What Can We Learn About A Cells’ Flagellum?

Last post, I looked at the factory like structure of the inner-parts of a cell. But though the cell is an amazing structure, it is truly amazing to see what the individual parts of a cell do and look like. In this post, I will look at the cilia/flagellum of a cell. Please don't let the sciency words throw you, I will try and keep this information so easy even a lawyer can understand it! J

 

Cilia are found in cells with a nucleus (eukaryotic cells). They are on the surface of nearly every one of the 250 trillion cells inside our human bodies. Cilia are thin, tail-like projections extending outwards from the cell body. But there are cilia even on one-celled algae. And when one cilium is cut off, another replacement cilium will re-grow in about one hour. That's a good replacement system!

 

Prof. Behe's first book was called 'Darwin's Black Box' and it described the flagellum (basically the same as cilia) on the outside of the bacteria's cells. Don't get thrown off if I say 'bacterial flagellum', it just means the extended whips on the outside of a bacteria cell. The flagellum is a slender whip-like projection that motors the bacteria's movement. In 'Edge of Evolution' Prof. Behe also discusses the updated information we have learned about bacterial flagellum in the last 10 years, and he does this through easy to understand illustrations. He likens the cilia to the construction of a tower, which is built from the bottom up. Although there is still much to learn about how cilia are built, we do know that the plans are contained in the cell's DNA. The DNA provides all of the information for what parts are needed to construct the cilia, what proteins are needed, how much is needed (controls that turn on and off), and directions for where they should go.

 

from Wikipedia entry for flagellum.

 

Just as an outboard motor on a boat consists of a large number of parts, so does the bacteria's outboard motor, the flagellum. The physical construction in the cell is done by proteins. Proteins basically do the same work as bulldozers, steam shovels, train engines, train cars, railroad tracks, and all of the tools you can possibly use on a construction project. What is really interesting is that there is a protein in the cell that is essentially a foreman of the construction project. It is not a part of the flagellum or the construction machinery. Instead, it tells the other proteins what to do. When a flagellum is needed, the foreman protein binds to the control regions of the DNA that turn on the making of the proteins used in the construction project. One after another, proteins are made that are necessary for the construction of parts of the flagellum. The picture above shows all of different and various parts that make up the bacterial flagellum.

 

And it only keeps getting cooler! One of the early construction projects of the foreman is to assemble a pump. When the pump is completed, it is directly linked to the switching on the genes necessary to make the final, last parts of the flagellum. The perfect timing, the original plan for the construction secretly hidden inside of the DNA, the proper turning on and off of the proteins needed to make the flagellum, and the use of sequences to make just this one small part of a cell is mind blowing. I know some people look up at the stars and see God's majesty in His handiwork. But when I see the workings of the inside of a cell, I am in awe as I see what He has done. I wish I could do a better job of describing all of what takes place in the construction of the bacterial flagellum, but my hope is that I have at least given you the flavor of what is going on in the microscopic world in our bodies.

 

So what is the point of all of this? Prof. Behe describes the construction of the bacterial flagellum as being "irreducibly complex". By this he means that just as a mousetrap has 5 pieces that are needed to make a functional mousetrap (the board, the spring, the latch, the arm, etc.), and the mousetrap WON'T work until it has all 5 pieces in place. In the same way, the bacterial flagellum must have dozens of pieces in place before it will work. And this is something that Darwinism cannot do. Instead, the Darwinist claim is that small changes will lead to the making of the machinery that is useful in a cell. But as this post describes, these are not small changes. You need lots of BIG changes to make the flagellum. And they all need to work together, and in the right sequence, and with a proper plan in place to begin with. This is the domain of something that is shown to be Designed, and not the work of random forces as Darwinism is.

 

The Irreducible Complexity of the bacterial flagellum points to Design of life here on earth. It is yet another example of the 'Consilience' of scientific evidence that shows we are part of God's creation. I hope you find this persuasive as well.

 

 

Is There ‘Consilience’ With What Is Shown by Malaria?

In Previous Posts I have provided a short summary of what is contained in Prof. Behe's book entitled 'The Edge of Evolution'. The summary shows that when there is a full cell with a nucleus with complex divisions (called a eukaryotic cell) like malaria, it is difficult to make substantial changes to what the proteins of the cell do. One study relied upon Prof. Behe shows that the change rate is so slim that to even make a beneficial two-point amino acid change (i.e., where two amino acids in a protein are changed), such a mutation causes malaria to develop resistance to the best developed drug used in fighting malaria, Chloroquine. The long but not impossible odds were calculated by this published study as being 1 in 10²⁰ every time when malaria mutates. So although it is extremely unlikely for malaria to develop a resistance to Chloroquine, when it does it has disastrous consequences. A mosquito can pass along the Chloroquine resistance to an entire community, and the result is that there is Chloroquine resistance in an entire village/town. This leads to increased deaths and malaria at least temporarily, winning the battle against man. But an interesting point is that the Malarial parasite has an Achilles' heel: it won't develop in its mosquito host unless the temperatures are balmy, restricting it mainly to the tropics. And so we see that evolution has limits: it does not develop new abilities in a cell, like the ability to travel to more temperate climates (like the northern hemisphere). Malaria remains only in tropical climates where it is a fantastic killer of people. Here, evolution/ Darwinism is no help for malaria to become a truly global killer, thank God.

 

But Prof. Behe also has a chapter (chapter 10) describing 'Consilience'. I thought it was a cool term, so I thought I would share it with y'all. Consilience is defined by Prof. Behe as an old-fashioned synonym for concurrence. And he further describes this as when separate scientific disciplines all point in the same direction, there is a 'Consilience', and we can be more confident of the conclusion. He claims there is a Consilience of various branches of the physical sciences – physics, astronomy, chemistry, geology, molecular biology – all of which point to a purposeful design in the universe. These sciences reflect a vivid picture of a universe in which design extends from the very foundations of nature to all parts of life.

 

There are many examples of this discussed by Prof. Behe, the fine-tuning of the laws of physics, the molecules of life have useful properties to allow life on earth (like water molecules, for example), and the rarity of planets like we have on earth. All of the laws of science, finely tuned properties, details and events of the universe all point to our universe having been designed for life. Although Prof. Behe states that "Design isn't the only option", the evidence he provides certainly leads to that conclusion.

 

I will add as part of the Consilience the origin of life (OOL). There is a lot that can be said about the impossibility of life developing from non-living matter. But for now let me provide a link to an animation video of what is contained in a cell: http://aimediaserver4.com/studiodaily/videoplayer/?src=ai4/harvard/harvard.swf&width=640&height=520. Here is an example of why a cell is like a miniaturized factory:

 

• a cell membrane with a particular, important shape;
  
• inside the cell, is cytoplasm and a nucleus;;
  
• every new cell is alive. They have a lifespan where they live, reproduce through cell division, and they die;
  
• the cytoplasm is amazing: one cell has hundreds or even thousands of power plants (called mitochondria) that converts the chemical energy of food into a form of energy the cell can use to grow, divide and do its work;
  
• the cytoplasm also have little sacs connected by membranes that act as the highways of the cell. These sacs and membranes channel the proteins throughout the cell.; (later addition, called Endoplasmic reticulum?)
  
• also in the cytoplasm is the Golgi apparatus, which is the processing plant of the cell. The Golgi apparatus processes mostly the proteins in the cell. Some of the proteins are stored in small spheres, while others are transported to the cell membrane to transport to other cells;
  
• also in the cytoplasm is the garbage plant (called lysosomes) that breaks down many substances. For example, in a white blood cell, the lysosomes break down harmful bacteria;
  
• and you think that's complicated!, there is still more in the cytoplasm: for example, there is cytoskeleton of several types of protein rods that my encyclopedia says forms "complicated network", that forms the shape of the cell. On the outside of the structure is cilia/flagellum that contains the bundle of cytoskeleton rods that extend out of the cell, that allow the cell to swim;
  

 

It sounds like a little factory, doesn't it? It looks like someone has designed this cell. But the amazing nature of one single cell is just the beginning. Let's take a look at the cell's nucleus:

 

- the nucleus is the headquarters of the cell. It directs the activities of the cell.

- in the nucleus is the incredible chromosome – Human cells each have 46 chromosomes. Chromosomes are the carriers of inheritance. This is done through Genes, which are part of the DNA molecule. That was an interesting fact to me where the DNA is a single molecule. Genes control the passing on of traits from the parent cell to the offspring. Genes, of course, determines that a dog gives birth to a dog, and not a cat. The genes also determine blood type, color of eyes, and thousands of other characteristics. All inside the nucleus of one little cell.

 

- So DNA is part of the chromosome. As you know, DNA is where so much of scientific research is taking place. Breaking down the sequence of DNA. But DNA is just one molecule, made up of millions of atoms. And the grouping of chemicals in the DNA and its order is unique for each living creature.

 

- DNA's main work is to direct the production of "complicated" proteins. Most of the cell's structures are built of these proteins.

 

- proteins are the most abundant macromolecules in living cells. Proteins are made up of long chains (called polypeptides). And these chains are made up of small molecules called amino acids. 20 amino acids are found in proteins and the sequence is all important. Mndnfkfkewnhbfnmfmwekfkewlfkefkewlflwldelw. Did you like my illustration? Random assembly of the amino acids creates junk. Only by having the correct sequence of amino acids are the proteins made useful Just like with letters in the English language, the letters only make sense when they are put in the right order. Looks like another example of someOne's design of the cell, where proteins are brought together and made into something specific for use in the cell, right?

 

 

Bill Gates commented on the obvious: "DNA is like a computer program, but far, far more advanced than any software we've ever created." Now Chuck Colson had an interesting comment about DNA in his How Now Shall We Live book (p. 75), where he notes: It's true that DNA is composed of ordinary chemicals (bases, sugars, phosphates) that react according to ordinary laws. But what makes DNA function as a message is not the chemicals themselves but rather their sequence, their pattern. The chemicals in DNA are grouped into molecules (called nucleotides) that act like letters in a message, and they must be in a particular order if the message is going to be intelligible…

 

Thanks. Let me know if you have any thoughts about this.