I was thinking recently, about how many audiobooks are consumed by people these days. I would guess that the main reason behind this consumption is convenience. Many people just don’t have the time, or don’t create the time, to really sit down and get their head in a book. But I understand that for many, Read More…
Cell biology
At Evolution News: The Problem of Phosphorus
David Coppedge extends extends Michael Denton’s illumination of the prior fitness characteristics of Earth to sustain life as we know it.
At Quanta: Brain-Signal Proteins Evolved Before Animals Did
Researchers found that, “choanoflagellates made protein precursors of two mature neuropeptides, phoenixin and nesfatin.”
At Sci-News: Chromatin First Evolved in Ancient Microbes 1-2 Billion Years Ago, New Research Suggests
Scientists hypothesize that chromatin evolved in this microbe as a result of selective pressures in the primordial environment of Earth.
Decoding a key part of the cell, atom by atom
In an article published in Science, researchers report progress on the determination of the structure of the nuclear pore complex, “an incredibly discriminating gatekeeper for the cell’s nucleus.”
Scientists determine structure of key factor in RNA quality control
Researchers: In biology, getting rid of stuff can be just as important as making it. A buildup of cells, proteins, or other molecules that are no longer needed can cause problems, so living things have evolved several ways to clean house.
Eukaryogenesis: The Rise of an Emergent Superorganism
In his lengthy article, Bell draws attention to evolutionary hurdles to the origin of eukaryotic cells. The “chasm” between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells is causing a re-think of the universal common ancestor notion.
From the Intelligent Design Academy: Quantum mechanic communication in cells – A paradigm shift in biology
The worldview in which Darwinism made sense will not survive quantum mechanics.
Reasons to Believe: Should we Expect Efficiency Inside the Cell?
Jeff Zweerink, senior research scholar at Reasons to Believe, discusses the movement efficiency of Kinesin-1 in the context of a perceived design inefficiency in the reconnaissance aircraft SR-71.
Are all those codes used by cells really “codes”?
One biologist thinks that only DNA is really a code. David Coppedge disagrees. Coppedge: But it seems fair to categorize codes separately if they contain unique information and produce unique results. Even if histones are built from DNA, once they are assembled, they no longer rely on the genetic code.
Researchers: Eukaryotes got started from a merger between bacteria and archaea, without oxygen
On the whole, it might be easier to conclude that the timing is somewhat off than that complex life started without oxygen. But symbiosis is an intriguing theory nonetheless.
Researchers: Cells organize themselves in our organs by increasing in volume when tissues bend
“The fact that this increase in volume is staggered in time and transient also shows that it is an active and living system,” adds a researcher. Once again, we are expected to believe that such a system can just develop in a gradual Darwinian fashion.
Researchers: A key cell division protein is still a puzzle
In other words, contrary to expectation, the system is even more complex than supposed. At this point, unguided evolution becomes overwhelmingly implausible because it would take only one misstep to end the process. But people believe what they believe.
Before dividing, cells toss out waste products
Researcher: “Our hypothesis is that cells might be throwing out things that are building up, toxic components or just things that don’t function properly that you don’t want to have there. It could allow the newborn cells to be born with more functional contents,” says Teemu Miettinen, an MIT research scientist and the lead author of the new study.
David Coppedge on cell division as another “hurdle for evolution”
Coppedge: The two daughter cells face a massive organization problem. Even though they contain the same DNA code, they will take on separate roles in the cell. This means that the accessibility of genes between the two cells must radically differ.