I AM FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE
Lesson 2

THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES – PRODUCT OF CHANCE OR DESIGN?

One of the most important areas to establish in any discussion, either scientific or spiritual, is that of definitions. What do the words mean? Words are used to transfer ideas, but it is very important for all parties to understand exactly what is meant when words are used to build a case. All too often, different parties use the same words, but have different dictionaries.

Below are some of the definitions that are important to understand before beginning a conversation or debate on the topic of evolution.

WHAT IS A SPECIES ?

From the American Heritage Dictionary

Logic. A class of individuals or objects grouped by virtue of their common attributes and assigned a common name; a division subordinate to a genus.

Biology.

a.   A fundamental category of taxonomic classification, ranking below a genus or subgenus and consisting of related organisms capable of interbreeding.

b.   An organism belonging to such a category, represented in binomial nomenclature by an uncapitalized Latin adjective or noun following a capitalized genus name, as in Ananas comosus, the pineapple, and Equus caballus, the horse.

To boil it down for the subject of evolution, a species is a group of animals, typically with like appearance, that interbreed successfully.

WHAT IS EVOLUTION ?

From the American Heritage Dictionary: A gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form.

The definition specific to biology is:

a.   Change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations, as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals, and resulting in the development of new species.

b.   The historical development of a related group of organisms; phylogeny.

 (Question, which theory is being tossed about now ?)

WHAT IS DARWINISM?

Principles of Darwinism (and in altered form, all theories of evolution)

1)  Inheritable traits are mutable. Change occurs by natural forces.

2)  Mutability results in an ever increasing pool of traits.

3)  Some new traits are beneficial and increase fitness. Increased fitness = more survivability.

4)  Nature “selects” organisms who are best adapted for their environment.

5)  Over long periods of time, entirely new species arise.

It is important to note that many believers in evolution, do not actually know the principles behind the theory (or theories) of evolution. It has become a case of blindly following the popular idea that more complex living organisms come from less complex organisms.

Question... HOW does this process take place – how do species change through evolution?

The first issue in discussing the process of evolution (as defined by the scientific community) is that evolution is not an ACTIVE PROCESS. This means no intelligence or ability is required for a species to change. Evolutionary processes do not have any mental capability and do not know what benefit any change will have. Evolutionary processes have no knowledge of the ultimate outcome of the cumulative changes. Simply put, the most fit will survive, the most fit being those organisms who compete successfully for resources until the age of reproduction.

More Questions… First, where in an organism is the information stored that causes a species to have its own unique form and function? Secondly, how does that information get changed to create new, more fit features that will then be passed on to the new and improved creature?

Evolutionists must have answers to these questions if they are to explain how the creation came to be through chance processes.

THE INFORMATION MOLECULE

During Darwin’s time, no knowledge was available on how a living organism stored the information for its development. There was also no understanding of how this information was passed on from generation to generation. How did the bodies of organisms know how to develop, operate, and grow? This question was answered in 1953 when James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the DNA molecule.

Watson and Crick discovered a molecule formed by two long strands of nucleotides (the chemical “letters” of the genetic code), which are twisted in the form of a double helix (imagine a ladder that has been twisted). We now know that the arrangement and sequence of the chemical “letters” forming the “rungs” of the ladder, determines the structure and function of every organ and tissue in all living systems on earth.

DNA Structure and Function

From the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, www.fhcrc.org

·DNA contains the genetic information that helps determine what the RNA and proteins necessary for cell function will be.
·All DNA in the chromosomes has to be copied (replicated) and transmitted to daughter cells via mitosis (mitosis is cell splitting).
·Non-faithful replication or inability to correct errors and damage to DNA results in mutations. (Please keep this in mind for future reference.)
·Four nucleotides (A,T,C,G) make up the “rungs” of the ladder. The “rails” of the ladder are made of sugar and phosphate molecules which hold the rungs. DNA strands are typically very long molecules.
·The rungs are formed only by complimentary “Nucleotide Pairs” forming across the double helix (twisted ladder): A only pairs with T and C only pairs with G. These pairs are also known as “Base Pairs.

·RNA is used to transfer data and, in general, is composed of short strands of only one side of the ladder

Structure of DNA
Why is DNA so important in examining the theory of evolution? When discussing many of the most fundamental concepts (and therefore some of the most fundamental problems) in the theory of evolution, it is vitally important to gain at least a general understanding of how information is stored, reproduced, and used by the DNA molecule. In addition, when one looks at life itself, an understanding of the mathematical probabilities in the formation of DNA by chance is essential.

· The rungs are formed only by complimentary "Nucleotide Pairs" forming across the double helix (twisted ladder): A only pairs with T and C only pairs with G. These pairs are also known as "Base Pairs".

· RNA is used to transfer data and, in general, is composed of short strands of only one side of the ladder

Since 1953, molecular biologists have concluded that the growth and metabolism of all life on earth is carefully controlled by DNA, that DNA contains the language necessary for life to function. This is also known as "the Genetic Code". (Further on, we will discuss the inherent implications of "codes" and "language" in DNA).

DNA....

1) Stores vast amounts of information necessary for the production of living structures.
2) Contains many multiple "instruction sets" for the formation of proteins and RNA. RNA is used by cells to carry information for the production of chemicals, structures, new DNA strands during cell division, etc.
3) The information is stored digitally and is describable with mathematics.
4) The code in DNA is error correcting. There are proteins that check for errors after a DNA molecule reproduces.
5) The information is also redundant (repeats itself) and overlapping (a section of DNA can carry more than one instruction set). There are multiple segments that back each other up

..IS AN EXTREMELY COMPLEX INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM

To use a computer as an analogy, DNA is not only hardware, but has software pre-loaded that is specific to all living organisms and systems. In fact, DNA is the most complex computer code in existence. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft is quoted as saying, "Human DNA is like a computer program but far, far more advanced than any software ever created".

SO WHAT DID DNA MEAN TO THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION?

Now that DNA was on the scene, any theory which attempted to explain the origin of life, without the benefit of a Creator, had to incorporate DNA. Thus came about the Neo-Darwinian Synthesis. Scientists postulated that mutations sometimes occurred- the incorrect placement of a nucleotide (note that the word error was not used) - and that mutations are the only source of change and variation. The following general principles replaced the principles of Darwin.The Neo-Darwinian Synthesis:

6) Random changes (mutation or incorrect placement of a nucleotide) are sometimes beneficial.
7) Beneficial changes increase fitness, bad mutations are eliminated,
8) Increased fitness = better able to compete for resources thus increasing the likelihood of survival and reproduction and passing on of beneficial mutations,
9) Over long periods of time, accumulation of "beneficial mutations" will result in entirely new species which are genetically distinct.

Sounds Reasonable, Doesn't it ?

Evolutionists believe that: Simple single cell organism + long time + beneficial mutations = highly complex organisms

LETS TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE PROCESS.

Mutation is the driving mechanism behind evolutionary change. The theory says that as beneficial mutations increase in a population, new species arise that are distinctly different than the parent population. So what about beneficial mutations? We know that mutations are possible – plants have been mutated to create changes in flower color. However, to generate an entirely new organism or a system, such as the visual system, by random mutation is impossible. When we study INFORMATION THEORY and MOLECULAR BIOLOGY further in this course you will understand why.

According to Darwin's theory all life forms on earth began as a single cell organism. This single celled organism evolved to all of the life forms past and present, including man.

Look at this from an information point of view, to change a single celled organism to a human being, requires the production of enormous amounts of new information. It would require billions of bits of new beneficial information. To use a numerical example, a human strand of DNA contains approximately 6 billion nucleotide pairs and (using an amoeba as an example) a single cell organism's DNA strand contains approximately 2 million nucleotide pairs:

This is like comparing the instruction manual needed for the construction of a paper airplane versus the instruction manual needed for the construction of the space shuttle!

According to Neo-Darwinian principles, the information contained in that first single celled creature was MUTATED over the course of time to produce the vastly greater amount of information required to form man. Allegedly, the processes of MUTATION of information caused this to happen.

Question... Are mutations capable of causing this to happen???? Lets look at some quotes from famous scientists about mutations...

Earnst Mayer in Evolutionary Challenges to the Mathematical Interpretation of Evolution, 1967, writes "Ultimately, all variation is, of course, due to mutation".

Theodosius Bavzinsky, writing on the methods of evolutionary biology in The American Scientist, 1957, states, "The process of mutation is the only known source of the raw materials of genetic variability, and therefore evolution. The mutants which arise are, with rare exception, deleterious (harmful) to their carriers, at least in the environment in which they live in".

It should be noted that Mr. Bavzinsky recognizes the fact that mutations are almost always harmful or deadly to the host organism. In addition, it turns out that science has condemned mutation itself: it has been calculated/observed that out of 10,000 mutations; 9,999 are either harmful, lethal, or at best neutral. THIS MEANS ONLY ONE OUT OF EVERY 10,000 MUTATIONS MIGHT BE BENEFICIAL, ACCORDING TO SCIENCE! In fact there are lethal diseases that are the result of a single mutation - sickle cell anemia is a good example.

Here is the kicker! If out of every 10,000 mutations only one is of any benefit, over time, many thousands of harmful or lethal mutations will accumulate for every one beneficial mutation. Remember that all of these mutations, bad and good, will be recorded in the DNA and be passed on to the next generation! The end result of this, according to many theorists, that the population of an organism will go extinct long before the production of any new structures or functions in an organism!

Consider a computer programmer writing code for a new program. If any errors occur in the program code they are called "bugs", and bugs are a bad thing for the function of a program. A mutation in a DNA molecule is the informational equivalent of a bug in a program code.

A biologist named C. P. Martin wrote in A Non-Geneticist Looks at Evolution, The American Scientist, Jan, 1953, pg 102, "Mutations are more than just sudden changes in heredity, they also affect the viability of a population, and to our best knowledge, they invariably affect it adversely."

To re-state the words of C.P. Martin, MUTATIONS ARE HARMFUL TO DNA, and will ultimately destroy the population to which they are applied!

Remember the comments above from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in its description of the function of DNA: Non-faithful replication or inability to correct errors and damage to DNA results in mutations. The word "damage" is not typically a positive one, neither are the terms "non-faithful replication" or "inability to correct errors".

In short, the very mechanism evolutionists claim has brought about the living creatures we see today, would also have caused all living creatures to die out, ages ago.

THE 2ND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS

Evolutionists face another hurdle when faced with the 2nd law of thermodynamics. Please note that the 2nd law is not a theory, it has been well proven in the lab.

The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics states:

"With the advance of time, the amount of order in a closed system always decreases."

From an informational point of view, the 2nd Law indicates that the amount of information in a system always decreases as time advances! With the advance of time, the 2nd Law requires information to break down, not increase. This presents a tremendous problem if you are going to claim that a code will improve with random mutation, especially when the vast majority of those mutations are harmful or fatal to the code (to say nothing of the organisms affected)!

Imagine working with a computer program that creates within itself a new "bug" every 5 minutes (for those of you using Windows ME, this should be easy). If only one out of every 10,000 of these bugs is of any benefit, how long will this program last on your computer before you remove it (it goes extinct).

There are many more analogies like the one just mentioned. If you can get a person to realize just this one problem with the Theory of Evolution, the seed of investigation may have been planted.

Next.....

2 THE ORIGIN OF COMPLEX STRUCTURES
(Or why the human eye gives evolutionists the willies)