CAN LIFE RESULT FROM COINCIDENCES AS
EVOLUTION ARGUES?
The theory
of evolution holds that life started with a cell that formed by chance
under primitive earth conditions. Let us therefore examine the composition
of the cell with simple comparisons in order to show how irrational
it is to ascribe the existence of the cell-a structure which still
maintains its mystery in many respects, even at a time when we are
about to set foot in the 21st century-to natural phenomena
and coincidences.
With all its operational systems, systems
of communication, transportation and management, a cell is no less
complex than any city. It contains power stations producing the energy
consumed by the cell, factories manufacturing the enzymes and hormones
essential for life, a databank where all necessary information about
all products to be produced is recorded, complex transportation systems
and pipelines for carrying raw materials and products from one place
to another, advanced laboratories and refineries for breaking down
imported raw materials into their usable parts, and specialized cell
membrane proteins for the control of incoming and outgoing materials.
These constitute only a small part of this incredibly complex system.
Far from being formed under primitive
earth conditions, the cell, which in its composition and mechanisms
is so complex, cannot be synthesized in even the most sophisticated
laboratories of our day. Even with the use of amino acids, the building
blocks of the cell, it is not possible to produce so much as a single
organelle of the cell, such as mitochondria or ribosome, much less
a whole cell. The first cell claimed to have been produced by evolutionary
coincidence is as much a figment of the imagination and a product
of fantasy as the unicorn.
Proteins Challenge Coincidence
Proteins are giant molecules consisting
of amino acids arranged in a particular sequence in certain
quantities and structures. We can easily demonstrate, with simple
probability calculations anybody can understand, that the functional
structure of proteins can by no means come about by chance.
|
And it is not just the cell that cannot
be produced: the formation, under natural conditions, of even a single
protein of the thousands of complex protein molecules making up a
cell is impossible.
Proteins are giant molecules consisting
of amino acids arranged in a particular sequence in certain quantities
and structures. These molecules constitute the building blocks of
a living cell. The simplest is composed of 50 amino acids; but there
are some proteins that are composed of thousands of amino acids. The
absence, addition, or replacement of a single amino acid in the structure
of a protein in living cells, each of which has a particular function,
causes the protein to become a useless molecular heap. Incapable of
demonstrating the "accidental formation" of amino acids, the theory
of evolution founders on the point of the formation of proteins.
If the coincidental formation of even
one of these proteins is impossible, it is billions of times
more impossible for approximately one million of those proteins
to come together by chance in an organized fashion and make
up a complete human cell. |
We can easily demonstrate, with simple
probability calculations anybody can understand, that the functional
structure of proteins can by no means come about by chance.
There are twenty different amino acids.
If we consider that an average-sized protein molecule is composed
of 288 amino acids, there are 10300 different combinations of acids.
Of all of these possible sequences, only "one" forms the desired protein
molecule. The other amino-acid chains are either completely useless
or else potentially harmful to living things. In other words, the
probability of the coincidental formation of only one protein molecule
cited above is "1 in 10300". The probability of this "1" occurring
out of an "astronomical" number consisting of 1 followed by 300 zeros
is for all practical purposes zero; it is impossible. Furthermore,
a protein molecule of 288 amino acids is rather a modest one compared
with some giant protein molecules consisting of thousands of amino
acids. When we apply similar probability calculations to these giant
protein molecules, we see that even the word "impossible" becomes
inadequate.
If the coincidental formation of even
one of these proteins is impossible, it is billions of times more
impossible for approximately one million of those proteins to come
together by chance in an organized fashion and make up a complete
human cell. Moreover, a cell is not merely a collection of proteins.
In addition to proteins, cells also include nucleic acids, carbohydrates,
lipids, vitamins, and many other chemicals such as electrolytes, all
of which are arranged harmoniously and with design in specific proportions,
both in terms of structure and function. Each functions as a building
block or component in various organelles.
The probability of an average protein
molecule comprising five hundred amino acids being arranged in the
correct proportion and sequence in addition to the probability of
all of the amino acids it contains being only left-handed and being
combined only with peptide bonds is "1" divided by 10950. We can write
this number, which is formed by putting 950 zeros after 1.
As we have seen, evolution is unable
to explain the formation of even a single protein out of the millions
in the cell, let alone explain the cell.
Kalitim ve Evrim (Inheritance and Evolution)
Prof. Ali Demirsoy |
Prof. Ali Demirsoy, one of the foremost
authorities of evolutionist thought in Turkey, in his book Kalitim
ve Evrim (Inheritance and Evolution), discusses the probability
of the accidental formation of Cytochrome-C, one of the essential
enzymes for life:
The probability
of the formation of a Cytochrome-C sequence is as likely as zero.
That is, if life requires a certain sequence, it can be said that
this has a probability likely to be realized once in the whole universe.
Otherwise, some metaphysical powers beyond our definition should have
acted in its formation. To accept the latter is not appropriate to
the goals of science. We therefore have to look into the first hypothesis.1
After these lines, Demirsoy admits that
this probability, which he accepted just because it was "more appropriate
to the goals of science", is unrealistic:
The probability
of providing the particular amino acid sequence of Cytochrome-C is
as unlikely as the possibility of a monkey writing the history of
humanity on a typewriter-taking it for granted that the monkey pushes
the keys at random.2
In the heavens and the earth there are
certainly signs for the believers. And in your creation and
all the creatures He has scattered about there are signs for
people with certainty.
(Qur'an, 45:3-4)
He is Allah - the Creator, the Maker, the Giver of Form. To
Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Everything in the heavens
and earth glorifies Him. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise.
(Qur'an, 59:24) |
The correct sequence of proper amino
acids is simply not enough for the formation of one of the protein
molecules present in living things. Besides this, each of the twenty
different types of amino acid present in the composition of proteins
must be left-handed. Chemically, there are two different types of
amino acids called "left-handed" and "right-handed". The difference
between them is the mirror-symmetry between their three dimensional
structures, which is similar to that of a person's right and left
hands. Amino acids of either of these two types are found in equal
numbers in nature and they can bond perfectly well with one another.
Yet, research uncovers an astonishing fact: all proteins present in
the structure of living things are made up of left-handed amino acids.
Even a single right-handed amino acid attached to the structure of
a protein renders it useless.
Let us for an instant suppose that life
came into existence by chance as evolutionists claim. In this case,
the right and left-handed amino acids that were generated by chance
should be present in nature in roughly equal amounts. The question
of how proteins can pick out only left-handed amino acids, and how
not even a single right-handed amino acid becomes involved in the
life process is something that still confounds evolutionists.
We created you so why do you not confirm
the truth? Have you thought about the sperm that you ejaculate?
Is it you who create it or are We the Creator?
(Qur'an, 56:57-59) |
In the Britannica
Science Encyclopaedia, an ardent defender of evolution, the authors
indicate that the amino acids of all living organisms on earth and
the building blocks of complex polymers such as proteins have the
same left-handed asymmetry. They add that this is tantamount to tossing
a coin a million times and always getting heads. In the same encyclopedia,
they state that it is not possible to understand why molecules become
left-handed or right-handed and that this choice is fascinatingly
related to the source of life on earth.3
It is not enough for amino acids to be
arranged in the correct numbers, sequences, and in the required three-dimensional
structures. The formation of a protein also requires that amino acid
molecules with more than one arm be linked to each other only through
certain arms. Such a bond is called a "peptide bond". Amino acids
can make different bonds with each other; but proteins comprise those
and only those amino acids that join together by "peptide" bonds.
Research has shown that only 50 % of
amino acids, combining at random, combine with a peptide bond and
that the rest combine with different bonds that are not present in
proteins. To function properly, each amino acid making up a protein
must join with other amino acids with a peptide bond, as it has only
to be chosen from among the left-handed ones. Unquestionably, there
is no control mechanism to select and leave out the right-handed amino
acids and personally make sure that each amino acid makes a peptide
bond with the other.
Under these circumstances, the probabilities
of an average protein molecule comprising five hundred amino acids
arranging itself in the correct quantities and in sequence, in addition
to the probabilities of all of the amino acids it contains being only
left-handed and combining using only peptide bonds are as follows:
- The probability of being in the right
sequence =
1/20500 =1/10650
- The probability of being left-handed
=
1/2500 =1/10150
- The probability of combining using
a "peptide bond"
= 1/2499 =1/10150
TOTAL PROBABILITY =
1/10950 that is, "1" probability
in 10950
As you can see above, the probability
of the formation of a protein molecule comprising five hundred amino
acids is "1" divided by a number formed by placing 950 zeros after
a 1, a number incomprehensible to the human mind. This is only a probability
on paper. Practically, such a possibility has "0" chance of realization.
In mathematics, a probability smaller than 1 over 1050 is statistically
considered to have a "0" probability of realization.
While the improbability of the formation
of a protein molecule made up of five hundred amino acids reaches
such an extent, we can further proceed to push the limits of the mind
to higher levels of improbability. In the "haemoglobin" molecule,
a vital protein, there are five hundred and seventy-four amino acids,
which is a much larger number than that of the amino acids making
up the protein mentioned above. Now consider this: in only one out
of the billions of red blood cells in your body, there are "280,000,000"
(280 million) haemoglobin molecules. The supposed age of the earth
is not sufficient to afford the formation of even a single protein,
let alone a red blood cell, by the method of "trial and error". The
conclusion from all this is that evolution falls into a terrible abyss
of improbability right at the stage of the formation of a single protein.
Looking For Answers To The Generation
Of Life
Stanley Miller with his experimental apparatus.
|
Well aware of the terrible odds against
the possibility of life forming by chance, evolutionists were unable
to provide a rational explanation for their beliefs, so they set about
looking for ways to demonstrate that the odds were not so unfavorable.
They designed a number of laboratory
experiments to address the question of how life could generate itself
from non-living matter. The best known and most respected of these
experiments is the one known as the "Miller Experiment" or "Urey-Miller
Experiment", which was conducted by the American researcher Stanley
Miller in 1953.
With the purpose of proving that amino
acids could have come into existence by accident, Miller created an
atmosphere in his laboratory that he assumed would have existed on
primordial earth (but which later proved to be unrealistic) and he
set to work. The mixture he used for this primordial atmosphere was
composed of ammonia, methane, hydrogen, and water vapor.
Even if they manage to synthesize amino
acids, how would evolutionists get simple molecules such as
amino acids to go through the necessary chemical changes that
will convert them into more complicated compounds, or polymers,
such as proteins like the one seen on the right? That is impossible.
|
Miller knew that methane, ammonia, water
vapor and hydrogen would not react with each other under natural conditions.
He was aware that he had to inject energy into the mixture to start
a reaction. He suggested that this energy could have come from lightning
flashes in the primordial atmosphere and, relying on this supposition,
he used an artificial electricity discharge in his experiments.
Miller boiled this gas mixture at 100°C
for a week, and, in addition, he introduced an electric current into
the chamber. At the end of the week, Miller analyzed the chemicals
that had been formed in the chamber and observed that three of the
twenty amino acids, which constitute the basic elements of proteins,
had been synthesized.
This experiment aroused great excitement
among evolutionists and they promoted it as an outstanding success.
Encouraged by the thought that this experiment definitely verified
their theory, evolutionists immediately produced new scenarios. Miller
had supposedly proved that amino acids could form by themselves. Relying
on this, they hurriedly hypothesized the following stages. According
to their scenario, amino acids had later by accident united in the
proper sequences to form proteins. Some of these accidentally formed
proteins placed themselves in cell membrane-like structures, which
"somehow" came into existence and formed a primitive cell. The cells
united in time and formed living organisms. The greatest mainstay
of the scenario was Miller's experiment.
However, Miller's experiment was nothing
but make-believe, and has since been proven invalid in many respects.
The Invalidity Of Miller's Experiment
Nearly half a century has passed since
Miller conducted his experiment. Although it has been shown to be
invalid in many respects, evolutionists still advance Miller and his
results as absolute proof that life could have formed spontaneously
from non-living matter. When we assess Miller's experiment critically,
without the bias and subjectivity of evolutionist thinking, however,
it is evident that the situation is not as rosy as evolutionists would
have us think. Miller set for himself the goal of proving that amino
acids could form by themselves in earth's primitive conditions. Some
amino acids were produced, but the conduct of the experiment conflicts
with his goal in many ways, as we shall now see.
Miller isolated the amino acids from the environment as soon as they
were formed, by using a mechanism called a "cold trap". Had he not done
so, the conditions of the environment in which the amino acids formed
would immediately have destroyed the molecules.
It is quite meaningless to suppose that
some conscious mechanism of this sort was integral to earth's primordial
conditions, which involved ultraviolet radiation, thunderbolts, various
chemicals, and a high percentage of free oxygen. Without such a mechanism,
any amino acid that did manage to form would immediately have been
destroyed.
The primordial atmospheric environment that Miller attempted to simulate
in his experiment was not realistic. Nitrogen and carbon dioxide would
have been constituents of the primordial atmosphere, but Miller disregarded
this and used methane and ammonia instead.
Why? Why were evolutionists insistent
on the point that the primitive atmosphere contained high amounts
of methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3), and water vapor (H2O)? The answer
is simple: without ammonia, it is impossible to synthesize an amino
acid. Kevin McKean talks about this in an article published in Discover
magazine:
Miller and Urey imitated
the ancient atmosphere of earth with a mixture of methane and ammonia.
According to them, the earth was a true homogeneous mixture of metal,
rock and ice. However in the latest studies, it is understood that
the earth was very hot at those times and that it was composed of
melted nickel and iron. Therefore, the chemical atmosphere of that
time should have been formed mostly of nitrogen (N2), carbon dioxide
(CO2) and water vapor (H2O). However these are not as appropriate
as methane and ammonia for the production of organic molecules.4
After a long period of silence, Miller
himself also confessed that the atmospheric environment he used in
his experiment was not realistic.
Another important point invalidating Miller's experiment is that there
was enough oxygen to destroy all the amino acids in the atmosphere at
the time when evolutionists thought that amino acids formed. This oxygen
concentration would definitely have hindered the formation of amino
acids. This situation completely negates Miller's experiment, in which
he totally neglected oxygen. If he had used oxygen in the experiment,
methane would have decomposed into carbon dioxide and water, and ammonia
would have decomposed into nitrogen and water.
On the other hand, since no ozone layer
yet existed, no organic molecule could possibly have lived on earth
because it was entirely unprotected against intense ultraviolet rays.
In addition to a few amino acids essential for life, Miller's experiment
also produced many organic acids with characteristics that are quite
detrimental to the structures and functions of living things. If he
had not isolated the amino acids and had left them in the same environment
with these chemicals, their destruction or transformation into different
compounds through chemical reactions would have been unavoidable. Moreover,
a large number of right-handed amino acids also formed. The existence
of these amino acids alone refuted the theory, even within its own reasoning,
because right-handed amino acids are unable to function in the composition
of living organisms and render proteins useless when they are involved
in their composition.
To conclude, the circumstances in which
amino acids formed in Miller's experiment were not suitable for life
forms to come into being. The medium in which they formed was an acidic
mixture that destroyed and oxidized any useful molecules that might
have been obtained.
Evolutionists themselves actually refute
the theory of evolution, as they are often wont to do, by advancing
this experiment as "proof". If the experiment proves anything, it
is that amino acids can only be produced in a controlled laboratory
environment where all the necessary conditions have been specifically
and consciously designed. That is, the experiment shows that what
brings life (even the "near-life" of amino acids) into being cannot
be unconscious chance, but rather conscious will-in a word, Creation.
This is why every stage of Creation is a sign proving to us the existence
and might of Allah.
The Miraculous Molecule: DNA
The molecule called DNA contains the
complete construction plan of the human body.
The theory of evolution has been unable
to provide a coherent explanation for the existence of the molecules
that are the basis of the cell. Furthermore, developments in the science
of genetics and the discovery of the nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) have
produced brand-new problems for the theory of evolution.
In 1955, the work of two scientists on
DNA, James Watson and Francis Crick, launched a new era in biology.
Many scientists directed their attention to the science of genetics.
Today, after years of research, scientists have, largely, mapped the
structure of DNA.
Here, we need to give some very basic
information on the structure and function of DNA:
The molecule called DNA, which exists
in the nucleus of each of the 100 trillion cells in our body, contains
the complete construction plan of the human body. Information regarding
all the characteristics of a person, from the physical appearance
to the structure of the inner organs, is recorded in DNA by means
of a special coding system. The information in DNA is coded within
the sequence of four special bases that make up this molecule. These
bases are specified as A, T, G, and C according to the initial letters
of their names. All the structural differences among people depend
on the variations in the sequence of these bases. There are approximately
3.5 billion nucleotides, that is, 3.5 billion letters in a DNA molecule.
Ever since the very first human being,
the trillions of examples of DNA in the billions of human cells
have been appearing in the same state of perfection and complexity
as present. |
The DNA data pertaining to a particular
organ or protein is included in special components called "genes".
For instance, information about the eye exists in a series of special
genes, whereas information about the heart exists in quite another
series of genes. The cell produces proteins by using the information
in all of these genes. Amino acids that constitute the structure of
the protein are defined by the sequential arrangement of three nucleotides
in the DNA.
At this point, an important detail deserves
attention. An error in the sequence of nucleotides making up a gene
renders the gene completely useless. When we consider that there are
200 thousand genes in the human body, it becomes more evident how
impossible it is for the millions of nucleotides making up these genes
to form by accident in the right sequence. An evolutionist biologist,
Frank Salisbury, comments on this impossibility by saying:
A medium protein might
include about 300 amino acids. The DNA gene controlling this would
have about 1,000 nucleotides in its chain. Since there are four kinds
of nucleotides in a DNA chain, one consisting of 1,000 links could
exist in 41000 forms. Using a little algebra (logarithms),
we can see that 41000 =10600. Ten multiplied
by itself 600 times gives the figure 1 followed by 600 zeros! This
number is completely beyond our comprehension.5
The number 41000 is equivalent to 10600.
We obtain this number by adding 600 zeros to 1. As 10 with 11 zeros
indicates a trillion, a figure with 600 zeros is indeed a number that
is difficult to grasp.
Evolutionist Prof. Ali Demirsoy was forced
to make the following admission on this issue:
In fact, the probability
of the random formation of a protein and a nucleic acid (DNA-RNA)
is inconceivably small. The chances against the emergence of even
a particular protein chain are astronomic.6
In addition to all these improbabilities,
DNA can barely be involved in a reaction because of its double-chained
spiral shape. This also makes it impossible to think that it can be
the basis of life.
Moreover, while DNA can replicate only
with the help of some enzymes that are actually proteins, the synthesis
of these enzymes can be realized only by the information coded in
DNA. As they both depend on each other, either they have to exist
at the same time for replication, or one of them has had to be "created"
before the other. American microbiologist Jacobson comments on the
subject:
Direction for the
reproduction of plans, for energy and the extraction of parts from
the current environment, for the growth sequence, and for the effector
mechanism translating instructions into growth-all had to be simultaneously
present at that moment (when life began). This combination of events
has seemed an incredibly unlikely happenstance, and has often been
ascribed to divine intervention.7
The quotation above was written two years
after the disclosure of the structure of DNA by James Watson and Francis
Crick. Despite all the developments in science, this problem remains
unsolved for evolutionists. To sum up, the need for DNA in reproduction,
the necessity of the presence of some proteins for reproduction, and
the requirement to produce these proteins according to the information
in the DNA entirely demolish evolutionist theses.
Two German scientists, Junker and Scherer,
explained that the synthesis of each of the molecules required for
chemical evolution, necessitates distinct conditions, and that the
probability of the compounding of these materials having theoretically
very different acquirement methods is zero:
Until now, no experiment
is known in which we can obtain all the molecules necessary for chemical
evolution. Therefore, it is essential to produce various molecules
in different places under very suitable conditions and then to carry
them to another place for reaction by protecting them from harmful
elements like hydrolysis and photolysis.8
In short, the theory of evolution is
unable to prove any of the evolutionary stages that allegedly occur
at the molecular level.
To summarize what we have said so far,
neither amino acids nor their products, the proteins making up the
cells of living beings, could ever be produced in any so-called "primitive
atmosphere" environment. Moreover, factors such as the incredibly
complex structure of proteins, their right-hand, left-hand features,
and the difficulties in the formation of peptide bonds are just parts
of the reason why they will never be produced in any future experiment
either.
Even if we suppose for a moment that
proteins somehow did form accidentally, that would still have no meaning,
for proteins are nothing at all on their own: they cannot themselves
reproduce. Protein synthesis is only possible with the information
coded in DNA and RNA molecules. Without DNA and RNA, it is impossible
for a protein to reproduce. The specific sequence of the twenty different
amino acids encoded in DNA determines the structure of each protein
in the body. However, as has been made abundantly clear by all those
who have studied these molecules, it is impossible for DNA and RNA
to form by chance.
The Fact Of Creation
With the collapse of the theory of evolution
in every field, prominent names in the discipline of microbiology
today admit the fact of creation and have begun to defend the view
that everything is created by a conscious Creator as part of an exalted
creation. This is already a fact that people cannot disregard. Scientists
who can approach their work with an open mind have developed a view
called "intelligent design". Michael J. Behe, one of the foremost
of these scientists, states that he accepts the absolute being of
the Creator and describes the impasse of those who deny this fact:
The result of these
cumulative efforts to investigate the cell-to investigate life at
the molecular level-is a loud, clear, piercing cry of "design!" The
result is so unambiguous and so significant that it must be ranked
as one of the greatest achievements in the history of science. This
triumph of science should evoke cries of "Eureka" from ten thousand
throats.
But, no bottles have been uncorked,
no hands clapped. Instead, a curious, embarrassed silence surrounds
the stark complexity of the cell. When the subject comes up in public,
feet start to shuffle, and breathing gets a bit labored. In private
people are a bit more relaxed; many explicitly admit the obvious but
then stare at the ground, shake their heads, and let it go like that.
Why does the scientific community not greedily embrace its startling
discovery? Why is the observation of design handled with intellectual
gloves? The dilemma is that while one side of the [issue] is labeled
intelligent design, the other side must be labeled God.9
Today, many people are not even aware
that they are in a position of accepting a body of fallacy as truth
in the name of science, instead of believing in Allah. Those who do
not find the sentence "Allah created you from nothing" scientific
enough can believe that the first living being came into being by
thunderbolts striking a "primordial soup" billions of years ago.
As we have described elsewhere in this
book, the balances in nature are so delicate and so numerous that
it is entirely irrational to claim that they developed "by chance".
No matter how much those who cannot set themselves free from this
irrationality may strive, the signs of Allah in the heavens and the
earth are completely obvious and they are undeniable.
Allah is the Creator of the heavens,
the earth and all that is in between. The signs of His being have
encompassed the entire universe.
