76">]</ref>
*"In fact, on cross-examination, Professor Behe was questioned concerning his 1996 claim that science would never find an evolutionary explanation for the immune system. He was presented with fifty-eight peer-reviewed publications, nine books, and several immunology textbook chapters about the evolution of the immune system; however, he simply insisted that this was still not sufficient evidence of evolution, and that it was not "good enough."<ref name="p78">]</ref>
*"With ID, proponents assert that they refuse to propose hypotheses on the designer's identity, do not propose a mechanism, and the designer, he/she/it/they, has never been seen. ... In addition, Professor Behe agreed that for the design of human artifacts, we know the designer and its attributes and we have a baseline for human design that does not exist for design of biological systems. Professor Behe's only response to these seemingly insurmountable points of disanalogy was that the inference still works in science fiction movies."<ref name="p81">]</ref>

Jones would later say that Eric Rothschild's cross examination of Behe was "as good a cross-examination of an expert witness as I have ever seen. It was textbook."<ref name="Rothschild">{{cite web |url=http://www.pepperlaw.com/LegalStaff_Preview.aspx?LegalStaffKey=148 |title=Eric Rothschild |website=Law Firm of Pepper Hamilton LLP |publisher=Pepper Hamilton LLP |access-date=December 2, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213155626/http://www.pepperlaw.com/LegalStaff_Preview.aspx?LegalStaffKey=148 |archive-date=February 13, 2012 }}</ref><ref name="PennLawyer">{{cite web |url=https://www.pepperlaw.com/uploads/files/doverid_palawyer_julaug06.pdf |title=One for the History Books |last=Granite |first=Lisa L. |date=July 2006 |website=Pepper Hamilton |publisher= Pennsylvania Bar Association|location=PA }}</ref>

===''ACSI v. Roman Stearns''===
{{main|Association of Christian Schools International v. Roman Stearns}}
{{Wikisource|Association of Christian Schools International v. Roman Sterns}}
Behe received $20,000 for testifying as an expert witness on behalf of the plaintiffs in ''Association of Christian Schools International v. Roman Stearns.''<ref name="sciblog2007">{{cite web |url=http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2007/09/05/behe-and-the-california-creati/ |title=Behe and the California Creationism Case |last=Dunford |first=Mike |date=September 5, 2007 |website=The Questionable Authority |publisher=ScienceBlogs LLC |type=Blog |access-date=July 25, 2008}}</ref> The case was filed by ], which argued that the ] was being discriminatory by not recognizing science classes that use ] books.<ref name="sciblog2007" /> The 2005 filing claimed that University of California's rejection of several of their courses was illegal "] and content regulation prohibited by the Free Speech Clause."<ref name="ASCIvRoman">{{cite web|url=http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/acsi-stearns/ruling0808.pdf |title=Order Granting Defendants' 'Motion for Summary Judgment on As-Applied Claims' |date=August 8, 2008 |access-date=January 30, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821201728/http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/acsi-stearns/ruling0808.pdf |archive-date=August 21, 2008 }} ]: '']'', Document No. CV 05-06242 SJO (MANx); Docket No. 172.</ref> In 2007, Behe's expert witness report claimed that the Christian textbooks, including William S. Pinkston, Jr.'s '']'' (1980; 2nd ed. 1994), are excellent works for high school students. He defended that view in a deposition.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2007-04-02_Behe_expert_report.pdf |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |title=Expert Witness Report of Michael J. Behe, Ph.D. ''(Biology and Physics)'' |date=April 2, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080627021407/http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2007-04-02_Behe_expert_report.pdf |archive-date=June 27, 2008 |access-date=January 30, 2014}} ''Association of Christian Schools International v. Roman Stearns''.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2007-05-30_Behe_depo_transcript.pdf |last=Behe |first=Michael |title=Deposition of Michael J. Behe |date=May 30, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080627021416/http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2007-05-30_Behe_depo_transcript.pdf |archive-date=June 27, 2008 |access-date=January 30, 2014}} ''Association of Christian Schools International v. Roman Stearns''.</ref>

In August 2008, Judge ] rejected Behe's claims, saying that Behe "submitted a declaration concluding that the BJU ]] text mentions standard scientific content. ... However, Professor Behe 'did not consider how much detail or depth' the texts gave to this standard content."<ref name="ASCIvRoman" /> Otero ruled in favor of the University of California's decision to reject courses using these books.<ref name="ASCIvRoman" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Gupta |first=Rani |date=August 8, 2008 |title=MURRIETA: Judge throws out religious discrimination suit |url=http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/08/08/news/californian/murrieta/za3f1fe48ff6b8872882574a0000ff96d.txt |newspaper=] |location=Temecula, CA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080815065757/http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/08/08/news/californian/murrieta/za3f1fe48ff6b8872882574a0000ff96d.txt |archive-date=August 15, 2008 |access-date=January 30, 2014}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Behe is a ].<ref name="Utter2009">{{cite book |last=Utter |first=Glenn H. |title=Culture Wars in America |date=November 12, 2009 |publisher=] |isbn=9780313350399 |page=263 |language=en}}</ref> He is married to Celeste Behe and they have nine children who are ].<ref name="HendeyReinhard2016">{{cite book |last1=Hendey |first1=Lisa M. |title=The Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion |last2=Reinhard |first2=Sarah A. |date=August 29, 2016 |publisher=Ave Maria Press |isbn=9781594716621 |page=8 |language=en}}</ref>

==Publications==
{{Refbegin|30em}}

===Books===
*{{cite book |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |year=1996 |title=Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution |location=New York |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-684-82754-4 |lccn=96000695 |oclc=34150540 |ref=Behe 1996b|title-link=Darwin's Black Box }}
*{{cite book |last1=Behe |first1=Michael J. |last2=Dembski |first2=William A. |author-link2=William A. Dembski |last3=Meyer |first3=Stephen C. |author-link3=Stephen C. Meyer |year=2000 |title=Science and Evidence for Design in the Universe: Papers Presented at a Conference Sponsored by the Wethersfield Institute, New York City, September 25, 1999 |series= Proceedings of the Wethersfield Institute |volume=9 |location=San Francisco, CA |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-89870-809-7 |lccn=00102374 |oclc=45720008 |author-mask=2 |ref=Behe, Dembski & Meyer 2000|title-link=List of works on intelligent design#Supportive non-fiction books }}
*{{cite book |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |year=2003 |chapter=Design in the Details: The Origin of Biomolecular Machines |editor1-last=Campbell |editor1-first=John Angus |editor1-link=John Angus Campbell |editor2-last=Meyer |editor2-first=Stephen C. |title=Darwinism, Design and Public Education |series=Rhetoric and Public Affairs Series |location=East Lansing, MI |publisher=] |pages=287–302 |isbn=978-0-87013-670-2 |lccn=2003020507 |oclc=53145654 |author-mask=2 |ref=Behe 2003a|title-link=Darwinism, Design and Public Education }}
*{{cite book |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |year=2003 |chapter=The modern intelligent design hypothesis: breaking rules |editor-last=Manson |editor-first=Neal A. |title=God and Design: The Teleological Argument and Modern Science |location=London; New York |publisher=] |pages=277–291 |isbn=978-0-415-26344-3 |lccn=2002027548 |oclc=50447710 |author-mask=2 |ref=Behe 2003b}}
*{{cite book |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |year=2004 |chapter=Irreducible Complexity: Obstacle to Darwinian Evolution |editor1-last=Dembski |editor1-first=William A. |editor2-last=Ruse |editor2-first=Michael |editor2-link=Michael Ruse |title=Debating Design: From Darwin to DNA |location=New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=352–370 |isbn=978-0-521-82949-6 |lccn=2004047363 |oclc=54826160 |author-mask=2 |ref=Behe 2004|title-link=List of works on intelligent design#Neutral non-fiction anthologies }} "Papers from a conference, entitled Design and its Critics, held at Concordia University, Mequon, Wis., June 22–24, 2000."
*{{cite book |last1=Behe |first1=Michael J. |last2=Singh |first2=Thoudam Damodara |author-link2=Bhaktisvarupa Damodar Swami |year=2005 |title=God, Intelligent Design & Fine-Tuning: A Discussion Between Michael J. Behe and T.D. Singh |location=Kolkata, West Bengal |publisher=Bhaktivedanta Institute |isbn=978-81-89635-01-5 |lccn=2006554901 |oclc=70631564 |author-mask=2 |ref=Behe & Singh 2005}}
*{{cite book |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |year=2007 |title=The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism |location=New York |publisher=Free Press |isbn=978-0-7432-9620-5 |lccn=2007298379 |oclc=136958644 |author-mask=2 |ref=Behe 2007|title-link=The Edge of Evolution }}
*{{cite book |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |year=2013 |chapter=Getting There First: An Evolutionary Rate Advantage for Adaptive Loss-of-Function Mutations |editor1-last=Marks II |editor1-first=Robert J. |editor1-link=Robert J. Marks II |editor2-last=Behe |editor2-first=Michael J. |editor3-last=Dembski |editor3-first=William A. |editor4-last=Gordon |editor4-first=Bruce L. |editor4-link=Bruce L. Gordon |editor5-last=Sanford |editor5-first=John C. |editor5-link=John C. Sanford |title=Biological Information--New Perspectives: Proceedings of a Symposium Held May 31, 2011 Through June 3, 2011 at Cornell University |location=Hackensack, NJ |publisher=] Publishing Co. |pages=450–473 |isbn=978-981-4508-71-1 |lccn=2013016707 |oclc=858441131 |author-mask=2 |ref=Behe 2013}}
*{{cite book |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |year=2019 |title=Darwin Devolves: The New Science About DNA That Challenges Evolution |location=San Francisco |publisher=HarperOne |isbn=978-0062842619 |lccn=2018034062 |oclc=1049576124 |author-mask=2 |ref=Behe 2019 }}

===Journal articles===
;DNA structure
*{{cite journal |last1=Behe |first1=Michael J. |last2=Felsenfeld |first2=Gary |last3=Szu |first3=Shousun Chen |last4=Charney |first4=Elliot |date=February 1985 |title=Temperature-dependent conformational transitions in poly(dG-dC) and poly(dG-m<sup>5</sup>dC) |journal=] |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=289–300 |doi=10.1002/bip.360240202 |issn=0006-3525 |pmid=3978220|s2cid=46173376 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |author-mask=2 |date=March 1986 |title=Vacuum UV CD of the low-salt Z-forms of poly(rG-dC).poly(rG-dC), and poly(dG-m<sup>5</sup>dC).poly(dG-m<sup>5</sup>dC) |journal=Biopolymers |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=519–523 |doi=10.1002/bip.360250310 |issn=0006-3525 |pmid=3754471|s2cid=44340223 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |author-mask=2 |date=December 1987 |title=The DNA sequence of the human β-globin region is strongly biased in favor of long strings of contiguous purine or pyrimidine residues |journal=] |volume=26 |issue=24 |pages=7870–7875 |doi=10.1021/bi00398a050 |issn=0006-2960 |pmid=3427110}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Behe |first1=Michael J. |last2=Beasty |first2=Anne M. |author-mask=2 |year=1991 |title=Co-polymer tracts in eukaryotic, prokaryotic, and organellar DNA |journal=] |volume=1 |issue=5 |pages=291–302 |doi=10.3109/10425179109020785 |issn=1940-1736 |oclc=474190174 |pmid=1799681}}
*{{cite journal |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |author-mask=2 |date=February 25, 1995 |title=An overabundance of long oligopurine tracts occurs in the genome of simple and complex eukaryotes |journal=] |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=689–695 |doi=10.1093/nar/23.4.689 |issn=0305-1048 |pmc=306739 |pmid=7899090}}
*{{cite journal |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |author-mask=2 |year=1998 |title=Tracts of adenosine and cytidine residues in the genomes of prokaryotes and eukaryotes |journal=DNA Sequence |volume=8 |issue=6 |pages=375–383 |doi=10.3109/10425179809020898 |issn=1940-1736 |pmid=10728822}}
;Protein structure
*{{cite journal |last1=Behe |first1=Michael J. |last2=Englander |first2=S. Walter |date=July 1978 |title=Sickle hemoglobin gelation. Reaction order and critical nucleus size |journal=] |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=129–145 |bibcode=1978BpJ....23..129B |doi=10.1016/S0006-3495(78)85438-1 |issn=0006-3495 |pmc=1473549 |pmid=667302}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Behe |first1=Michael J. |last2=Englander |author-mask1=2 |author-mask2=2 |date=September 5, 1979 |title=Mixed gelation theory. Kinetics, equilibrium and gel incorporation in sickle hemoglobin mixtures |journal=] |volume=133 |issue=1 |pages=137–160 |doi=10.1016/0022-2836(79)90254-7 |issn=0022-2836 |pmid=93643}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Behe |first1=Michael J. |last2=Englander |author-mask1=2 |author-mask2=2 |date=September 18, 1979 |title=Quantitative assessment of the noncovalent inhibition of sickle hemoglobin gelation by phenyl derivatives and other known agents |journal=Biochemistry |volume=18 |issue=19 |pages=4196–4201 |doi=10.1021/bi00586a025 |issn=0006-2960 |pmid=486417}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Behe |first1=Michael J. |last2=Lattman |first2=Eaton E. |last3=Rose |first3=George D. |author-mask=2 |date=May 15, 1991 |title=The protein-folding problem: the native fold determines packing, but does packing determine the native fold? |journal=] |volume=88 |issue=10 |pages=4195–4199 |bibcode = 1991PNAS...88.4195B |doi=10.1073/pnas.88.10.4195 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=51625 |pmid=2034665|doi-access=free }}
;Evolution
*{{cite journal |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |date=October 1990 |title=Histone deletion mutants challenge the molecular clock hypothesis |journal=] |volume=15 |issue=10 |pages=374–376 |doi=10.1016/0968-0004(90)90231-Y |issn=0968-0004 |pmid=2251727}}
*{{cite journal |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |author-mask=2 |date=March 2000 |title=Self-Organization and Irreducibly Complex Systems: A Reply to Shanks and Joplin |journal=] |pages=155–162 |volume=67 |issue=1 |doi=10.1086/392766 |issn=0031-8248 |jstor=188618 |citeseerx=10.1.1.643.6193 |s2cid=53975381 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |author-mask=2 |date=November 2001 |title=Reply to My Critics: A Response to Reviews of ''Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution'' |url=http://www.lehigh.edu/~inbios/pdf/Behe/Behe_reply_to_my_critics.pdf |journal=] |volume=16 |issue=5 |pages=685–709 |doi=10.1023/A:1012268700496 |s2cid=34945871 |issn=0169-3867 |access-date=January 30, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205095509/http://www.lehigh.edu/~inbios/pdf/Behe/Behe_reply_to_my_critics.pdf |archive-date=December 5, 2013 }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Behe |first1=Michael J. |last2=Snoke |first2=David W. |author-link2=David Snoke |author-mask=2 |date=October 2004 |title=Simulating evolution by gene duplication of protein features that require multiple amino acid residues |journal=Protein Science |volume=13 |issue=10 |pages=2651–2664 |doi=10.1110/ps.04802904 |issn=0961-8368 |pmc=2286568 |pmid=15340163 |ref=Behe & Snoke 2004}}
*{{cite journal |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |author-mask=2 |date=December 2010 |title=Experimental evolution, loss-of-function mutations, and 'the first rule of adaptive evolution' |url=http://www.lehigh.edu/~inbios/pdf/Behe/QRB_paper.pdf |journal=] |volume=85 |issue=4 |pages=419–445 |doi=10.1086/656902 |pmid=21243963 |issn=0033-5770 |jstor=656902 |s2cid=1070352 |access-date=January 30, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140628034917/http://www.lehigh.edu/~inbios/pdf/Behe/QRB_paper.pdf |archive-date=June 28, 2014 }}

===Media articles===
*{{cite news |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |date=October 29, 1996 |title=Darwin Under the Microscope |url=http://www.arn.org/docs/behe/mb_dm11496.htm |newspaper=] |type=Op-ed |page=A25 |access-date=January 30, 2014 |ref=Behe 1996a}}
*{{cite news |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |author-mask=2 |date=August 13, 1999 |title=Teach Evolution—And Ask Hard Questions |url=http://www.arn.org/docs/behe/mb_ksnytb81399.htm |newspaper=The New York Times |type=Op-ed |page=A21 |access-date=January 30, 2014 |ref=Behe 1999}}
*{{cite journal |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |author-mask=2 |date=April 2002 |title=The Challenge of Irreducible Complexity |journal=] |volume=111 |issue=3 |page=74 |issn=0028-0712 |ref=Behe 2002a}}
*{{cite news |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |author-mask=2 |date=February 7, 2005 |title=Design for Living |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/07/opinion/07behe.html?_r=0 |newspaper=The New York Times |type=Op-ed |page=A21 |access-date=January 30, 2014 |ref=Behe 2005}}

===Film and video appearances===
*{{cite AV media |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |year=1997 |title=Irreducible Complexity: The Biochemical Challenge to Darwinian Theory |type=Public lecture |location=Pasadena, CA |publisher=] |oclc=827561263}}
*{{cite AV media |last=Behe |first=Michael J. |author-mask=2 |year=2001 |title=Intelligent Design: From the Big Bang to Irreducible Complexity: An Interview with Dr. Michael Behe |type=Interview |location=Colorado Springs, CO |publisher=] |oclc=49254259}}
*{{cite AV media |last=Behe |first=Michael |author-mask=2 |year=2002 |title=] |type=Interview |location=Colorado Springs, CO |publisher=]; Illustra Media |oclc=51949578 |ref=Behe 2002b}}
*{{cite AV media |last=Behe |first=Michael |author-mask=2 |year=2003 |title=Where Does the Evidence Lead?: Exploring the Theory of Intelligent Design |type=Interview |location=Murrieta, CA |publisher=Illustra Media |oclc=60849776}}
*{{cite AV media |last1=Olson |first=Randy (Writer, Director) |author-link1=Randy Olson |last2=Carlisle |first2=Ty (Producer) |last3=Behe |first3=Michael J. (Interviewee) |year=2006 |title=]: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus |type = Motion picture |location=New York |publisher=Docurama Films |isbn=978-0-767-09819-9 |oclc=162139273 |lccn=2011604915}}
{{Refend}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}


==References== ==References==
{{Refbegin}}
<!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags-->
*{{cite book |last=Coulter |first=Ann H. |author-link=Ann Coulter |year=2007 |orig-year=Originally published 2006; New York: ] |title=Godless: The Church of Liberalism |edition= 1st paperback |location=New York |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-4000-5421-3 |lccn=2007280683 |oclc=148652646 |ref=Coulter 2007|title-link=Godless: The Church of Liberalism }}
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
*{{cite book |last=Forrest |first=Barbara |author-link=Barbara Forrest |year=2001 |chapter=The Wedge at Work: How Intelligent Design Creationism Is Wedging Its Way into the Cultural and Academic Mainstream |chapter-url=http://www.talkreason.org/articles/Wedge.cfm#I |title=Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics: Philosophical, Theological, and Scientific Perspectives |editor-last=Pennock |editor-first=Robert T |editor-link=Robert T. Pennock |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-262-66124-9 |lccn=2001031276 |oclc=46729201 |ref=Forrest 2001 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/intelligentdesig00robe }}
<references/>
{{Refend}}
</div>


== External links == == External links ==
{{wikiquote}} {{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Michael Behe}}
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* &mdash; part of the ] archive.

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* the flagellar motor video
* Richard Dawkins' New York Times Book Review of Behe's The Edge of Evolution


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Latest revision as of 19:31, 3 August 2024

American biochemist, author, and intelligent design advocate

Michael Behe
Behe in Mary 2008
BornMichael Joseph Behe
(1952-01-18) January 18, 1952 (age 72)
Altoona, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma materDrexel University (BS)
University of Pennsylvania (PhD)
Occupation(s)Professor, Lehigh University
Known forIrreducible complexity
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry
InstitutionsLehigh University
Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture
ThesisInvestigation of some physical chemical factors affecting the gelation of sickle cell hemoglobin (1978)
Part of a series on
Intelligent design
ClockworkWatchmaker analogy
Concepts
Movement
Campaigns
Authors
Organisations
Reactions
Creationism

Michael Joseph Behe (/ˈbiːhiː/ BEE-hee; born January 18, 1952) is an American biochemist and an advocate of the pseudoscientific principle of intelligent design (ID).

Behe serves as professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and as a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture. He advocates for the validity of the argument for irreducible complexity (IC), which claims that some biochemical structures are too complex to be explained by known evolutionary mechanisms and are therefore probably the result of intelligent design. Behe has testified in several court cases related to intelligent design, including the court case Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, where his views were cited in the ruling that intelligent design is not science and is religious in nature.

Behe's claims about the irreducible complexity of essential cellular structures have been rejected by the vast majority of the scientific community, and his own biology department at Lehigh University published a statement repudiating Behe's views and intelligent design.

Early life and education

Behe was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Bishop McDevitt High School. He graduated from Drexel University in Philadelphia in 1974 with a B.S. in chemistry. He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania in 1978 for his dissertation research on sickle-cell disease.

From 1978 to 1982, he did postdoctoral work on DNA structure at the National Institutes of Health. From 1982 to 1985, he was assistant professor of chemistry at Queens College in New York City, where he met his wife, Celeste. In 1985, he moved to Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he is currently a professor of biochemistry. From 2005 to 2024, Lehigh University's department of biological sciences exhibited a position statement on its website stating that its faculty reject Behe's views on evolution:

The department faculty, then, are unequivocal in their support of evolutionary theory, which has its roots in the seminal work of Charles Darwin and has been supported by findings accumulated over 140 years. The sole dissenter from this position, Prof. Michael Behe, is a well-known proponent of "intelligent design." While we respect Prof. Behe's right to express his views, they are his alone and are in no way endorsed by the department. It is our collective position that intelligent design has no basis in science, has not been tested experimentally, and should not be regarded as scientific.

As of 2024, his faculty webpage states: "My arguments about irreducible complexity and intelligent design are my own, and are not endorsed either by Lehigh University in general or by the Department of Biological Sciences in particular."

Career

Further information: Irreducible complexity and Intelligent design

Behe says he once fully accepted the scientific theory of evolution, but that after reading Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (1985), by Michael Denton, he came to question evolution. Later, Behe came to believe that there was evidence, at a biochemical level, that some biological systems were "irreducibly complex". He thought that these systems could not, even in principle, have evolved by natural selection. He believed that the only possible alternative explanation for such complex structures was that they were created by an "intelligent designer". Irreducible complexity has been rejected by the scientific community.

The 1987 Edwards v. Aguillard U.S. Supreme Court decision barred the required teaching of creation science from public schools but allowed evolutionary theory on the grounds of scientific validity. After the decision, a later draft of the textbook Of Pandas and People (1989) systematically replaced each and every cognate of the word "creation" with the phrase "intelligent design" or similar ID terms. The books of lawyer Phillip E. Johnson on theistic realism dealt directly with criticism of evolutionary theory and its purported biased "materialist" science, and aimed to legitimize the teaching of creationism in schools. In March 1992, a conference at Southern Methodist University brought Behe together with other leading figures into what Johnson later called the "wedge strategy." In 1993, the "Johnson-Behe cadre of scholars" met at Pajaro Dunes, California, and Behe presented for the first time his idea of irreducibly complex molecular machinery. Following a summer 1995 conference, "The Death of Materialism and the Renewal of Culture," the group obtained funding through the Discovery Institute.

For the 1993 edition of Pandas, Behe wrote a chapter on blood clotting, presenting arguments which he later presented in very similar terms in a chapter in his 1996 book Darwin's Black Box. Behe later agreed that they were essentially the same when he defended intelligent design at the Dover trial.

In 1996, Behe became a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture, later renamed the Center for Science and Culture, an organization dedicated to promoting intelligent design.

Darwin's Black Box

Main article: Darwin's Black Box

In 1996, Behe published his ideas on irreducible complexity in his book Darwin's Black Box. Behe's refusal to identify the nature of any proposed intelligent designer frustrates scientists, who see it as a move to avoid any possibility of testing the positive claims of ID while allowing him and the intelligent design movement to distance themselves from some of the more overtly religiously motivated critics of evolution.

As to the identity of the intelligent designer, Behe responds that if, deep in the woods, one were to come across a group of flowers that clearly spelled out the name "LEHIGH", one would have no doubt that the pattern was the result of intelligent design. Determining who the designer was, however, would not be nearly as easy.

In 1997, Russell Doolittle, on whose work Behe based much of the blood-clotting discussion in Darwin's Black Box, wrote a rebuttal to the statements about irreducible complexity of certain systems. In particular, Doolittle mentioned the issue of the blood clotting in his article, "A Delicate Balance." Later on, in 2003, Doolittle's lab published a paper in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences which demonstrates that the pufferfish lacks at least three out of 26 blood clotting factors, yet still has a workable blood clotting system. According to Doolittle, this defeats a key claim in Behe's book, that blood clotting is irreducibly complex.

In reviewing a book by Robert T. Pennock, Behe took issue with the "intelligent design" group being associated with "creationism," saying readers would typically take that to mean biblical literalism and young Earth creationism (YEC). In 2001 Pennock responded that he had been careful to represent their views correctly, and that while several leaders of the intelligent design movement were young Earth creationists, others including Behe were "old-earthers" and "creationists in the core sense of the term, namely, that they reject the scientific, evolutionary account of the origin of species and want to replace it with a form of special creation."

Behe and Snoke article

In 2004, Behe published a paper with David Snoke, in the scientific journal Protein Science that uses a simple mathematical model to simulate the rate of evolution of proteins by point mutation, which he states supports irreducible complexity, based on the calculation of the probability of mutations required for evolution to succeed. However, the paper does not mention intelligent design nor irreducible complexity, which were removed, according to Behe, at the behest of the reviewers. Nevertheless, the Discovery Institute lists it as one of the "Peer-Reviewed & Peer-Edited Scientific Publications Supporting the Theory of Intelligent Design."

Michael Lynch authored a response, to which Behe and Snoke responded. Protein Science discussed the papers in an editorial.

Numerous scientists have debunked the work, pointing out that not only has it been shown that a supposedly irreducibly complex structure can evolve, but that it can do so within a reasonable time even subject to unrealistically harsh restrictions, and noting that Behe and Snoke's paper does not properly include natural selection and genetic redundancy. When the issue raised by Behe and Snoke is tested in the modern framework of evolutionary biology, numerous simple pathways to complexity have been shown. In their response, Behe and Snoke assumed that intermediate mutations are always damaging, where modern science allows for neutral or positive mutations. Some of the critics have also noted that the Discovery Institute continues to claim the paper as 'published evidence for design,' despite its offering no design theory nor attempting to model the design process, and therefore not providing an alternative to random chance.

Many of Behe's statements have been challenged by biologist Kenneth R. Miller in his book, Finding Darwin's God (1999). Behe has subsequently disputed Miller's points in an online essay.

The Edge of Evolution

Main article: The Edge of Evolution

In 2007, Behe's book The Edge of Evolution was published arguing that while evolution can produce changes within species, there is a limit to the ability of evolution to generate diversity, and this limit (the "edge of evolution") is somewhere between species and orders.

In this book Behe's central assertion is that Darwinian evolution actually exists but plays only a limited role in the development and diversification of life on Earth. To this aim, he examines the genetic changes undergone by the malaria plasmodium genome and the human genome in response to each other's biological defenses, and identifies that "the situation resembles trench warfare, not an arms race", by considering the hemoglobin-destroying, protein pump-compromising as a "war by attrition". Starting from this example, he takes into account the number of mutations required to "travel" from one genetic state to another, as well as population size for the organism in question. Then, Behe calculates what he calls the "edge of evolution", i.e., the point at which Darwinian evolution would no longer be an efficacious agent of creative biological change, arguing that purposeful design plays a major role in the development of biological complexity, through the mechanism of producing "non-random mutations", which are then subjected to the sculpting hand of natural selection .

The book was reviewed, by prominent scientists in The New York Times, The New Republic, The Globe and Mail, Science, and Nature who were highly critical of the work noting that Behe appears to accept almost all of evolutionary theory, barring random mutation, which is replaced with guided mutation at the hand of an unnamed designer. The book earned Behe the Pigasus Award for the year 2007.

Darwin Devolves

Behe also promotes intelligent design in his 2019 book, Darwin Devolves whose central premise is that the combination of random mutation and natural selection, apart from being incapable of generating novelty, is mainly a degradative force. Like his previous books, Darwin Devolves received negative reviews from the scientific community, including a scathing review in Science by Nathan H. Lents, Richard Lenski, and S. Joshua Swamidass, a harsh critique by Jerry Coyne in The Washington Post, and a scholarly rebuttal in Evolution from Gregory Lang and Amber Rice, Behe's colleagues at Lehigh University. Lents said of Darwin Devolves and The Edge of Evolution: "his two books totally missed their marks and were easily dismissed by the scientific community."

Lang and Rice's assessment noted that while Behe rightfully acknowledges that organisms have common ancestry, it is posited that a designer is required for more distant relationships like at the family level, and that the presentation of degradative processes is exaggerated with evidence of beneficial adaptations dodged. The article also criticized the use of false analogies and neglecting evidence of new genetic raw material production for evolution ("Behe is correct that the loss of genetic information is an important mechanism. However, the opposing processes of gene duplication, horizontal gene transfer, and introgression balance out gene loss, providing a source of new genetic material"). They then concluded with examples of adaptation that contradict the book's conclusions and expound on the flaws of Irreducible Complexity, adding that "why evolution by natural selection is difficult for so many to accept is beyond the scope of this review; however, it is not for a lack of evidence."

Publications

Behe has written for the Boston Review, The American Spectator, and The New York Times.

Court cases

Dover testimony

Main article: Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District

In Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, the first direct challenge brought in United States federal courts to an attempt to mandate the teaching of intelligent design on First Amendment grounds, Behe was called as a primary witness for the defense and asked to support the idea that intelligent design was legitimate science. Some of the most crucial exchanges in the trial occurred during Behe's cross-examination, where his testimony would prove devastating to the defense. Behe was forced to concede that "there are no peer reviewed articles by anyone advocating for intelligent design supported by pertinent experiments or calculations which provide detailed rigorous accounts of how intelligent design of any biological system occurred" and that his definition of 'theory' as applied to intelligent design was so loose that astrology would also qualify. Earlier during his direct testimony, Behe had argued that a computer simulation of evolution he performed with Snoke shows that evolution is not likely to produce certain complex biochemical systems. Under cross examination however, Behe was forced to agree that "the number of prokaryotes in 1 ton of soil are 7 orders of magnitude higher than the population to produce the disulfide bond" and that "it's entirely possible that something that couldn't be produced in the lab in two years... could be produced over three and half billion years."

Many of Behe's critics have pointed to these exchanges as examples they believe further undermine Behe's statements about irreducible complexity and intelligent design. John E. Jones III, the judge in the case, would ultimately rule that intelligent design is not scientific in his 139-page decision, citing Behe's testimony extensively as the basis for his findings:

  • "Consider, to illustrate, that Professor Behe remarkably and unmistakably claims that the plausibility of the argument for ID depends upon the extent to which one believes in the existence of God."
  • "As no evidence in the record indicates that any other scientific proposition's validity rests on belief in God, nor is the Court aware of any such scientific propositions, Professor Behe's assertion constitutes substantial evidence that in his view, as is commensurate with other prominent ID leaders, ID is a religious and not a scientific proposition."
  • "First, defense expert Professor Fuller agreed that ID aspires to 'change the ground rules' of science and lead defense expert Professor Behe admitted that his broadened definition of science, which encompasses ID, would also embrace astrology. Moreover, defense expert Professor Minnich acknowledged that for ID to be considered science, the ground rules of science have to be broadened to allow consideration of supernatural forces."
  • "What is more, defense experts concede that ID is not a theory as that term is defined by the NAS and admit that ID is at best 'fringe science' which has achieved no acceptance in the scientific community."
  • "We therefore find that Professor Behe's claim for irreducible complexity has been refuted in peer-reviewed research papers and has been rejected by the scientific community at large."
  • "ID proponents primarily argue for design through negative arguments against evolution, as illustrated by Professor Behe's argument that 'irreducibly complex' systems cannot be produced through Darwinian, or any natural, mechanisms. However, … arguments against evolution are not arguments for design. Expert testimony revealed that just because scientists cannot explain today how biological systems evolved does not mean that they cannot, and will not, be able to explain them tomorrow. As Dr. Padian aptly noted, 'absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.'… Irreducible complexity is a negative argument against evolution, not proof of design, a point conceded by defense expert Professor Minnich."
  • "Professor Behe's concept of irreducible complexity depends on ignoring ways in which evolution is known to occur. Although Professor Behe is adamant in his definition of irreducible complexity when he says a precursor 'missing a part is by definition nonfunctional,' what he obviously means is that it will not function in the same way the system functions when all the parts are present. For example in the case of the bacterial flagellum, removal of a part may prevent it from acting as a rotary motor. However, Professor Behe excludes, by definition, the possibility that a precursor to the bacterial flagellum functioned not as a rotary motor, but in some other way, for example as a secretory system."
  • "Professor Behe has applied the concept of irreducible complexity to only a few select systems: (1) the bacterial flagellum; (2) the blood-clotting cascade; and (3) the immune system. Contrary to Professor Behe's assertions with respect to these few biochemical systems among the myriad existing in nature, however, Dr. Miller presented evidence, based upon peer-reviewed studies, that they are not in fact irreducibly complex."
  • "In fact, on cross-examination, Professor Behe was questioned concerning his 1996 claim that science would never find an evolutionary explanation for the immune system. He was presented with fifty-eight peer-reviewed publications, nine books, and several immunology textbook chapters about the evolution of the immune system; however, he simply insisted that this was still not sufficient evidence of evolution, and that it was not "good enough."
  • "With ID, proponents assert that they refuse to propose hypotheses on the designer's identity, do not propose a mechanism, and the designer, he/she/it/they, has never been seen. ... In addition, Professor Behe agreed that for the design of human artifacts, we know the designer and its attributes and we have a baseline for human design that does not exist for design of biological systems. Professor Behe's only response to these seemingly insurmountable points of disanalogy was that the inference still works in science fiction movies."

Jones would later say that Eric Rothschild's cross examination of Behe was "as good a cross-examination of an expert witness as I have ever seen. It was textbook."

ACSI v. Roman Stearns

Main article: Association of Christian Schools International v. Roman Stearns

Behe received $20,000 for testifying as an expert witness on behalf of the plaintiffs in Association of Christian Schools International v. Roman Stearns. The case was filed by Association of Christian Schools International, which argued that the University of California was being discriminatory by not recognizing science classes that use creationist books. The 2005 filing claimed that University of California's rejection of several of their courses was illegal "viewpoint discrimination and content regulation prohibited by the Free Speech Clause." In 2007, Behe's expert witness report claimed that the Christian textbooks, including William S. Pinkston, Jr.'s Biology for Christian Schools (1980; 2nd ed. 1994), are excellent works for high school students. He defended that view in a deposition.

In August 2008, Judge S. James Otero rejected Behe's claims, saying that Behe "submitted a declaration concluding that the BJU text mentions standard scientific content. ... However, Professor Behe 'did not consider how much detail or depth' the texts gave to this standard content." Otero ruled in favor of the University of California's decision to reject courses using these books.

Personal life

Behe is a Catholic. He is married to Celeste Behe and they have nine children who are homeschooled.

Publications

Books

Journal articles

DNA structure
Protein structure
Evolution

Media articles

Film and video appearances

Notes

  1. Michael Behe on Facebook
  2. Directory of Graduate Research, p. 503, at Google Books
  3. Boudry, Maarten; Blancke, Stefaan; Braeckman, Johan (December 2010). "Irreducible Incoherence and Intelligent Design: A Look into the Conceptual Toolbox of a Pseudoscience" (PDF). The Quarterly Review of Biology. 85 (4): 473–482. doi:10.1086/656904. hdl:1854/LU-952482. PMID 21243965. S2CID 27218269. Article available from Universiteit Gent
  4. "Defending Darwin: Scientists respond to attack on evolution". EurekAlert!. February 11, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  5. s:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District#H. Conclusion
  6. Abbey, Tristan (Pro) (May 13, 2005). "Are Darwinists Chickens?". Opinions. The Stanford Review. Debating the Merits of Intelligent Design. Vol. 34, no. 8. Stanford, CA: Stanford University. ISSN 0092-0258. Archived from the original on August 8, 2008. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
    • Laddis, Paul (Con) (May 13, 2005). "The Dogmatists' New Clothes". Opinions. The Stanford Review. Debating the Merits of Intelligent Design. Vol. 34, no. 8. Stanford, CA: Stanford University. ISSN 0092-0258. Archived from the original on August 8, 2008. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  7. Case, Steve (August 27, 1999). "Why Evolution Must Not Be Ignored". The Washington Post (Web chat). Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  8. ^ "Department Position on Evolution and 'Intelligent Design'". Department of Biological Sciences. Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University. Archived from the original on October 13, 2005. Retrieved January 31, 2024. Also archived January 31, 2024
  9. "Intelligent-design backer fires back at critics". NBCNews.com. New York: NBCUniversal. MSNBC News Services; Associated Press; Reuters. October 18, 2005. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  10. Behe, Michael J. (January 25, 2006). "Scientific Orthodoxies". Godspy. Pelham Manor, NY: Transmodern Media LLC. Archived from the original on November 1, 2006. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  11. "Michael Behe". Notable Names Database. Mountain View, CA: Soylent Communications. Retrieved January 15, 2007.
  12. "Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Faculty; Michael Behe, Ph.D." Lehigh University. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  13. Behe 2002b
  14. "We therefore find that Professor Behe's claim for irreducible complexity has been refuted in peer-reviewed research papers and has been rejected by the scientific community at large." Ruling, Judge John E. Jones III, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
  15. s:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District
  16. Matzke, Nick (January 4, 2009). "God of the Gaps…in your own knowledge. Luskin, Behe, & blood-clotting". The Panda's Thumb (Blog). Houston, TX: The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
  17. "Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District Trial transcript: Day 11 (October 18), AM Session, Part 1". TalkOrigins Archive. Houston, TX: The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  18. Forrest 2001
  19. Pennock, Robert T. (March 31, 2005). "Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover Area School District – Expert Report" (PDF). p. 25. Retrieved December 19, 2007. Our strategy has been to change the subject a bit so that we can get the issue of intelligent design, which really means the reality of God, before the academic world and into the schools. (Phillip Johnson, American Family Radio, January 10, 2003, broadcast)
  20. Catalano, John, ed. (November 28, 2001). "Behe's Empty Box". The World of Richard Dawkins (Reviews and criticisms). Oxford, UK: The Simonyi Professorship. Archived from the original on April 4, 2007. Retrieved May 3, 2007.
  21. Doolittle, Russell F. (February–March 1997). "A Delicate Balance". Boston Review. ISSN 0734-2306. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  22. Jiang, Yong; Doolittle, Russell F. (June 24, 2003). "The evolution of vertebrate blood coagulation as viewed from a comparison of puffer fish and sea squirt genomes". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 100 (13): 7527–7532. Bibcode:2003PNAS..100.7527J. doi:10.1073/pnas.0932632100. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 164620. PMID 12808152.
  23. Pennock, Robert T. (May–August 2001). "Whose God? What Science?: Reply to Michael Behe". Reports of the National Center for Science Education. 21 (3–4): 16–19. ISSN 2158-818X. Retrieved September 27, 2008.
  24. Behe & Snoke 2004
  25. "Peer-Reviewed & Peer-Edited Scientific Publications Supporting the Theory of Intelligent Design (Annotated)". Center for Science and Culture. Seattle, WA: Discovery Institute. February 1, 2012. Archived from the original on August 4, 2007. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  26. Lynch, Michael (September 2005). "Simple evolutionary pathways to complex proteins". Protein Science. 14 (9): 2217–2225. doi:10.1110/ps.041171805. ISSN 0961-8368. PMC 2253472. PMID 16131652.
  27. Behe, Michael J.; Snoke, David W. (September 2005). "A response to Michael Lynch". Protein Science. 14 (9): 2226–2227. doi:10.1110/ps.051674105. ISSN 0961-8368. PMC 2253464.
  28. Hermodson, Mark (September 2005). "Editorial and position papers". Protein Science. 14 (9): 2215–2216. doi:10.1110/ps.051654305. ISSN 0961-8368. PMC 2253483.
  29. See for example:
  30. Musgrave, Ian F.; Reuland, Steve; Cartwright, Reed A. (October 11, 2004). "Theory is as Theory Does". The Panda's Thumb (Blog). Houston, TX: The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  31. Behe, Michael (July 31, 2000). "'A True Acid Test': Response to Ken Miller". Center for Science and Culture. Seattle, WA: Discovery Institute. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  32. ^ Levin, David E. (January–April 2007). "Review: The Edge of Evolution". Reports of the National Center for Science Education (Book review). 27 (1–2): 38–40. ISSN 2158-818X. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  33. Dawkins, Richard (July 1, 2007). "Inferior Design". The New York Times (Book review). Retrieved July 29, 2007.
  34. Coyne, Jerry (June 18, 2007). "The Great Mutator". The New Republic (Book review). ISSN 0028-6583. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  35. Ruse, Michael (June 2, 2007). "Design? Maybe. Intelligent? We have our doubts". The Globe and Mail (Book review). Toronto, Ontario: The Globe and Mail Inc. ISSN 0319-0714. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  36. Carroll, Sean B. (June 8, 2007). "Evolution: God as Genetic Engineer". Science (Book review). 316 (5830): 1427–1428. doi:10.1126/science.1145104. ISSN 0036-8075.
  37. Miller, Kenneth R. (June 28, 2007). "Falling over the edge". Nature (Book review). 447 (7148): 1055–1056. Bibcode:2007Natur.447.1055M. doi:10.1038/4471055a.
  38. Behe, Michael J., 1952- (February 26, 2019). Darwin devolves : the new science about DNA that challenges evolution (First ed.). New York, NY. ISBN 9780062842619. OCLC 1049576124.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  39. Lents, Nathan H.; Swamidass, S. Joshua; Lenski, Richard E. (February 8, 2019). "The end of evolution?". Science. 363 (6427): 590. Bibcode:2019Sci...363..590L. doi:10.1126/science.aaw4056. ISSN 0036-8075. S2CID 59621727.
  40. Coyne, Jerry A. (March 9, 2019). "Intelligent design gets even dumber". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  41. ^ Lang, Gregory I.; Rice, Amber M. (April 2019). "Evolution unscathed: Darwin Devolves argues on weak reasoning that unguided evolution is a destructive force, incapable of innovation". Evolution. 73 (4): 862–868. doi:10.1111/evo.13710. ISSN 0014-3820.
  42. Palmer, Rob (May 3, 2021). "Nathan H. Lents on Our Not So Intelligent Design". Skeptical Inquirer. Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  43. ^ "Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District Trial transcript: Day 12 (October 19), AM Session, Part 1". TalkOrigins Archive. Houston, TX: The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  44. Biever, Celeste (October 19, 2005). "Astrology is scientific theory, courtroom told". New Scientist. London: Reed Business Information. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
  45. s:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District/4:Whether ID Is Science#Page 88 of 139
  46. "Kitzmiller v. Dover: Day 12, AM: Michael Behe (continued)". www.talkorigins.org.
  47. ^ s:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District/2:Context#Page 28 of 139
  48. s:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District/4:Whether ID Is Science#Page 68 of 139
  49. s:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District/4:Whether ID Is Science#Page 70 of 139
  50. s:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District/4:Whether ID Is Science#Page 79 of 139
  51. s:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District/4:Whether ID Is Science#Page 71 of 139
  52. s:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District/4:Whether ID Is Science#Page 74 of 139
  53. s:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District/4:Whether ID Is Science#Page 76 of 139
  54. s:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District/4:Whether ID Is Science#Page 78 of 139
  55. s:Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District/4:Whether ID Is Science#Page 81 of 139
  56. "Eric Rothschild". Law Firm of Pepper Hamilton LLP. Pepper Hamilton LLP. Archived from the original on February 13, 2012. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
  57. Granite, Lisa L. (July 2006). "One for the History Books" (PDF). Pepper Hamilton. PA: Pennsylvania Bar Association.
  58. ^ Dunford, Mike (September 5, 2007). "Behe and the California Creationism Case". The Questionable Authority (Blog). ScienceBlogs LLC. Retrieved July 25, 2008.
  59. ^ "Order Granting Defendants' 'Motion for Summary Judgment on As-Applied Claims'" (PDF). August 8, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 21, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2014. United States District Court for the Central District of California: Association of Christian Schools International v. Roman Stearns, Document No. CV 05-06242 SJO (MANx); Docket No. 172.
  60. Behe, Michael J. (April 2, 2007). "Expert Witness Report of Michael J. Behe, Ph.D. (Biology and Physics)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 27, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2014. Association of Christian Schools International v. Roman Stearns.
  61. Behe, Michael (May 30, 2007). "Deposition of Michael J. Behe" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 27, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2014. Association of Christian Schools International v. Roman Stearns.
  62. Gupta, Rani (August 8, 2008). "MURRIETA: Judge throws out religious discrimination suit". The Californian. Temecula, CA. Archived from the original on August 15, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  63. Utter, Glenn H. (November 12, 2009). Culture Wars in America. ABC-CLIO. p. 263. ISBN 9780313350399.
  64. Hendey, Lisa M.; Reinhard, Sarah A. (August 29, 2016). The Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion. Ave Maria Press. p. 8. ISBN 9781594716621.

References

External links

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