{"id":43602,"date":"2026-02-27T15:04:44","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T23:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idthefuture.com\/?p=43602"},"modified":"2026-02-27T15:04:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T23:04:49","slug":"2180","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idthefuture.com\/2180\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonathan Bartlett on the Growing Evidence of Designed Mutations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On a classic episode of <strong>ID the Future<\/strong> out of the vault, host and evolutionary biologist Jonathan McLatchie sits down with software R&amp;D engineer Jonathan Bartlett to discuss Bartlett\u2019s work on the question of when genetic mutations are random versus directed. Bartlett explains that the issue isn\u2019t an all-or-nothing affair. Often a given biological system dramatically limits the search space of possible mutations in useful ways, and then within that much more limited set of possible mutations, random processes are at play. He gives the example of antibody mutations. He argues that many biological systems show considerable evidence of having been beneficially designed for directed mutations. Why, then, are many mutations deleterious? He also has an answer for that. Tune in to learn more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dig Deeper<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Bartlett\u2019s two peer-reviewed papers mentioned in this podcast are <a href=\"https:\/\/bio-complexity.org\/ojs\/index.php\/main\/article\/view\/BIO-C.2017.2\/BIO-C.2017.2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/bio-complexity.org\/ojs\/index.php\/main\/article\/view\/BIO-C.2020.2\/BIO-C.2020.2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If you want to further benefit from Bartlett\u2019s knack for making complex ideas accessible, check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@blythinstitute\/videos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">his videos<\/a> at the Blyth Institute.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a classic episode of ID the Future out of the vault, host and evolutionary biologist Jonathan McLatchie sits down with software R&amp;D engineer Jonathan Bartlett to discuss Bartlett\u2019s work on the question of when genetic mutations are random versus directed. Bartlett explains that the issue isn\u2019t an all-or-nothing affair. Often a given biological system dramatically limits the search space of possible mutations in useful ways, and then within that much more limited set of possible mutations, random processes are at play. He gives the example of antibody mutations. He argues that many biological systems show considerable evidence of having been beneficially designed for directed mutations. Why, then, are many mutations deleterious? He also has an answer for that. Tune<a class=\"ellipsis article-more\" href=\"https:\/\/idthefuture.com\/2180\/\"><span> Read More &rsaquo;<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":43605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"[]","sync_status":"synced","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"https:\/\/episodes.castos.com\/id\/2376676\/c1e-k415udx244ikmwkk-rk2j6xxpi4q9-0hpptp.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"2217826","podmotor_episode_id":"2376676","castos_file_data":"{\"path\":\"https:\\\/\\\/episodes.castos.com\\\/id\\\/2376676\\\/c1e-k415udx244ikmwkk-rk2j6xxpi4q9-0hpptp.mp3\",\"name\":\"IDTF 2180 Jonathan Bartlett on the Nature of Genetic Mutations.mp3\"}","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:25:15","filesize":"14.9 mb","filesize_raw":"15661088","date_recorded":"2026-02-27 15:04:44","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"2180","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"full","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2368,3044,410,8008,8006,562,680,811,8007,964,1058,7748,1068,1083,3244],"series":[7227],"speaker":[],"class_list":["post-43602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-__repeat","tag-antibodies","tag-darwinism","tag-designed-mutations","tag-directed-mutation","tag-evolution","tag-genetics","tag-intelligent-design","tag-jonathan-bartlett","tag-materialism","tag-mutation","tag-mutation-selection-mechanism","tag-natural-selection","tag-neo-darwinism","tag-random-mutation","series-intelligent-design-the-future"],"acf":[],"author_names":["Jonathan Bartlett"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/idthefuture.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/02\/biological-dna-structure-with-gene-mutation-concept-3d-rende-1293413997-stockpack-adobestock.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/idthefuture.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/08\/idthefuture-cover.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/op3.dev\/e\/idthefuture.com\/podcast-download\/43602\/2180.mp3","player_link":"https:\/\/op3.dev\/e\/idthefuture.com\/podcast-player\/43602\/2180.mp3","audio_player":"<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-43602-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/op3.dev\/e\/idthefuture.com\/podcast-player\/43602\/2180.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/op3.dev\/e\/idthefuture.com\/podcast-player\/43602\/2180.mp3\">https:\/\/op3.dev\/e\/idthefuture.com\/podcast-player\/43602\/2180.mp3<\/a><\/audio>","episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":[],"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/idthefuture.com\/feed\/podcast\/intelligent-design-the-future","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"3Icqf9KqFZ\"><a href=\"https:\/\/idthefuture.com\/2180\/\">Jonathan Bartlett on the Growing Evidence of Designed Mutations<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/idthefuture.com\/2180\/embed\/#?secret=3Icqf9KqFZ\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Jonathan Bartlett on the Growing Evidence of Designed Mutations&#8221; &#8212; ID the Future\" data-secret=\"3Icqf9KqFZ\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! 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