Malevolent Designer News - How Monkeypox Is Being Redesigned to Infect More People

Mpox could become a serious global threat, scientists warn | University of Surrey

Science has just dealt creationism another body blow.

Researchers from the University of Surrey, UK, have demonstrated that the monkeypox virus has undergone a mutation that enhances its ability to spread more readily from person to person through direct contact. This increased transmissibility raises the concern of a potential global pandemic.

Since this mutation confers a benefit to the virus, it aligns with William A. Dembski's concept of 'specified complexity', which he uses to argue for intelligent design. By extension, Dembski’s argument suggests evidence of an intelligent designer, whom his intended audience typically identifies as the Christian God.

However, because the mutation has resulted in a greater prevalence of the mutated form of the virus compared to non-mutated forms, this clearly demonstrates evolution through natural selection. Consequently, it contradicts the notion of 'devolution' proposed by Michael J. Behe, who suggests that parasites and pathogens represent biological deterioration rather than adaptive evolution.

Therefore, the new variant of the monkeypox virus presents either evidence supporting creationism's deity — which would imply intentional creation of viruses specifically designed to cause illness—or clear evidence supporting evolution through natural selection.

Tell me what you know about the monkeypox virus, its probable evolution and how it has evolved the ability to be passed from human to human. Monkeypox virus is a zoonotic pathogen belonging to the Orthopoxvirus genus, closely related to viruses such as smallpox (Variola virus). Originally identified in monkeys in 1958, the virus primarily infects rodents and other mammals in central and western Africa, occasionally transmitting to humans.

Virus Evolution and Transmission:

Historically, monkeypox outbreaks were relatively small and confined to rural African communities, primarily due to animal-to-human (zoonotic) transmission. However, recent outbreaks, particularly since 2022, have shown increased human-to-human transmission, indicating adaptive evolutionary changes.

Mechanisms of Evolution and Adaptation:

The monkeypox virus, like other viruses, evolves through mutations occurring during viral replication. These mutations are random, but natural selection favours variants that enhance the virus's ability to infect, replicate, and transmit between hosts. Mutations that facilitate greater transmissibility, replication efficiency, or immune evasion become more prevalent over time.

Recent Developments in Human Transmission:

Researchers have observed recent mutations in monkeypox that enhance its ability to spread between humans, primarily via prolonged direct contact, including skin-to-skin contact and contact with contaminated materials (e.g., bedding, clothing). Studies have identified genetic changes affecting virus surface proteins that interact with host cells, potentially improving the virus's ability to infect human cells and spread more efficiently.

Implications for Human Health:

Enhanced human-to-human transmissibility significantly raises public health concerns, as outbreaks can spread more quickly, potentially escalating into broader epidemics or pandemics. The recent international spread of monkeypox underscores the adaptive capacity of the virus and highlights the importance of surveillance, prompt containment measures, and targeted vaccination strategies.

Evolutionary Context:

The evolution of monkeypox toward improved human transmissibility exemplifies classic evolutionary principles:

• Mutation: Genetic variants arise randomly during viral replication.
• Natural Selection: Mutations beneficial to the virus (e.g., increased transmissibility) become dominant.
• Adaptation to Host Species: As viruses encounter new hosts (humans, in this case), selective pressure favours adaptations enhancing human infection and transmission.

In summary, the monkeypox virus exemplifies the evolutionary mechanisms of mutation and natural selection, demonstrating clearly how pathogens evolve enhanced capabilities for transmission, particularly when adapting to a new host species such as humans.

The Surrey University team have just published their findings in the journal Nature Medicine and explain it in a Surrey University news item:

Mpox could become a serious global threat, scientists warn

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Mpox has the potential to become a significant global health threat if taken too lightly, according to scientists at the University of Surrey.

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In a letter published in Nature Medicine, researchers highlight how mpox – traditionally spread from animals to humans – is now showing clear signs of sustained human-to-human transmission.

Mpox is a viral infection caused by a virus that belongs to the same family as smallpox. The virus can cause a painful rash, fever, and swollen glands and, in some cases, lead to more serious illness. Mpox usually spreads through close contact with an infected person or animal.

The most recent outbreaks show that intimate contact is now a significant way the virus spreads. That shift in how it’s transmitted is leading to longer transmission chains and lasting outbreaks.

Professor Dr Carlos Maluquer de Motes, lead author
Department of Microbial Sciences
University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.

The article notes that this change coincided with the rapid spread of clade IIb (a clade is a group of viruses that share a common ancestor) mpox viruses, but different clade I variants are now on the rise too. Researchers are also concerned because clade I viruses are thought to be more aggressive. These viruses appear to be accumulating specific genetic mutations – driven by enzymes in the human body – that may be changing viral properties, so the longer these viruses circulate amongst us, the higher the chances these mutations help mpox adapt to humans.

Although mpox was once mainly seen in Central Africa, the virus caused an outbreak worldwide in 2022 and is now causing outbreaks in multiple sub-Saharan countries. While it currently affects adults the most, the researchers stress that it has the potential to spread among other groups, including children, a group at greater risk of serious illness – although sustained transmission in children has not yet been reported.

Mpox control has to climb up the global health agenda. We have limited diagnostic tools and even fewer antiviral treatments. We urgently need better surveillance and local or regional capacity to produce what we need – otherwise, we are at risk of future epidemics.

Professor Dr Carlos Maluquer de Motes.

Abstract
The human interaction with mpox has changed across its entire endemic range, revealing the endemic and pandemic risk of monkeypox virus and the current knowledge gaps on its biology that hamper virus control.

Maluquer de Motes, Carlos; Ulaeto, David O.
Mpox poses an ever-increasing epidemic and pandemic risk
Nature Medicine (2025) DOI: 10.1038/s41591-025-03589-8

© 2025 Springer Nature Ltd.
Reprinted under the terms of s60 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

That must be one of the shortest abstracts ever!

But its brevity does nothing to reduce the significance of this research to intelligent design creationists, who will struggle to explain why their putative intelligent designer is actively redesigning the monkeypox virus to make it better at infecting humans.

Unintelligent Design - The Heath-Robinson Machine That Keeps Rogue DNA Under Control

How a critical enzyme keeps potentially dangerous genes in check – lji.org

The human body, like those of most multicellular organisms, exhibits numerous instances of suboptimal design. These imperfections arise from evolutionary processes that balance competing demands, often prioritizing immediate reproductive success over long-term well-being and efficiency. As a result, many biological structures and functions are prone to errors, which tend to accumulate and manifest more prominently with age.

These inherent imperfections have driven the evolution of additional layers of complexity aimed at mitigating potential failures. Such complexity would likely be unnecessary if these biological systems had been optimally designed from the outset. Therefore, the presence of intricate mechanisms to counteract inherent errors serves as compelling evidence for evolution and challenges the notion of intelligent design. Examples of these compensatory complexities are abundant across all multicellular organisms.

A pertinent example involves the regulation of transposable elements (TEs), often referred to as "jumping genes." These DNA sequences can move within the genome, potentially causing significant disruptions if not properly controlled. In healthy cells, TEs are kept in check within heterochromatin — a tightly packed form of DNA that serves as a "prison" for these elements. Recent research led by Professor Anjana Rao, Ph.D., at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, has shed light on this control mechanism. The study reveals that the enzyme O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) plays a crucial role in suppressing TE activity by restraining TET enzymes, thereby maintaining genomic stability.

This intricate system of checks and balances underscores the evolutionary arms race within our genomes, highlighting the complexity that arises from natural selection's ongoing efforts to mitigate the potential harms posed by transposable elements.

Refuting Creationism - Stone Tool Manufacture in China, 40-50,000 Before 'Creation Week'.

Quina technology was found in Europe decades ago but has never before been found in East Asia.

Ben Marwick

Discovery of Quina technology challenges view of ancient human development in East Asia | UW News

What may present a fascinating puzzle for science often deals a fatal blow to creationism — if only its adherents would acknowledge it. However, creationism remains a "brain-dead zombie", artificially kept alive by the manoeuvres of creationist leaders whose power and income rely upon it.

For instance, the recent discovery in China of stone tools exhibiting 'Quina technology', typically associated with Neanderthals, raises intriguing questions for archaeologists and anthropologists. Neanderthals were previously thought to have inhabited primarily western Eurasia, yet these Chinese artefacts, dated to between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago, suggest their influence or presence extended much farther east than previously known. These findings pose fascinating questions regarding ancient human migration and technological exchange.

However, these same discoveries directly contradict creationist beliefs that the Earth is merely 6,000 to 10,000 years old and that humans appeared through a special creation without ancestral links. While science thrives on unanswered questions and continuously adapts its theories based on new evidence, creationism relies rigidly on dogma. When its foundational claims are refuted, the entire belief system crumbles. Religion insists upon unreasonable certainty, whereas science flourishes through reasonable uncertainty.

The discovery of this evidence of Quina Technology was made at the Longtan archaeological site in southwest China by an international group of archaeologists, which included Professor Ben Marwick of Washington University, USA. It is first such discovery in Asia of a technology known to have existed in Middle Palaeolothic Europe and associated there with Neanderthals.

The question is, does this show that Neanderthals were more widespread than we thought, or has their technology been shared with other hominins such as the Denisovans? Or did the same technology arise independently in China?