Some scientists cast doubt on Darwin

The statement reads: "We are skeptical of claims for the ability of random mutation and natural selection to account for the complexity of life. Careful examination of the evidence for Darwinian theory should be encouraged."

The list of 514 signatories includes 154 biologists, 76 chemists and 63 physicists.

The list was published by the Discovery Institute, a conservative think tank that, among other things, promotes intelligent design and represents evolution as a "theory in crisis."

Intelligent design posits life is too complex to have been created by evolution and an intelligent designer must have been responsible. Most of its proponents are affiliated with the Discovery Institute.

David Berlinski, a signer of the statement and a mathematician and philosopher with the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture, said: "Darwin's theory of evolution is the great white elephant of contemporary thought. It is large, almost completely useless and the object of superstitious awe."

Copyright 2006 by United Press International