“Cells are largely made up of proteins (about a million per cell in thousands of varieties), and cells and proteins in turn form the body. Proteins ‘are the machines within living tissue that build the structures and carry out the chemical reactions necessary for life’ (Michael Behe, Darwin’s Black Box). Muscles, skin, hair, eyes, antibodies, enzymes (that produce essential chemical reactions such as breaking down sugar), and hormones are made of proteins. Blood clotting is accomplished by the proteins fibrinogen and thrombin. Hemoglobin in the red blood cell is a protein that allows oxygen to be transported to every part of the body. The proteins collagen and keratin, which are elastic and stronger than steel, make up skin, hair, and fingernails, as well as the structural support within the cell itself. The cell can make thousands of different types of proteins, each one amazingly complex in itself and designed for a specific function. For example, there are hundreds of types of proteins that bridge the cell membrane to act as gates and transporters. First the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) makes three kinds of RNA (ribonucleic acid). The RNA then reads the DNA’s complicated code, knowing exactly where to start and how to accomplish this task, working with the cell’s various organs to create proteins according to the master blueprint. This process is complex beyond words, and scientists are only beginning to understand small parts of it. Each protein is composed of a long string of 20 different amino acids, typically thousands in length, and each amino acid must be in exactly the right sequence for the protein to work. After the protein is strung together, it is folded and shaped perfectly within the cell’s factories and then transported to the right place. The right shaping is essential. Proteins require DNA for formation, but DNA is itself made up of proteins. ‘Because DNA and proteins depend so intimately on each other for their survival, it’s hard to imagine one of them having evolved first. But it’s just as implausible for them to have emerged simultaneously out of a prebiotic soup’ (Carl Zimmer, “How and Where Did Life on Earth Arise?” Science, Vol. 309, July 1, 2005, p. 89).” Seeing the Non-existent: Evolution’s Myths and Hoaxes , David Cloud, copyright 2011 Comments are closed.
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