A “Sulfur-For-Phosphorus” Strategy

More and more, it seems to me, the arguments for evolution seem to be aimed at little more than preserving the materialists' Epicurean ataraxia. jstanley01

timothya, well wasn't that a serendipitous little miracle. I think the Dr. Behe video I, unbeknownst to your question @4, posted @6, answers your question much more effectively than I can. bornagain77

OT: On November 16, 2012 at the University of Toronto, Dr. Michael Behe presented a strong case for the evidence of design from biology. Watch for yourself to see if the empirical evidence he presents is convincing. Evidence of Design from Biology. A Presentation by Dr. Michael Behe at the University of Toronto - video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6XAXjiyRfM bornagain77

OT: On November 15th, 2012, Dr. Michael Behe gave a presentation at the University of Toronto to a stand only crowd. What are the Limits of Darwinism? A Presentation by Dr. Michael Behe at the University of Toronto - video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_XN8s-zXx4 video description: How much of life does Darwin's theory explain? Most scientists believe it accounts for everything from the machinery of the cell to the history of life on earth. Darwin's proposed mechanism -- random mutation and natural selection -- has been accepted largely as a matter of faith and deduction or, at best, circumstantial evidence. Only now, thanks to genetics, does science allow us to seek direct evidence. The genomes of many organisms have been sequenced, and the machinery of the cell has been analyzed in great detail. The evolutionary responses of microorganisms to antibiotics and humans to parasitic infections have been traced over tens of thousands of generations. As a result, for the first time in history Darwin's theory can be rigorously evaluated. The results are shocking. Although it can explain marginal changes in evolutionary history, random mutation and natural selection explain very little of the basic machinery of life. The "edge" of evolution, a line that defines the border between random and nonrandom mutation, lies very far from where Darwin pointed. Behe argues convincingly that most of the mutations that have defined the history of life on earth have been nonrandom. Although it will be controversial and stunning, this finding actually fits a general pattern discovered by other branches of science in recent decades: The universe as a whole was fine-tuned for life. From physics to cosmology to chemistry to biology, life on earth stands revealed as depending upon an endless series of unlikely events. The clear conclusion: The universe was designed for life" [description from his recent book: "The Edge of Evolution" (Free Press, 2008)]. Dr. Michael Behe is the author of "Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution," which The Washington Times described as "A persuasive book." He has written, in addition to numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, editorial features in the Boston Review, American Spectator, and The New York Times. bornagain77

OT: HMM,, turns out the genetic code is far stricter on proper word usage, and spelling, than any high school English teacher would ever think of being,, 'Snooze Button' On Biological Clocks Improves Cell Adaptability - Feb. 17, 2013 Excerpt: Like many written languages, the genetic code is filled with synonyms: differently spelled "words" that have the same or very similar meanings. For a long time, biologists thought that these synonyms, called synonymous codons, were in fact interchangeable. Recently, they have realized that this is not the case and that differences in synonymous codon usage have a significant impact on cellular processes,, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130217134246.htm Another surprise that cuts against the reductive materialistic grain of neo-Darwinism, is found in this paper,,, Stay Cool and Live Longer? Genetic Program Promotes Longevity in Cold Environments - Feb. 14, 2013 Excerpt: "But now, at least in roundworms, the extended lifespan observed at low temperature cannot be simply explained by a reduced rate of chemical reactions," Xu said. "It's, in fact, an active process that is regulated by genes." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130214132617.htm Moreover, in the following paper, shouldn't they have said that they 'reverse evolved' the proteins instead of saying that they 'reverse engineered' the proteins? 'Bionic Proteins': Nano-Machines Recreate Protein Activities - Feb. 15, 2013 Excerpt: Using computer simulations, they reverse engineered proteins by focusing on the key elements that give them the ability to execute the program written in the genetic code. The computationally very intensive simulations have been made possible by access to the powerful Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC), a high performance computing infrastructure operated jointly by the University of Vienna, the Vienna University of Technology and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130217084908.htm bornagain77

BA posted this:

It is very interesting how all these different types of microbial life, instead of eating us (which would be the most parsimonious ‘Darwinian’ explanation),,, ,,,instead of eating us, time after time these different types of microbial life are found to be helping us in essential ways,,,

Can you explain why you think microbes are required to eat "us" according to your most parsimonious version of evolutionary theory? I have no idea what you mean. Syphilis, for example, is a consequence of the interaction between microbial life and human beings, as is malaria and on and on - are the microbes involved "helping us in essential ways"? (Note that the syphilis and malarial vectors are excellent examples of the natural evolution of microbes in the face of selection factors introduced into their environment by humans.) timothya

Of related interest: Doug Axe: Lignin & the Coherent Design of the Ecosystem - podcast Excerpt: Lignin provides a paradoxical case for the Darwinian method of evolution, but fits perfectly into a design oriented scientific paradigm. Thirty percent of non-fossil organic carbon on the planet is lignin, so in a Darwinian world, something should have developed the ability to consume lignin--but it hasn't. Lignin binds together and protects plant cellulose, which is vital to all types of large plant life; "The peculiar properties of lignin therefore make perfect sense when seen as part of a coherent design for the entire ecosystem of our planet." http://www.idthefuture.com/2012/08/doug_axe_lignin_the_coherent_d.html The Lignin Enigma By Ann Gauger - July 2012 Excerpt: How can one mechanism [Darwinism] have been at the same time so effective and so ineffective? That tension vanishes completely when the design perspective is adopted. Terrestrial animal life is crucially dependent on terrestrial plant life, which is crucially dependent on soil, which is crucially dependent on the gradual photo- and biodegradation of lignin. Fungi accomplish the biodegradation, and the surprising fact that it costs them energy to do so keeps the process gradual. The peculiar properties of lignin therefore make perfect sense when seen as part of a coherent design for the entire ecosystem. http://www.biologicinstitute.org/post/26379997641/the-lignin-enigma Darwinists tried, and failed, to overturn the Lignin egnigma: Lignin: The Enigma Remains - Ann Gauger - July 2012 http://www.evolutionnews.org/2012/07/lignin_the_enig_2061821.html bornagain77

Supplemental notes:

Bacterial Heavy Metal Detoxification and Resistance Systems: Excerpt: Bacterial plasmids contain genetic determinants for resistance systems for Hg2+ (and organomercurials), Cd2+, AsO2, AsO43-, CrO4 2-, TeO3 2-, Cu2+, Ag+, Co2+, Pb2+, and other metals of environmental concern.,, Recombinant DNA analysis has been applied to mercury, cadmium, zinc, cobalt, arsenic, chromate, tellurium and copper resistance systems. http://link.springer.com/search?query=Bacterial+Heavy+Metal+Detoxification+and+Resistance+Systems%3A The role of bacteria in hydrogeochemistry, metal cycling and ore deposit formation: Textures of sulfide minerals formed by SRB (sulfate-reducing bacteria) during bioremediation (most notably pyrite and sphalerite) have textures reminiscent of those in certain sediment-hosted ores, supporting the concept that SRB may have been directly involved in forming ore minerals. http://www.goldschmidt2009.org/abstracts/finalPDFs/A1161.pdf Newly Discovered Bacterium Forms Intracellular Minerals - May 11, 2012 Excerpt: A new species of photosynthetic bacterium has come to light: it is able to control the formation of minerals (calcium, magnesium, barium and strontium carbonates) within its own organism. ,, carbonate rocks that date back some 3.5 billion years and are among the earliest traces of life on Earth. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120511101352.htm

(Calcium carbonate, of which chalk, limestone and marble are made, also makes up corals, shells of snails and other animals, and stromatolites. Strontium Carbonate is used in Ceramics, Pyrotechnics, Electronics and metallurgy. Barium carbonate is widely used in the ceramics industry as an ingredient in glazes. It acts as a flux, a matting and crystallizing agent and combines with certain colouring oxides to produce unique colours not easily attainable by other means. In the brick, tile, earthenware and pottery industries barium carbonate is added to clays to precipitate soluble salts. Magnesium carbonate also has several important uses for man.)

The Creation of Minerals: Excerpt: Thanks to the way life was introduced on Earth, the early 250 mineral species have exploded to the present 4,300 known mineral species. And because of this abundance, humans possessed all the necessary mineral resources to easily launch and sustain global, high-technology civilization. http://www.reasons.org/The-Creation-of-Minerals "Today there are about 4,400 known minerals - more than two-thirds of which came into being only because of the way life changed the planet. Some of them were created exclusively by living organisms" - Bob Hazen - Smithsonian - Oct. 2010, pg. 54

To put it mildly, this minimization of poisonous elements, and 'explosion' of useful minerals, is strong evidence for Intelligently Designed terra-forming of the earth that 'just so happens' to be of great benefit to modern man. bornagain77

It is very interesting how all these different types of microbial life, instead of eating us (which would be the most parsimonious 'Darwinian' explanation),,,

Richard Dawkins interview with a 'Darwinian' physician goes off track - video Excerpt: "I am amazed, Richard, that what we call metazoans, multi-celled organisms, have actually been able to evolve, and the reason [for amazement] is that bacteria and viruses replicate so quickly -- a few hours sometimes, they can reproduce themselves -- that they can evolve very, very quickly. And we're stuck with twenty years at least between generations. How is it that we resist infection when they can evolve so quickly to find ways around our defenses?" http://www.evolutionnews.org/2012/07/video_to_dawkin062031.html

,,,instead of eating us, time after time these different types of microbial life are found to be helping us in essential ways,,,

NIH Human Microbiome Project defines normal bacterial makeup of the body - June 13, 2012 Excerpt: Microbes inhabit just about every part of the human body, living on the skin, in the gut, and up the nose. Sometimes they cause sickness, but most of the time, microorganisms live in harmony with their human hosts, providing vital functions essential for human survival. http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jun2012/nhgri-13.htm Roots and Microbes: Bringing a Complex Underground Ecology Into the Lab - August 2012 Excerpt: As many as 120 different types of bacteria might reside inside the root of a single plant, Dangl says, and the composition of that community is distinct from the microbial population in the local soil. "We want to know the molecular rules that guide the assembly of a community of microbes on the roots that helps a plant grow. Ecologists see this as a 120-variable problem. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120801132440.htm

Moreover microbial life, besides helping us in a multitude of ways and instead of 'eating us', provide a foundational irreducibly complex 'biogeochemical web' that makes it possible for us to live on earth in the first place:

The Microbial Engines That Drive Earth’s Biogeochemical Cycles - Falkowski 2008 Excerpt: Microbial life can easily live without us; we, however, cannot survive without the global catalysis and environmental transformations it provides. - Paul G. Falkowski - Professor Geological Sciences - Rutgers http://www.genetics.iastate.edu/delong1.pdf Biologically mediated cycles for hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and iron - image of interdependent 'biogeochemical' web http://www.sciencemag.org/content/320/5879/1034/F2.large.jpg Microbial Mat Ecology – Image on page 92 (third page down) http://www.dsls.usra.edu/biologycourse/workbook/Unit2.2.pdf

,,,Please note, that if even one type of bacteria group did not exist in this complex cycle of biogeochemical interdependence, that was illustrated on the third page of the preceding site, then all of the different bacteria would soon die out. This essential biogeochemical interdependence, of the most primitive different types of bacteria that we have evidence of on ancient earth, makes the origin of life ‘problem’ for neo-Darwinists that much worse. For now not only do neo-Darwinists have to explain how the ‘miracle of life’ happened once with the origin of photosynthetic bacteria, but they must now also explain how all these different types bacteria, that photosynthetic bacteria are dependent on, in this irreducibly complex biogeochemical web, miraculously arose just in time to supply the necessary nutrients, in their biogeochemical link in the chain, for photosynthetic bacteria to continue to survive. As well, though not clearly illustrated in the illustration on the preceding site, please note that a long term tectonic cycle, of the turnover the Earth’s crustal rocks, must also be fine-tuned to a certain degree with the bacteria and thus plays a important ‘foundational’ role in the overall ecology of the biogeochemical system that must be accounted for as well. Materialism simply has no coherent answers for why these different bacterial types, biogeochemical processes,,, etc.., would start working in precise concert with each other preparing the earth for future life to appear from the very start of their existence on earth. As a side issue to these complex interdependent biogeochemical relationships, of the 'simplest' bacteria on Earth that provide the foundation for a 'friendly' environment on Earth that is hospitable to higher lifeforms above them to exist on earth, it is also interesting to note man's embarrassing failure to build a miniature, self-enclosed, ecology in which humans could live for any extended periods of time due to the delicate balance that must be maintained.

Biosphere 2 – What Went Wrong? Excerpt: Other Problems Biosphere II’s water systems became polluted with too many nutrients. The crew had to clean their water by running it over mats of algae, which they later dried and stored. Also, as a symptom of further atmospheric imbalances, the level of dinitrogen oxide became dangerously high. At these levels, there was a risk of brain damage due to a reduction in the synthesis of vitamin B12. http://biology.kenyon.edu/slonc/bio3/2000projects/carroll_d_walker_e/whatwentwrong.html

Just how finely tuned some of these biogeochemical processes are is revealed by these following study:

Engineering and Science Magazine - Caltech - March 2010 Excerpt: “Without these microbes, the planet would run out of biologically available nitrogen in less than a month,” Realizations like this are stimulating a flourishing field of “geobiology” – the study of relationships between life and the earth. One member of the Caltech team commented, “If all bacteria and archaea just stopped functioning, life on Earth would come to an abrupt halt.” Microbes are key players in earth’s nutrient cycles. Dr. Orphan added, “...every fifth breath you take, thank a microbe.” http://www.creationsafaris.com/crev201003.htm#20100316a Planet's Nitrogen Cycle Overturned - Oct. 2009 Excerpt: "Ammonia is a waste product that can be toxic to animals.,,, archaea can scavenge nitrogen-containing ammonia in the most barren environments of the deep sea, solving a long-running mystery of how the microorganisms can survive in that environment. Archaea therefore not only play a role, but are central to the planetary nitrogen cycles on which all life depends.,,,the organism can survive on a mere whiff of ammonia – 10 nanomolar concentration, equivalent to a teaspoon of ammonia salt in 10 million gallons of water." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090930132656.htm

bornagain77