Stephen Grocott, PhD, chemistry
Paul Davies, theoretical physicist and cosmologist
Jeremy R. Bergman, PhD, human biology
George Javor, PhD, biochemistry
Stephen Grocott, PhD, chemistry
John K. G. Kramer, PhD, biochemistry
Arial Roth, PhD, biology
If one believes in evolution, then one has to also account for the origin of life – the very first step. Without this, the whole subject of evolution hangs on nothing.
Paul Davies, theoretical physicist and cosmologist
When I set out to write this book [The Fifth Miracle], I was convinced that science was close to wrapping up the mystery of life’s origin…. Having spent a year or two researching the field, I am now of the opinion that there remains a huge gulf in our understanding… This gulf in understanding is not merely ignorance about certain technical details; it is a major conceptual lacuna. Many investigators feel uneasy about stating in public that the origin of life is a mystery, even though behind closed doors they freely admit that they are baffled. There are two reasons for their unease. First, they feel it opens the door to religious fundamentalists…. Second, they worry that a frank admission of ignorance will undermine funding.
Jeremy R. Bergman, PhD, human biology
Oversimplified, life depends on a complex arrangement of three classes of molecules: DNA, which stores the cell’s master plans; RNA, which transports a copy of the needed information contained in the DNA to the protein assembly station; and proteins, which make up everything from the ribosomes to the enzymes. Furthermore, chaperones and many other assembly tools are needed to ensure that protein is properly assembled. All of these parts are necessary and must exist as a properly assembled and integrated unit. DNA is useless without RNA and proteins, although some types of bacteria can combine the functions of the basic required parts.
George Javor, PhD, biochemistry
But we now know that even the simplest of living cells, bacteria (that are not parasitic), must contain thousands of complex structural and catalytic proteins, a variety of nucleic acids, hundreds of small biomolecules, all in a dynamic non-equilibrium steady state. Within live cells, we see numerous series of interconnected chemical conversions (“pathways”) that are functioning uninterrupted. Their continuous activities are due to steady supplies of starting material and the ongoing utilization of end products. The recycling of waste to biosynthetic precursors completes the cycling of matter through living systems. The absence of any component of these complex series of chemical changes will cause defective operation or even death to the cell.
Stephen Grocott, PhD, chemistry
The complexity of the simplest imaginable living organism is mind-boggling. You need to have the cell wall, the energy system, a system of self-repair, a reproduction system, and means for interpreting the complex genetic code and replicating it, etc., etc. The combined telecommunication systems of the world are far less complex, and yet no one believes they arose by chance.
John K. G. Kramer, PhD, biochemistry
No one has ever demonstrated macroevolutionary changes on a molecular level, yet many people readily speculate evolutionary links between bacteria, plants, animals, and man. Are the gross structures not made up of individual cells with complex molecules? If macroevolution is unlikely on the molecular level, how can the whole be changed? Endless DNA sequence comparisons do not explain evolutionary development. Furthermore, the changes (mutations) observed on a molecular level, such as DNA, are predominantly disruptive, and always with loss of, not gain in, information and complexity.
Arial Roth, PhD, biology
The presence of complexity – interdependent parts that do not function unless other parts are also present – poses another major problem for evolution. For instance, a muscle is useless without a nerve going to the muscle to direct its contracting activity. But both the muscle and the nerve are useless without a complicated control mechanism in the brain to direct the contracting activity of the muscle and correlate its activity with that of other muscles. Without these three essential components, we have only useless parts…. Interdependent parts, which represent most of the components of living organisms, would not be expected from random, undirected changes (mutations) as is proposed for evolutionary advancement… In nature, it appears that we are dealing largely If not exclusively, with purposeful parts…. The simple example of a muscle, mentioned above, pales into insignificance when we consider more complicated organs such as the eye or the brain.
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