"Origin of Life" Article Items

Much of the non-protein-coding portions of DNA consists of repetitive DNA sequences.  This seemingly wasteful repetition of DNA sequences has been taken as support for evolution.  Certainly, a wise and intelligent designer would not have included nonsensical repetitive sequences of nucleic acids in the DNA molecule. This support for evolution was proposed by Kenneth Miller when he noted that, the human genome is littered with so many repeated copies of pointless DNA sequences that it cannot be attributed to anything that resembles [an] intelligent design. Francis Collins, an evangelical Christian and believer in theistic evolution, acknowledge this DNA feature in… Read More »

Pseudogenes have been a hot topic for discussion since their original discovery about fifty years ago.  They were originally found in frog DNA and were found to be apparently inactive copies of genes found elsewhere. They were called “pseudogenes” as they were thought to not make active proteins but represented mutated trash.  Thousands of other pseudogenes were subsequently found in humans and many other animals and plants.  Many mammals have now been found to have as many pseudogenes as actual protein-coding genes. Importance in Evolution Evolutionists jumped on the pseudogenes as showing changes consistent with natural evolution, and inconsistent with… Read More »

Cellular Factories The cell can be likened to a factory where components required for cellular functions are continually made on-demand, and waste products are simultaneously packaged for disposal.  It is a very tightly controlled factory with very little wasted activity. Enzymes control much of this functionality, with multiple feedback loops controlling whether a particular cellular product is needed. It is very complicated.  It is rather like a fractal painting – the closer you look, the more detail you see – the most complicated everything becomes. This complexity is often not appreciated by the general public – and even by some… Read More »