FOLLOWING THE SCIENCE (rather technical) (last updated: 24th December 2023)
There are a growing number of scientists who advocate intelligent design as the only plausible
explanation for life in all its complexity, including
Stephen C. Meyer who received his Ph.D. in the
philosophy of science from the University of Cambridge. A former geophysicist
and college professor, he now directs Discovery Institute's Centre for Science
and Culture a non-profit think tank based in Seattle.
Stephen Meyer defending the scientific basis for Intelligent Design
One of the most compelling
arguments for intelligent design is that the self-replicating DNA at the heart of every living
cell has a rich and highly complex information content comprising over 20,000 - 25,000 genes that
are blueprints for describing how
between 80,000 and 400,000 life sustaining proteins are manufactured inside the cell. (the precise figure is unknown and is an on-going subject of debate). It is universally accepted that information is always the product of a mind. Recently discovered facts about living cells signals the death knell of Neo-Darwinian Evolution as an explanation for the origin of life because it cannot begin to explain how this complexity arose in the first instance. Irreducible complexity involves the idea that certain biological systems cannot have evolved by successive small modifications to pre-existing functional systems through natural selection, because no less complex system would have any functional capability, or nothing works until everything works. This complexity had to be present in the cell from day one.
Also in order to survive the adult human body with 30 trillion (30,000,000,000,000) cells requires the bodies self repair mechanism to replace between 50 and 70 billion (1 billion = 1,000,000,000) cells each day that are no longer functional (normal death of cells is called
apoptosis).
There are 3 billion DNA letters in pairs (base pairs) in the human genome (in each cell of the body), and scientists have endlessly debated how many of them serve a functional purpose.
In order to sustain a fully functioning, healthy, human being the scope for change to the letters of the base pair or to sequencing of the same is very limited, the typical difference between the genomes of two individuals was estimated at 20 million specific base pairs. (less than 1 percent difference in the genomes of 2 individuals)
The variations are attributable to the differences between individuals.
Such staggering complexity and amazing preservation efficiency did not arise by chance, by any stretch of the imagination, as evolutionists would have us believe.
You may be wondering why proteins are so important, and what their role within living organisms is. Well here are a few of the answers (See book, 'Not By Chance' by Dr Lee Spetner):
-> Determing the shape and structure of the organism. e.g. making the cell skeleton, giving mechanical strength to bone and skin.
-> Control vital cell functions. e.g. regulate the making of other proteins, controlling development of the embryo, etc.
-> Selective transportation of small molecules. e.g. the protein hemoglobin transports oxygen through the body. Other proteins move sugars across the cell membrane into the cell. They bring in nutrients and expel wastes and toxic materials.
-> Proteins are the motor molecules and are the source of motion in living organisms. Muscle proteins convert chemical energy into mechanical energy.
-> Some proteins carry messages from cell to cell and to their proper destination within the cell.
-> Some proteins help generate, transmit and receive electrical nerve impulses.
-> Some play a crucial role in the body's immune system. Antibodies are proteins that recognise foreign substances, combine with them, and mark them for destruction.
-> The proteins most widespread role is as a catalyst in bio-chemical reactions, and in this role it is called an enzyme. An enzyme often speeds up a chemical activity (typically by a factor of at least a million) inside the cell so much that it can make a reaction go that otherwise wouldn't. Enzymes control nearly all activity within the cell. The cell turns its enzymes ON and OFF as it needs them. If there is a need for a product, normally another protein, the enzyme is turned ON, otherwise it is turned OFF. The information in the genome tells the cell what kind of proteins to make at any time.
The list is endless, illustrating that each of the 30 trillion cells in our bodies are tiny factories that operate automatically to keep us alive. We are oblivious to the activities taking place in our cells, and have no means of influencing them, which is just as well. The only part we play is to enjoy feeding ourselves with nutrients at regular intervals. Such autonomous activity is nothing short of miraculous, we take it all for granted, rarely give it a moments thought and associating it with a designer God is rarely if ever contemplated.
The answer to, 'can we build any of the 80,000 plus proteins that living organisms need from raw materials (chemicals) in a laboratory', is NO!. To build proteins, cells use a complex assembly of molecules called a ribosome. The ribosome assembles amino acids into the proper order and links them together via peptide bonds. This process, known as translation, creates a long string of amino acids called a polypeptide chain. So, even with modern technology we cannot build any of these amazing molecules that sustain life, yet evolutionary biologists tell us that they can form all by themselves without input from an intelligent agent relying instead on the passage of time, and the outworking of random uncontrolled events that somehow managed to initiate themselves at some point in the far distant past. How preposterous is that, and the public are supposed to believe it!
The fact that many scientists today continue to suggest that life came into existence by accident and then evolved into, for example, people without any intelligent input beggars belief. They have one main purpose in mind and that is to cajole people into abandoning belief in a Creator. There are other benefits to be derived including being seen to fit in with the crowd which may in turn generate plaudits from colleagues, and promotions in the work place.
If you would like to delve more deeply into issues surrounding the origin of life Dr Lee Spetner's book comes highly recommended.
Irreducible complexity continued: there are examples of this found in every plant, animal, fungus, and bacterium.
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) as opposed to nuclear DNA is a good illustration of the irreducible complexity found within living cells:
Located in the cytoplasm (cell fluid outside the cell nucleus), mitochondria are the site of the cell's energy production and other metabolic functions.
Mitochondria are organelles (structures with their own membrane) found in large numbers in most cells.
Each human mitochondrion contains, on average, approximately 5 such mtDNA molecules:
The mitochondrial genome (copied from the mother) is built of 16,569 DNA base pairs, whereas the nuclear genome
(derived from both parents) is made of 3.3 billion DNA base pairs. The mitochondrial genome contains only 37 genes that encode
13 proteins, 22 tRNAs (a transfer RNA is a special kind of RNA molecule. Its job is to match an mRNA (messenger RNA) codon
(e.g. GCA) with the amino acid it codes for in this case Alanine), and 2 rRNAs (ribosomal RNA molecules are in cells that
form part of the protein synthesizing organelle known as a ribosome).
Within the wall of the mitochondrion there are hundreds of little motors that are so small that you could fit 200,000 of them in the space of a pin head.
These ATP synthase motors consist of well defined protein entities that catalyze the formation of the energy storage molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP) using adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and inorganic phosphate. It has a rotary engine that spins at 100 revs per second (ticking over) but can go faster.
They have a cyclical action: adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and a phosphate ion are bonded to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The ATP molecule is then released into the cell where it converts back to ADP releasing energy needed to carry out other functions within the cell such as protein manufacture. The depleted ADP is then recycled back into the motor with phosphate to yield more ATP.
The human body recycles its own body weight of ATP <-> ADP every day. Up to 1 ton is recycled when doing heavy work.
The motor is designed around 31 separate proteins each with typically 1000 amino acids in a precise order.
Anyone of them in the wrong order and the motor wouldn't work. This energy generating mechanism found in the mitochondrion of
every cell in every living organism however small and insignificent had to be there from the very beginning.
Because mtDNA only comes from the mother, it does not change very much, if at all, from generation to generation.
MUTATIONS do occur, but not very often, less frequently than once per 100 people.
Study of mtDNA enables estimates to be made of the time that
has elapsed since the first female (Eve) lived and 6000 years is one such estimate, although others suggest a longer time period.
The hugely complex commonality of design illustrated above and found in all living organisms is more strong evidence that a
single brilliant mind (God) lies behind the development of life in all its glory.
ATP synthase: majestic molecular machine made by a mastermind
If you want to know what scientists can and cannot do in the disciplines connected with the origin of life this is an eye opener extraordinary:
James M. Tour is an American synthetic organic chemist and nanotechnologist. He is a Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, and Professor of Computer Science at Rice University in Houston, Texas. His talk stresses the immence complexity found in living cells and that research is discovering ever greater complexity on an almost daily basis. He argues that mankind will never, ever get close to being able to assemble even the simplest life form, such as a bacterium, from its constituent parts (biochemicals). It follows that the suggestion living organisms somehow assembled themselves over long ages, as evolutionists would have us believe, is preposterous in the extreme
Scientific research in molecular biology has revealed that there are design features within the cells of all living creatures that are irreducibly complex, so irreducible complexity is not a rarity, it is the norm, even within organisms as simple as bacteria:
Crawling Neutrophil (variety of white blood cell) Chasing and destroying a Bacterium. The other cells are red blood corpuscles slightly smaller than the neutrophils. Thank God for this amazing layer of protection
Each of the human body's 14 trillion cells performs this reaction about a million times per minute. Over half a body weight of ATP is made and consumed every day
You will by now have gathered, based on our arguments above and statements on other pages, that we have come to fully accept the position set by the ID movement that there is intelligent design in nature, and the good news is that it reinforces the traditional understanding that life came about as an act of creation by an Almighty God.
The ID community of scientists do not generally dispute this obvious conclusion but rightly insist that their discoveries are not informed, or influenced in any way, by the Genesis account in the Bible.
This illustration conveys how information reliably points to design far more easily than deconstructing all of the junk science floating around the Internet claiming that natural processes can generate large quantities of information for free
All can replicate themselves with seeming ease, an act far beyond even the most complex human artifact. Some can even reconstruct themselves completely from tiny fractions cut surgically from the cell!
