Origin of Life Problem #2 – Which Came First, DNA or Proteins?

Hi everyone from my family and I, in our warm, cozy Burnsville home. However, this was not the case last weekend. The problems started when I had installed a new thermostat in our home. It worked fine for a couple of days. But on Saturday morning I woke up to a 59 degree home, with it being 20 degrees below zero outside. I tried everything, but it looked hopeless – with the possibility of a major financial hit if we needed a new furnace. We barely staid warm through the weekend, thanks to a gas fireplace and a couple of space heaters. But my brother Bill came to the rescue last Sunday night. He was able to find a lose connection in the thermostat, and somehow he was also able to get our fan working. And we have been warm and cozy ever since. Whew!

 

Today's topic is to discuss one of the many problems that arises in atheistic science's examination of a living cell – the problem of what came first, the cell's DNA which gives instructions to make proteins, or proteins, which allow the DNA to reproduce? First, let me this tie together with n the topic of the complex and vast amount of information that is contained in DNA. The problem is that science uses only natural means for explaining the creation of the first living cell. This is an incredibly large problem, because it involves science trying to explain the cell's DNA and the vast amount of information it contains only by looking at nature's random paths. I like a quote of Bill Gates when he said when asked about the complex nature of DNA, "DNA is like a computer program, but far,
far more advanced than any software we've ever created." Now Chuck Colson also 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…" Anyone who has ever done the simplest of computer programs knows what will happen if there are small amounts of random code added to what you've written. Adding anything other than what the Programmer intends only causes chaos, and will destroy whatever working program was there in the first place. This leads me to believe that DNA, and the information it contains as directly created by God. Everything we know about nature makes it obvious that chemicals sloshing around together can create neither life nor information, no matter how much time you are given.

 

DNA is soooo amazing, it deserves a little further discussion. DNA is in each of the 300 trillion cells of the human body. And I believe this is correct, DNA has 3 billion units of information within it. These 3 billion units are what Mr. Gates described as being similar to a software program. A cell needs over 75 "helper molecules", all working together in harmony, just to make one protein as instructed by the DNA. And the cell is also fast. Not just fast, it is faster than even the fastest of manmade super-computers. As one writer noted, Interpreting a DNA program and translating it through a code into a physical molecule, the cells collectively function at almost a thousand times the processing speed of IBM's new Blue Gene/L state-of-the-art supercomputer. Again, the cell's speed with the enormous amount of information that it contains is something that is obviously designed. And the cell's Designer has a far greater intelligence than our current level of understanding. This Designer is the Triune Christian God.

 

Now allow me to get back to the original question, of which came first DNA or Proteins? So here is the problem: DNA contains the information that creates the recipe for amino acids to form into proteins. And replication of DNA requires a lot of very complex protein machinery and that protein machinery needs a lot of DNA to store the instructions for how to make it. This account brings to mind the old riddle: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? DNA holds the recipe for protein construction. Yet that information cannot be retrieved or copied without the assistance of proteins. Which large molecule, then, appeared first in getting life started--proteins (the chicken) or DNA (the egg)?

 

It appears that the first living cell had everything working together in it: DNA, proteins, and RNA. So how was this incredibly fast, a large storehouse of instructions and information, a miniature factory created? The answer is as clearly before us as the heavens in the sky – it is God who is responsible for all life. And this is what is really amazing – all life is one. There is one language used in all of life, whether it be a plant, an animal, bug, or something microscopic, they all use the same language, the same dictionary, and the same Programmer's code. The genetic code is the same in every creature. As one writer states: the unity of life is an empirical fact. And so, there is a universal language contained in every cell of every living creature. And this language speaks loud and clear to me, and I hope also to other believers: DNA is a message from an outside, higher source of Intelligence. Those of us living today in the 21^st century, now know that there is a complex message inside each one of us, and in all of life. This message, the very DNA inside each of our cells, is a message from God telling us that He is here. Give glory to God, the Creator of all of life.

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.