Yes, but speculation about the most obvious questions from someone who hasn't done any work to investigate whether it's already been addressed doesn't progress science either.
Here's the 2nd paragraph from the linked article (which is already a source someone created to help non-experts understand the main ideas):
> It isn’t surprising, then, that herrings and smelts, two groups of fish that commonly roam the northernmost reaches of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, both make AFPs. But it is very surprising, even weird, that both fish do so with the same AFP gene — particularly since their ancestors diverged more than 250 million years ago and the gene is absent from all the other fish species related to them.
edit: I am more sympathetic to this behavior when the topic is more politically contentious, since it may be unreasonably difficult for a layman to know the biases of the authors and the source may indeed be trying to slide something under the rug. But here we're talking about fish genetics. There's no culture war or red vs. blue divide here (I hope!)
I didn't say it harms scientists. I said this example doesn't progress science. Curious laypersons are well and good. I would recommend they start by reading the linked Quanta article :)
Not my field but another seemingly plausible explanation, at least to me, exists. The common ancestor did have this gene and most other descendants lost the gene because it wasn’t needed and was selected against.
Here's the 2nd paragraph from the linked article (which is already a source someone created to help non-experts understand the main ideas):
> It isn’t surprising, then, that herrings and smelts, two groups of fish that commonly roam the northernmost reaches of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, both make AFPs. But it is very surprising, even weird, that both fish do so with the same AFP gene — particularly since their ancestors diverged more than 250 million years ago and the gene is absent from all the other fish species related to them.
edit: I am more sympathetic to this behavior when the topic is more politically contentious, since it may be unreasonably difficult for a layman to know the biases of the authors and the source may indeed be trying to slide something under the rug. But here we're talking about fish genetics. There's no culture war or red vs. blue divide here (I hope!)