Origin of Life -- by Shelby Smith

[Shelby Smith is a co-worker of mine at Creation Truth Foundation. He recently completed the Masters degree in Science Education. He specializes in field outings and other group science activities with home-school/Christian-school students. He is a scholar and Bible-believer. You may visit his blog at www.CreationTruth.com under "Blogs" under "Shelby's Blog."]

 

 Origin of Life

The faith based question, "When did life begin" is still trying to be solved by the evolutionary community to no avail. Darwin, himself, began with the idea that it all started in some warm little pond. Günter Wächtershäuser decided it must have arose in the deep see hydrothermal vents. Francis Crick and Leslie Orgel were privy to believing the idea of directed panspermia or that it was seeded here by aliens. Michael Ruse said in the "Expelled" movie life arose on the backs of crystals. Many said no oxygen could be present for life to exist, but the evolutionary interpretation of the data has shown that it was already present when life arose.

The latest idea came from Phillip Holliger and a team in a laboratory in Cambridge late last year. They say that heat may not be the solution to the problem and that instead of being warm primordial soup it was more like a gazpacho (i.e. cold soup). This is all because they placed an RNA molecule 190 amino acids long in a test tube and stuck it in the refrigerator for a while. The team showed the RNA could produce a chain of amino acids like the first life would be expected to do. However, this chain was only 32 amino acids long and could not even replicate itself given substantial time. Although it made much more progress in cold conditions this still does not explain how the first RNA got there to begin with! We see this experiment began with an intelligent source placing the components to make life in the test tube and even though the research team does not deny the problems they still believe that life arose from nothing. Therefore, with no data to support these claims we have, once again, a faith based idea! The soup boils down to believing in a Creator who specially created everything or it arising by chance from nothing.

Rachel Ehrenberg (Oct. 23, 2010). “Primordial soup served up cold: icy baths may have nurtured earliest replicating molecules.” Science News, vol. 178 #9 p. 11.