HOW DID LIFE BEGIN?

How would you complete the following sentence?

LIFE IS THE RESULT OF _____________   A. EVOLUTION
       
                                                                                            B. CREATION



SOME might assume that a scientifically-minded person would pick "evolution" and that a religious person would pick "creation."  But not always.  Rama Singh, professor of biology at Canada's McMaster University, says:  "The opposition to evolution goes beyond religious fundamentalism and includes  a great many people from educated sections of the population."

Consider Gerard, a professor of entomology who was taught evolution at college.  "When I took tests," he says, "I would give the professors the answers they wanted-but I did not believe it."   Why is it that even some scientifically-minded people have trouble accepting evolution as the origin of life?  To answer that, consider two questions that baffle many researchers:  (1) How did life get its start?  and(2) How did living things develop? 

1. How Did Life Gets Its Start?

Scientists can only speculate about what conditions on earth were like billions of years ago. they have differing views about where life began-for instance, whether within a volcano or under the ocean floor. Another belief is that life's building blocks first formed elsewhere in the universe and arrived here embedded in meteors. But that does not answer the question of how life began; it just pushes the issue farther into space. 

Scientist speculate about the existence of molecules that precede genetic material as we know it today.  These molecules are supposedly  more likely to arise spontaneously from inert material and are self-replicating. Yet, science has found no evidence that such molecules ever existed, nor have scientists been able to create any such molecule in a laboratory. 

Living things are unique in the way they store and process information. Cells convey, interpret, and carry out instructions contained within their genetic code. Some scientists liken the genetic code to computer software and the chemical structure of the cell to computer hardware. But evolution cannot explain the source of the information.

Protein molecules are necessary for the function of a cell. A typical protein molecule consists of hundreds of amino acids strung together in a specific sequence. Additionally, the protein molecule must fold into a specific three-dimensional shape for it to be useful.  Some scientists conclude that the odds of even one protein molecule forming spontaneously are extremely improbable.  "Since a functioning cell requires thousands of different proteins," writes physicist Paul Davies,  "it is not credible to suppose they formed by chance alone." 

CONCLUSION: After decades of research in virtually all branches of science, the fact remains that life comes only from preexisting life. 


Next  time: HOW DID LIFE BEGIN?/2. How Did Living Things Develop?

From the Awake! magazine