Did scientists CREATE LIFE in a test tube? Scientists claim to be standing on the threshold of playing GOD claiming CREATIVE powers! Many say, "It's only a matter of time!" Read, in this informative article, just what scientists have REALLY created by THEIR own admission.
EVOLUTIONISTS no longer speak of the "theory" of evolution. Many now insist it to be FACT. That, in the light of the many articles in these pages of The PLAIN TRUTH showing the huge, gaping flaws in the evolutionary theory, seems shocking. But there is the element of faith, of an almost fanatical insistence on the virtues of their theories, though PROVED incorrect. It is inescapably evident in the writings of many evolutionists. As our past articles have proved, many evolutionists accept, with NO PROOF, creation without a Creator. They accept it as an "article of faith," according to one world-famous Nobel-prize-winning scientist. And what a faith it is! Dogma, absolutism, a near-fanatical clinging to shattered theories in spite of evidence to the contrary. And perhaps most significant of all, a religious-like reliance on prophecies for the future.
Science Promises...
Scientists have made dumbfounding claims for the future. "Creating" life is the heart and core of their promises. It includes promises of creating special viruses to attack and consume cancers. Control of sex and number of children. Even control of height, weight, color and texture of hair and eyes, and you guessed it ultimate creation of human beings and IMMORTALITY! Strangely, thousands upon thousands fully believe this new religion; possessing equal faith with its leaders that their messianic promises will come true. But there is another analogy evident in the new dogmatism of evolution. It comes complete with the same cloudy terms, vague words and IGNORANCE in its followers. How much does the average layman KNOW about evolutionary claims? How much about the physical sciences? The life sciences? Does the average housewife reading the latest sensational article in the newspaper by the trusted "science writer" (all newspapers seem to have one; he often needs no special credentials, but usually has been a specialist in this or that science) about genes, viruses, and the "test tube life" scientists speculate on even recognize the language used? Usually not. Like laymen from time immemorial who either listened to their religious service in a completely foreign tongue, or else listened to words they didn't understand in their own tongue, so modern laymen are usually very much in the dark about evolutionary pronouncements. But they have faith in scientists. And many scientists have faith in evolution. And like some theologians who say you CANNOT PROVE there is a God, so evolutionists insist you must accept ON FAITH that life spontaneously appeared on earth without a Life-giver; that order and design are here, automatically, without a Designer; that laws rigid, powerful, forceful laws are possible without a Lawgiver; that the whole thing continues to operate without a Sustainer, and that a creation just HAPPENED to OCCUR, without a great Creator! You have to admire faith like that. Like admiration and dutiful respect for the quaint religious rites, including strange, hidden incantations, gibberish and mutterings, among Amazonian Indians; like accepting the beliefs of the religion of Tibetan mountain people. You can at least be tolerant of it, vaguely amused by it, even made curious but would you ACCEPT it without PROOF? Now let's ask some questions evolution can't answer.
The Gap between Life and the Nonliving
But how did LIFE begin? What is the difference between life and death? What is life, and what is NOT living? Even THIS clear-cut understanding is being made increasingly foggier by some recent evolutionary claims. From the time you attended your first funeral, or saw death at dose hand, you were horribly convinced of the vast, inseparable differences between life and death. By looking at an inanimate rock and a beautiful flower, you could appreciate the vast difference between inanimate matter, and a living, metabolic organism. But even this obvious difference is becoming confused in the minds of some. Let's take a look at some of the most sensational claims of evolution in all history. Three biologists recently collaborated in making a copy of what is considered the "most basic part" (remember that!) of life found in living things. That "most basic part" they call DNA short for Deoxyribonucleic acid. The "discovery" rocked the scientific world. The feat was hailed as one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of science. The electrifying announcement came after eleven years of research by Arthur Kornberg, head of Stanford's department of Biochemistry, and Dr. Mehran Goulian, of the University of Chicago. They had worked in close collaboration with Dr. Robert L. Sinsheimer of California Institute of Technology, and others. Former President Johnson hailed the breakthrough as the "most important news story you ever read, or your daddy read or your granddaddy ever read..." He said the scientists had "unlocked a fundamental secret of life." Dr. James A. Shannon, director of the National Institute of Health, declared that this new achievement "unquestionably will stand as one of the great landmarks of research in the life sciences." The headlines, as always, get a little enthusiastic, as you will see.
The Modern Prognosticators
"Man the Creator]H chortled one title. "Life in a Tube," wistfully stated another. And, perhaps more conservatively, another asked, "Has Life been Created in a Test Tube?" The modern seers, astrologers, Chaldeans and prognosticators had a field day. Immediately came predictions that scientists would create exact duplicate Einsteins, Mozarts, Churchills, and other greats fortunately no one promised another Hitler. Secret cancer and virus cures remedies for inherited diseases were breathlessly said to be "just around the corner." The headlines grew more raucous by the day. Some appeared with such awe-inspiring titles as "Genetic Control Foretold," and, with a science-fiction twist, "Clones are Coming They're People Evolved Vegetatively." Some people, no doubt, are under the impression science has ALREADY created "life" in a test tube. Not even close. But then, there is nothing "close" to life. It's either life or NOT life and, to repeat a phrase used on The WORLD TOMORROW program frequently, if a doctor solemnly announces to expectant relatives that he "almost" saved their loved one it's not exactly greeted with the enthusiasm of scientific pronouncements about DNA. But laymen remain confident in the new religion. Many fully expect science WILL create LIFE and that it is, truly, "just around the corner." Hitler screamed, "Germany today tomorrow the WORLD." But listen to the claims made in stories following the wake of the DNA experiments. Under a title "Man the Creator" you could read these words: "To learn to control life, we must create it," said the Russian scientist Alexandr Oparin. "We are progressing so quickly toward this goal these days it is hard for science prophets to keep up their status as visionaries." Interesting language, isn't it? Visionaries, prophets promises of wonderful creations. "Today we're working with viruses. Tomorrow... we'll be building complete living systems," said Professor Sol Spiegelman of the University of Illinois. He claimed he wouldn't be surprised if the synthesis of a whole CELL happened within ten years. At least one scientist, Prof. Charles Price of the University of Pennsylvania, called for making the synthetic creation of life a NATIONAL GOAL; like the man on the moon project. He added: "Should these men re-enact the origin of life, they will make man a creator in truth." Yes you read it right. Scientists want to become GOD. After all, a NAME of God in the Bible is the CREATOR. So science now wants to become God to CREATE to DECIDE about life. Amazing goals, indeed.
But What Did They REALLY "Create?"
But what REALLY happened in that test tube? Did scientists CREATE LIFE? Did they achieve a breakthrough so important it's the greatest news since the Civil War' Are they on the brink of becoming GODS? Dr. Kornberg, one of the original men involved in the DNA experiment, was questioned at a news conference. He said, "Within ten years, it will be possible to modify genes to produce specific biologic changes in animals and human beings." He also claimed, "The discovery might also enable scientists to create artificial viruses which would attack and kill cancers." One of the reporters asked the inevitable question whether he had, indeed, "created life." Dr. Kornberg answered, "There is no one accepted definition of the word, (life.' "But, he added, H... with reservations I've mentioned it would be fair to say viral DNA is a simple or primitive form of life." Also questioned was Dr. Goulian. He replied, "Different people mean different things by life... if you grant a virus is alive or that naked DNA is alive, then this was a creation of life" (Newsweek, p. 50, 12/25/67). But, SHOULD it be granted that a virus is alive, and that naked DNA is alive, does it really make any difference?
An Intellectual Conspiracy?
Today, there seems to be a subtle conspiracy about to convince people of the ((simplicity" of life to DESTROY the truth that Hlife is too complex to have evolved anywhere" (a statement, by the way, made by a leading scientist). By casting away the importance of the unity of the cell that tiny "unit" of all life forms, scientists have succeeded in convincing many doubting laymen. For an insight into how the cell is minimized, listen to what the Russian scientist, Oparin, had to say; "As long as the cell is considered as the unit of life, the origin of life must remain a paradox. But like the erstwhile atom in chemistry, the cell has lost its prestige as the ultimate unit in biology... the concept of a cell as the unit of life has been thrown out of the window together with the atom" (The Origin of Life, Preface, p. XVI, A. I. Oparin). But why discard it? So that modern science could wipe out the border line between life and nonlife. In order to take away any meaning from the question "What is life?" True, the cell is made up of vast numbers of sub-cellular particles. And just how complex THEY are, we'll soon see. But all these particles by themselves do NOT spell life. Some scientists realize this problem. As a result, a controversy rages on the question of what is life even among scientists who accept evolution. For example, notice what one scientist, Hans Gaffron, admitted at a panel on the origin of life. "Matter can practically always be defined in terms of physics, chemistry and biochemistry. This certainly is not enough to define life. "We might ask: If we ingest food, at what moment does the food become living: Of course it never does. One could follow a particle of assimilated food, no matter how complex, and wherever one finds it in the living organism, it is dead. It is the PROCESS in which it takes part that defines it, and NOT THE MATTER of which it is composed... so the essence of life is found in the PROCESS OF LIVING and not in any constituents of living cells" (Issues in Evolution, Vol. III, Sol Tax, editor, p. 72).
The Importance of the Cell
This scientist had grasped the central and most important point in all the talk about experiments to "create" life. It is the SPECIAL ORGANIZATION; the incredible organization; the mind-defying organization of the cell that spells the fundamental unit of life. To explain how life originated, you must explain how AN ENTIRE CELL with its mind-defying reactions and inter-reactions SUDDENLY came to be. As another biologist admits: "The cell can be defined as the SMALLEST organized unit of any living form which is capable of prolonged independent existence and replacement of its own substance in a suitable environment" (Cell Biology, John Paul, p. 8). A living system a one-celled animal being the simplest is an EXTREMELY COMPLEX organization of nonliving materials. Life is a dynamic process of unimagined complexity. Of course, all materials, living and nonliving are formed of certain basic units called atoms and these are formed of yet smaller units. Atoms are then combined into molecules. Living systems are mixtures of very large and complex molecules that function with other molecules in a coordinated manner. These very large and most intricate molecules are proteins still NOT LIVING by themselves. But then vast multitudes of protein molecules and other elements are organized into living material called cells. The life is in the PROCESS; not the material.
Organizing for Life
Suddenly, these nonliving particles and we'll soon see their complexity are caught up in a PROCESS we call life. But life is a process which organizes material and gives it self-contained motivation. Of course, this physical life in the cell is not guided by some "ιlan vital" or metaphysical "vital force" as some scientists who rejected God, but saw that natural selection couldn't account for life, believed. In order to answer the question, what is life? You must explain how intricate materials could SUDDENLY be organized in a process we call life. As one evolutionist admitted: "It is apparent that all living organisms are composed of the same basic materials and units found in the nonliving world. That life is a manifestation of much greater complexity than any nonliving system is underscored when we stop to realize that even the simplest cell is composed of thousands of different kinds of molecules operating together in a coordinated fashion" (Evolution, Jay M. Savage, pp. 6, 7). It's the process we call life that has been endowed with the ability to take Nonliving materials and to convert them into its cellular system. The cell is composed of a vast amount of compounds which in themselves practically defy description. Multiple processes work together in a meticulous organization that makes a factory look crude by comparison! All the while the cell must move. It must operate, function live. One author admits: "From the original intake of raw materials from the environment to the duplication of the last molecule in the mature cell, these tiny machines must lead from one to the other, the last dependent on the first and the first on the last. "A failure of even one could conceivably bring the whole chain to a halt, resulting in the death of the organism. For one of the essential facts about life is that it must KEEP GOING to stay alive." (Understanding Evolution, Herbert Ross, p. 33)
Amazing Complexity of Cell
Without intercellular bonds, the human body would collapse into a heap. Without the selectivity in which cells associate, there would be no tissues, no organs just a vast clump of nondescript cells. It is said that the SMALLEST living cell may contain over a quarter of a million protein molecules. All these COORDINATE their activities so that what emerges is this churning, pulsating phenomenon we call "life." "A well-known biologist summed up the activities of the cell with the following analogy: 'When we consider the teeming activity of a modern city it is difficult to realize that in the cells of our bodies infinitely more complicated processes are at work ceaseless manufacture, acquisition of food, storage, improvement, transport, disposal of waste, surveillance, communication and administration.' All this takes place in SUPER HARMONY, with the cooperation of all the participants of a living system, regulated down to the smallest detail" (What Science Knows About Life, Heinz Wolterek, p. 49). And yet, some scientists think that all life evolved. It's no wonder they seek to escape the cell and hide among sub-cellular particles. It is no wonder they want to obliterate the real distinction that exists between life and nonlife. It's no wonder every new discovery of how some piece of the cellular "watch" looks and works is hailed as another step supposedly proving life came from nonlife. Imagine, if you can, a great city such as New York or London coming together evolving OF ITS OWN SELF. Ridiculous, of course, but a cell is MORE complex, more exact, and more orderly. Let's see some more fascinating things about cells.
Staggering Complexity
The adult human being, according to some estimates, has 100 trillion cells. A 100 trillion written out looks like this: 100,000,000,000,000. Even that has little meaning! And, notice how small these cells are. "The cells of living things are usually too small to be seen with the naked eye. The average cell is so tiny that a line of 250 of them, arranged end to end, would be only one inch long" (How Life Began, Irving Adler, p. 46). End to end, these 100 trillion cells small as they are would stretch for over 6,300,000 miles. That's enough cells to stretch TWO HUNDRED TIMES around the earth and have sufficient left over for several round trips between Los Angeles and London. Some cells are as tiny as 0.004 millimeter! That means to get one inch you would need 6,250 cells set end on end. Or you need 250 to make one millimeter. The third dimension or thickness of the usual cell wall is about 0.0000075 millimeter. For those on the metric system, it would require over 133,000 cell walls stacked up to make ONE millimeter. Or it would take a stack of 3,333,000 cell walls to make ONE INCH. Yet, the cell wall itself is an amazing entity. It is so constructed that it can control what goes in and out on the molecular level. A truly amazing accomplishment. But even more staggering is the relationship of cells and your heredity.
The Cell and You
"At the present moment there are about 2,750,000,000 (book written in 1959) human beings alive on the face of this earth. Allowing one sperm and one egg to each of them as being responsible both for their existence and their genetic heredity, we have a total of 5,500,000,000 germ cells involved, a number which could be contained in about two and a half quart milk bottles" (Human Heredity, Ashley Montagu, p. 28). The author went on in his amazing analogy: "The sperm cells would occupy the space of less than an aspirin tablet. In fact, the chromosomes, the actual bearers of the hereditary particles, the genes, within the cells of this huge number would occupy the space of LESS THAN HALF an aspirin tablet!" Can your mind comprehend it? Every characteristic of every human at least from the father's side fitting into a volume that could rest comfortably on the end of your finger. From the two cells the egg and the sperm which combine into one, two cells will develop, then four, then eight, then sixteen. They will continue to multiply until the trillions upon trillions of cells that make up the adult are formed. At birth, the average baby will weigh Two BILLION times his weight at fertilization. Adults will weigh FIFTY billion times their weight at conception! And this all evolved? NONSENSE! From a sperm and egg which must be seen with a microscope emerges a living organism that is perfect, complete and complex. Each organ is the right size, in the right place, carries out the right functions. How do the right cells seem to organize themselves into tissues? Why are appropriate cells always available when interactions involving their development are scheduled to occur? Why do cells have different "life" spans? White blood cells live 13 days; red blood cells live 120 days; some epithelial cells live one and one-half days; nerve cells live 100 years. The latter life span is strangely fortunate, because nerve cells DO NOT REPLACE themselves!
What It Takes to Make a Cell
Everything on earth is composed of one or more of the 103 chemical elements. Just a small part of these elements are fitted together to form the "elements of life." Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus are the principal atomic building blocks of both proteins the basic structural material in man and animals and nucleic acid, of which genetic material is composed. Living things are composed of hundreds of thousands of varieties of protein. "Protein comes in forms as various as silk, fingernails, skin, hormones, enzymes, peanuts and viruses. Gelatin, egg albumin, pepsin, casein and insulin are pure protein... some 50,000 DIFFERENT kinds of protein account for nearly half of the dry weight of the human body." (Viruses and the Nature of Life, Stanley and Valens, p. 156) But amazingly, these proteins are all built up from sequences of only TWENTY amino acids. Here we have a few molecular units, which can be ingeniously combined to provide MULTIPLE THOUSANDS of different kinds of proteins.
A Formula for Milk
To get an inkling and not much more of how utterly complex proteins are, here is a comparison. Water is H20 or two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. But below is the formula for a "simple" protein founds in milk, casein: C708 H1130 O224 N180 S4 P4. That means a molecule of "simple" casein has 708 atoms of carbon, 1130 atoms of hydrogen, 224 atoms of oxygen, 180 atoms of nitrogen, 4 atoms of sulfur and 4 atoms of phosphorus. Deciphering the proper sequence and arrangement of the atoms is another story altogether. These atoms are bound together into units called amino acids. It is the 20 amino acids that are grouped in sequences to form all the multitudes of proteins. However, these components are completely standard forms for all life. Glycine, leucine, tyrosine, and all the rest can be obtained out of human protein, whale protein, bat protein, trout protein, snail protein, dandelion protein, or bacterial protein. Tyrosine from one is identical to the tyrosine from all the others, and so on for the remaining amino acids. But does this prove evolution? No! It proves life forms have standard forms of protein. If anything, this proves that a Master Molecular Biologist the Creator God used some basic protein molds in creating life.
Behind the Protein
These giant protein molecules are infinitesimally small but irritatingly complex. Ultracentrifuges, scanning electron microscopes, X-ray spectrometers, tracer materials, chromatography methods and all other attempts by chemists have only recently pried open a few of the yet secret atomic structures of proteins. It wasn't until 1958 that F. Sanger received a Nobel Prize for working out the sequence of amino acids in the insulin protein. Its molecule contains only 51 amino acid units. An average sized molecule contains SIX HUNDRED amino acid units. Hemoglobin is such an "average" protein. "A single red blood cell contains about 280 MILLION molecules of hemoglobin. Each molecule has 64,500 times the weight of a hydrogen atom and is made up of about 10,000 atoms of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphr, plus four atoms of iron, which are more important than the rest" ("The Hemoglobin Molecule," H.F. Perutz, Scientific American, pp. 64, 65, November, 1964). The entire process is a marvel of engineering achievement on a sub-microscopic level. But that's only half of the story.
Genes, Genesis and Evolution
How are proteins manufactured and brought into existence? After all, we begin from one cell, and must GROW. The answer lies in the other half of the structure of life the genes made of nucleic acid. In the human body, the first cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes one set from the mother, the other from the father. Each chromosome is made up of a whole string of genes. These determine the sum total of characteristics and growth processes of a given human being or any organism. A gene is a small part of a giant molecule, which is believed to consist mainly of a chemical substance called deoxyribonucleic acid DNA for short. Chromosomes are made of DNA plus protein coats. This DNA is the blueprint that directs the manufacture of proteins. "What is the size of a gene? It is ultra-microscopically small... Estimates of size range between 4 or 50 millimicrons in diameter a millimicron is one millionth of a millimeter" (Human Heredity, Ashley Montagu, p. 32). Based on the smaller size, it would take 500,000 of them to cover the period at the end of a sentence! If one assigns to man 1250 genes in each chromosome of just his sex cells, "In a single mating the possible combinations between the twenty-three chromosomes of the male and those of the female are 8,388,608 or two raised to the twenty-third power, and the chance of any one such combination occurring more than once is one in approximately 70,000,000,000,000 or seventy trillion" (Human Heredity, Ashley Montagu, p. 33). Yet, once again, it can miraculously like some ultra computer transmit and select the exact information so that the body grows and functions according to precise law. Even though these proteins and nucleic acids possess awesome complexity they do not constitute life of THEMSELVES! Rather, they are all part of a process of living. ALL the components of a cell or organism had to be put together and "started" simultaneously in order for life to be. When death ensues (which is the absence of life) all these components fall apart with surprising speed, and disintegrate into dust. But in spite of the obvious, scientists continue to seek for some "link" between the living and not living. One popular idea was that viruses constituted this much-sought-after KEY.
The Inside Story of Viruses
Practically all species and orders of animals and plants from germs to trees, and especially man, are subject to virus disease. Why they become subject to virus diseases is another question and belongs under the study of health. In 1918, one of the most catastrophic plagues since the bubonic plague of the Middle Ages struck the world. Over ONE HALF BILLION PEOPLE throughout the world were affected. Some 20,000,000 died. The disease was influenza, produced by a virus in weak bodies. One single polio virus particle can infect one human cell and produce 10,000 new polio virus cells in a matter of hours. But it takes millions of them to produce a visible speck. "Although the individual virus is a great giant among chemical molecules, it would take 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 polio viruses to fill a ping pong ball..." (Viruses and the Nature of Life, Stanley and Valens, p. 9)
Size of Viruses
A simple plant virus like the Tobacco Mosaic Virus has one strand of nucleic acid (DNA) wrapped in a coat of protein. Bacterial viruses are more complicated. They have special proteins by which they chemically attach themselves to cells. The smallpox virus is larger yet. It is just within the range of the light microscope. The others cannot be seen except under the electron microscope. The gap in size between the largest virus and smallest bacterium is filled by a group of microorganisms called Rickettsia. They are responsible for such diseases as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Q fever. Observing this phenomenon, one author comments: "We can now see a single, continuous sequence of gradually increasing complexity. In terms of structure, we can trace a sequence of closely related objects all the way from the atom, through the simple molecule, the macromolecule, the virus, the bacterium, and the jellyfish, to man" (Viruses and the Nature of Life, Stanley and Valens, p. 37). What does this continuity prove? Does it demonstrate evolution? Absolutely not! All it proves is that there is a sequence of complexity from atoms to man! But does it prove one turned into another? Again, no!
Are Viruses Living Organisms?
Atoms are atoms, viruses are viruses chemical packages of protein and nucleic acid. Bacteria are bacteria very simple LIVING substances. No one has seen one "change" into another. But viruses are UNUSUAL things. As mentioned... outside of a host cell they seem to be completely lifeless combinations of nucleic acid and protein. A virus has no means of locomotion. It is constantly pushed around by the bombardment of the speeding molecules of the liquid in which it is suspended.
Suddenly: Contact Is Made
As the virus is knocked around in solution, it brushes against cells. When it strikes a cell that is susceptible, the virus attaches itself chemically to the cell wall. Then another enzyme, connected with the protein covering, chemically DISSOLVES the cell wall, and the DNA of the virus is injected into the host cell. Only the DNA goes into the cell! At that moment, the virus as such no longer exists. The protein coat is no longer part of the drama. It is discarded outside the cell! The DNA of the virus now becomes part of the host cell. It subverts the cell's original DNA and takes over the cellular machinery.
ARE VIRUSES LINK IN "CHAIN OF LIFE"? Top, Polio virus, magnified 130,000 times. Bottom, Tobacco Mosaic Virus, magnified 70,000 times. Viruses are highly unusual. When outside of most cells, they appear to be completely lifeless. But when the DNA of a virus enters a host cell, the viral DNA can subvert the cell machinery to produce copies of itself. Because of the unusual qualities of a virus, controversy rages as to whether viruses are alive or not. Some evolutionists even claim they are a link in the chain of life from atoms to man. The surprising answers in this article prove viruses do not demonstrate life evolved from atom to man.
It now causes the cell to manufacture the virus components instead of the CELL parts. The newly injected viral DNA not only reproduces itself but also serves as a template to produce a PROTEIN SHELL for itself! When enough viruses are duplicated, the cell explodes, releasing about a hundred virus particles which are once again lifeless. These inert viruses float around until once again they engage a weak cell and the process is repeated. It has been proven, for example, in the Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) that if the cell has a special protein called interferon it can PROTECT itself against a virus infection. But if it is "weakened" through malnutrition and cannot produce enough of it, the cell becomes a candidate for infection. Therefore, the REASON for the existence of viruses is quite clear. When bodies are diseased, because of wrong diet and living, cells may not contain the proper chemical nutrients. And viruses are there to check the spread of DISEASED plants, animals or whatever. But scientists don't seem to realize WHY we have all these diseases or why viruses exist. Their minds are focused on the eater (the virus) instead of what is being eaten (the diseased or unhealthy cell). Too many are too busy trying to prove whether viruses are the link between living and nonliving. Or they are trying to identify viruses and destroy THEM rather than bolstering the first line of body defense against the virus, by being sure the body is healthy in the first place.
Are Viruses a Link?
But what about viruses? Can they really be a link between the living and nonliving? Did lifeless molecules give rise to viruses which in turn gave rise to the simplest cells? Let's have a scientist answer the question himself: "What about the old idea that viruses are precursors of life? It is to be hoped that no reader of this book will fall for that any more. "Cells, with their complex dynamic organization, are the absolutely essential prerequisite for virus propagation, and life must therefore have begun on the CELLULAR LEVEL. "Even if some spontaneous act of generation had brought a virus particle forth from some sort of primordial slime [which it did not], that particle would have remained lonely and forgotten forever without the simultaneous presence of living cells" (Viruses, Wolfhard Weidel, p. 154). Of course! Viruses are, in a sense, "LIFELESS" without host cells to attack. They depend on cells for reproduction. Therefore, since, as a parasite, a virus relies on the existence of higher life, it is impossible that a virus could have existed initially, by itself. In other words, the cell would have to exist before the virus did. Obviously, the virus couldn't have evolved into host cells. This is really what's important. As to whether a virus is "alive" or not has no bearing on the question of the origin of life. Besides, when the virus (only its DNA) enters the cell the virus as such doesn't exist any longer. But then when the viral DNA is reproduced, the cell bursts. When the virus is then in existence as an entity outside the cell, it once again takes on the appearance of "lifelessness:" It's quite clear that viruses are no link between living and nonliving. And to think of a cell as "suddenly" coming into existence by itself is intellectual insanity. So what has science done or proven? Did the duplication of a copy of a viral DNA prove life had evolved from nonliving matter? Actually as this article has made clear, nothing such as this can be proved. And, incidentally, the scientists mentioned at the beginning of this article did not "create" life. They didn't "create LIFE," after all INSPITE of the sensational, shocking headlines! They managed to produce only an artificial DNA, by direct, intelligent interference, under IDEAL conditions which would "REPRODUCE." But remember, scientists worked years on achieving this artificial "reproduction." There was outside, intelligent interference here the exacting environment of a sterile laboratory, chemicals, energy applied in exacting amounts! What did these scientists Drs. Kornberg, Goulian and Sinsheimer really do? Dr. Kornberg put a naturally occurring DNA of a virus into a test tube. This common virus, known as PHi X-174 attacks intestinal bacteria. Note this carefully. The natural viral DNA in the tube would serve as BLUEPRINT or mold from which the artificial DNA would be made. Next, molecules of adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine were added to the brew. These naturally occurring molecules are the basic units of DNA. Also, some E. coli DNA polymerase was also mixed in. This enzyme is crucial for guiding the copying procedure. This enzyme is obtained from living bacteria. Finally, another enzyme, ligase, was added to finish the duplication job. The contents were then centrifuged to separate the artificial batter DNA from the natural mold DNA. The artificial DNA was able to infect host cells and reproduce itself. Stop and think about this. The original DNA of the virus already existed; the chemical building blocks of the DNA already existed; the enzymes already existed! The scientists had the mold. They merely reorganized matter (an accomplishment to be sure!) using an already existing MOLD. But proof of evolution? Not at all! "Life" in a test tube? Ridiculous! Life evolving from nonliving? Doubly ridiculous. Probably, this article will seem tedious to some few persons. But this is only a GREATLY REDUCED part of the story. The whole story of the complexity of the cell would take many, many magazines this size, filled with seemingly endless formulas, relationships, and comparisons. No, evolution is NOT proved and never will be. It is a modern "FAITH," indulging in stentorian dogmatism, fear tactics, ridicule and intellectual pressure. Some evolutionists scornfully assert that only their own kind those fully indoctrinated and "educated" in the special sciences, claiming to support the theory are entitled to an opinion on the subject. Yes, the world recognizes its own. Scientists "recognize" and "support" each other. Men profess themselves to be wise. But evolution remains a darkened, useless analogy and is an attempt to throw God out the window. Men PLAY GOD, by making science the great DELIVERER, the LIFE GIVER, and the SUSTAINER of life! But science will never produce life. It will never deliver from death. It will never become a god. Like ancient deities it will have its worshippers. But as surely as those pagan superstitions were false so is evolution!
DNA REPRODUCES LIFE "AFTER ITS KIND!"
NO EVOLUTION HERE
SCIENTISTS are still in a state of shock after having discovered the basic blueprint of life. They call it DNA short for the almost unpronounceable word deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA is a genetic code, like a master computer or file. It is in the nucleus of every living cell. Its programmed instructions, for example, make a cow reproduce a calf, not some other kind of animal, or make a liver cell reproduce a liver cell and not a heart cell. This genetic recipe is so complex that the entire DNA system within a human contains as much information as several encyclopedia sets, or one hundred large dictionaries. DNA with incredible accuracy will direct the reproduction of a colt from a horse. It will split any living cell into exact twins. This DNA could be likened to a master stencil grinding out endless copies of itself. But and here is the phenomenal KEY that allows mind-defying variety within a set kind. When a new life is engendered two DNA codes or stencils are used one each contained in the father's and mother's chromosomes. DNA reproduces a limitless amount of variety, all molded by a similar template. This variety, though extraordinary in scope, is limited by the fact that parents are of a similar kind. As a result, variety within a species can reach astronomical proportions. (For example, note the number of varieties among moths and butterflies) But, because DNA reproduces itself exactly, kind reproduces kind. Evolution cannot occur!
BUILDING BLOCKS OF DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) DNA is composed of an ingeniously simple alphabet, consisting of four chemical units bound together by two others. These four chemicals adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T) are strung out along a DNA strand. These four are nucleic acids. They are tied to deoxyribose sugars (hence, the term deoxyribonucleic acids). The sugars are tied together by phosphate molecules, to form the strand. See illustration below which shows four base steps chemically arranged on one strand. Human DNA can contain billions of such steps. Two complementary strands hook together and form a giant spiral ladder twisted into a double helix.
DNA UNZIPS ITSELF
DNA molecule unwinds and begins to split. The miracle of kind reproducing kind has begun! Each of the four-card symbols represents the four nucleic acids, G, C, A, T. Note that adenine-thymine and guanine-cytosine are always found together.
NEXT, COPIES ITSELF
The nucleic acid bases along both strands pick up complementary nucleotides floating freely in the cell nucleus. Linked by sugars and phosphates, the newly formed strands of DNA join and begin to retwist into a double helix.
THEN, DOUBLES ITSELF
When the entire cell DNA (which means the entire chromosome) has been duplicated, the job is finished. There are now two cells and each is an exact twin of the other.
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