Showing posts with label irreducible complexity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label irreducible complexity. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

The Spaghettification of Irreducible Complexity - Dr. Robert Carter



Irreducible Complexity describes a system that requires all of its parts for it to function, i.e., a mousetrap. Cells need to make molecular machines, i.e., ATP synthase rotors. To make each protein to produce a rotor often requires hundreds of steps, but to produce those proteins, the functioning rotor is required. The 'spaghettification' of irreducible complexity is a true Achille's heel for evolution. To learn more about Midwest Creation Fellowship and find out when and where you can attend our monthly presentations, please visit our website: midwestcreationfellowship.org

DR ROBERT CARTER

Ph.D.

Biography

Education

  • 2003 University of Miami, Ph.D. Marine Biology
  • 1992 Georgia Institute of Technology, B.S. Applied Biology

Professional Experience

  • Between my undergraduate and graduate work, I spent four years teaching high school science at a large college-prep school in NW Georgia. In addition to my teaching load (including AP biology, chemistry, physics, and electronics), I spent the winter months coaching the swimming and diving teams and the summer months running the outdoor high adventure program.
  • In 1996, I was awarded the three-year Maytag doctoral fellowship by the University of Miami. When that expired, I received a one-year fellowship from the Institute for Marine Science. While working on my PhD, I designed and performed many experiments in marine ecology and genetic engineering and helped to develop new protocols for the rapid cloning of fluorescent protein genes. The green and red fluorescent proteins my coworker and I cloned from hard and soft corals were used to create transgenic zebrafish. We patented one of these protein genes and licensed it to Promega, Inc. under the trade name ‘Monster Green’.
  • From 2001–2004, I helped design and build an aquaculture facility for Caribbean corals at UM’s Experimental Fish Hatchery. During these years I also performed over 500 research dives on the shallow coral reefs of the Florida Keys and Bahamas. Many of these were done at night to study the mass coral spawning episodes that happen at specific times during the warm summers.
  • I spent two years after obtaining my PhD working for an engineering company, mainly focused on impact mitigation for the Key West Harbor dredging project (since the channel runs right through the coral reef).
  • Upon leaving Miami, I was hired by the Institute for Creation Research to help on their GENE project. While there, I wrote computer programs to analyze human genetic data and managed to get one publication on this work into the secular literature.
  • In 2006, I was hired by Creation Ministries International as a scientist, speaker, and writer.
  • Currently, I serve on Creation Research Society board of directors and am a member of Logos Research Associates.

Secular Publications and Patents

Creationist papers and articles

Bible

Genetics

Genetic entropy

 

Human genetic history

Genetic design and information

Cloning and genetic engineering

Neandertals

Archaeology

Corals

Dinosaurs

Apologetics, how to think

Refuting fallacious thinking and bad science

Design features

Darwin and Darwinism

Radiocarbon dating

Interviews (both by and of Dr Carter)

Book reviews

 Marine Biology, Speaker/Senior Scientist, CMI-US
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Thursday, May 15, 2014

Cellular Complexity - Dr. Georgia Purdom



Contemporaries to Charles Darwin, Thomas H. Huxley and Ernst Haeckel wrote about the idea that cells were essentially simple and formed as Darwin wrote "in some warm little pond". Review http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/tj/v18/n2/abiogenesis. With better microscopes and scientific experimentation we have come to see a whole world of complexity within the cell. The complex cell is in many ways like a city.

In this video, Jim Bendewald interviews Dr. Georgia Purdom on staff with Answers in Genesis. The discussion includes a fascinating look at the various organelles and functions of the cell. In addition to the interview are wonderful illustrations using animated graphics. In this video you will see for yourself the immense complexity built into our cells. While evolution predicts simplicity and requires simplicity, the reality is the cells contain unfathomable complexity inferring design as the best explanation.





Georgia Purdom, Ph.D., molecular genetics, Ohio State University

AiG-US speaker and researcher

Dr. Georgia Purdom is a compelling and dynamic lecturer and well qualified to speak on the relevance of Genesis to the issue of biblical authority. She is the only female Ph.D. scientist engaged in full-time speaking and research for a biblical creationist organization in North America. Dr. Purdom states, “A proper understanding of Genesis is very important because it is foundational to biblical authority and a Christian worldview. It’s about so much more than the creation/evolution controversy. It’s about the truthfulness and authority of God’s Word.”

Education and Professional Experience

Dr. Purdom graduated with a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from Ohio State University in 2000. Her specialty is cellular and molecular biology. Dr. Purdom’s graduate work focused on genetic regulation of factors important for bone remodeling. She has published papers in the Journal of Neuroscience (under her maiden name Hickman), the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research and the Journal of Leukocyte Biology. She is a member of the American Society for Microbiology and American Society for Cell Biology. Following graduation, Dr. Purdom served as a professor of biology for six years at Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Ohio.

Research Interests

Dr. Purdom is a member of the Creation Research Society and serves on the editorial board and executive council of BSG: A Creation Biology Study Group. She serves as a peer reviewer for Answers Research Journal and Creation Research Science Quarterly. Dr. Purdom along with Dr. Joseph Francis of Master’s College are co-founders of the Microbe Forum. This forum sponsors research, collaboration, and conferences in the field of creation microbiology.
Dr. Purdom’s scientific research focuses on the roles of natural selection and mutation in microbial populations. She seeks to understand the original, created, “very good” roles of bacteria in the pre-Fall world and genetic mechanisms that have led to their adaptations and pathogenicity in a post-Fall world. She has presented her research in this field at two Microbe Forum conferences and the 2008 International Conference on Creationism. Dr. Purdom also has published papers in the 2008 Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism and Answers Research Journal. In addition, she has numerous lay-friendly and semi-technical articles in Answers magazine and on the AiG website.
Dr. Purdom’s expertise in natural selection was crucial in her design of the “Natural Selection Is Not Evolution” exhibit at the Creation Museum. She is also interested in studying the formation of stromatolites, animal speciation after the Flood, and the Intelligent Design Movement.

Speaking Interests

Dr. Purdom describes herself as a “teacher at heart” and this is clearly displayed in her presentations. As a former biology professor, she has the experience necessary to make scientific concepts understandable to a wide variety of people. Dr. Purdom has both general and in-depth presentations. She is a regular speaker in the Creation Museum Speaker Series and has spoken at many AiG conferences.
Dr. Purdom also has a passion to help women understand the importance of Genesis for their roles as wives and mothers and is an excellent choice to speak to women’s groups. As a wife and mother herself she has a vested interest in understanding what Genesis has to say to women.

Dr. Purdom’s DVDs:

Dr. Purdom’s DVDs in production (available in 2009-2010)

  • Wonder of the Cell
  • Genetics, Evolution, and Creation: Most Asked Questions
  • All Creatures Great and Small: Microbes and Creation
  • Hope Amid Despair: The Legacy of Eve (for women)

Dr. Purdom’s general presentations:

  • Is Genesis Relevant in Today’s World?
  • Only One Race: The Biblical Answer to Racism
  • Biblical Authority and the Six Days of Creation
  • The Power of Creation Evangelism
  • Why is There So Much Pain and Suffering in the World?
  • Wonder of the Cell
  • The Code of Life: DNA, Information, and Mutation
  • My Plans, God’s Detours (personal testimony)

Dr. Purdom’s in-depth presentations:

  • The Intelligent Design Movement: How Intelligent Is It?
  • Genetics, Evolution, and Creation: Most Asked Questions
  • All Creatures Great and Small: Microbes and Creation

Dr. Purdom’s presentations for women audiences:

  • Hope Amid Despair: The Legacy of Eve
  • What’s the Big Deal? Why God’s Word Matters From the Very Beginning
  • Fighting Truth Decay: Bringing the Bible to Life
  • Why? Answering Life’s Toughest Questions About God and Suffering
  • The Biblical Answer to Racism Meets Motherhood
  • My Plans, God’s Detours (personal testimony)

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Tuesday, August 27, 2013

The Eye Designed or Evolved? - Dr. George Marshall



The Eye Designed or Evolved?

Dr. George Marshall
Did the eye evolve from a simple layer of photo-sensitive cells into the eyes that we have today? Darwin remarked that ... "several facts make me suspect that any sensitive nerve may be rendered sensitive to light" ... but how do photo-sensitive cells work? Is the invertebrate eye really wired the wrong way round? Dr George Marshall an expert in anatomy, who specialised in the human eye for several years answers these questions and many more.

Downloads

Resolution: 480 x 320 (MP4) (right click to download)

The following article appeared in Creation Magazine a number of years ago.

An Eye for Creation

An Interview with Eye-Disease Researcher Dr George Marshall, University of Glasgow, Scotland

September 1, 1996

Featured In

This Issue
Dr George Marshall obtained his B.Sc. (Hons.) in Biology at the University of Strathclyde in 1984. He conducted research into bone marrow cancer at the University of Sheffield for three years until invalided out with a serious, normally incurable illness. He was dramatically healed of this in November 1987 and soon obtained an M.Med.Sci. from Sheffield. He then worked at the University of Manchester before taking up a post at the University of Glasgow in 1988. He obtained his Ph.D. in Ophthalmic Science at Glasgow in 1991 and was elected to chartered biologist (C.Biol.) status and to membership of the Institute of Biology (M.I.Biol.) in 1993. He is now Sir Jules Thorn Lecturer in Ophthalmic Science.

Creation magazine [CM]: Dr Marshall, you wrote to us to comment on the article “Seeing back to front” which appeared in the March–May 1996 issue of Creation magazine. What was your comment?
Dr George Marshall [GM]: I pointed out that the principal reason as to why the eye cannot be regarded as being wired backward (as some evolutionists claim) was hidden in a footnote in your article.

CM: Would you care to elaborate?
Dr George Marshall
Dr George Marshall,
an eye-disease researcher from
the University of Glasgow,
Scotland
GM: The light-detecting structures within photoreceptor cells are located in the stack of discs. These discs are being continually replaced by the formation of new ones at the cell body end of the stack, thereby pushing older discs down the stack. Those discs at the other end of the stack are ‘swallowed’ by a single layer of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. RPE cells are highly active, and for this they need a very large blood supply—the choroid. Unlike the retina, which is virtually transparent, the choroid is virtually opaque, because of the vast numbers of red blood cells within it. For the retina to be wired the way that Professor Richard Dawkins suggested, would require the choroid to come between the photoreceptor cells and the light, for RPE cells must be kept in intimate contact with both the choroid and photoreceptor to perform their job. Anybody who has had the misfortune of a hemorrhage in front of the retina will testify as to how well red blood cells block out the light.
Then what do you think of the idea that the eye is wired backward?
The notion that the eye was wired backward occurred to me as a 13-year-old when studying eye anatomy in a school science class. It took me two years of lecturing on human eye anatomy to realize why the eye is wired the way it is. The idea that the eye is wired backward comes from a lack of knowledge of eye function and anatomy.
How do you react to the notion that the human eye is the product of evolution?
The more I study the human eye, the harder it is to believe that it evolved. Most people see the miracle of sight. I see a miracle of complexity on viewing things at 100,000 times magnification. It is the perfection of this complexity that causes me to baulk at evolutionary theory.
Can you give our readers some idea of just how complex the eye is?
The retina is probably the most complicated tissue in the whole body. Millions of nerve cells interconnect in a fantastic number of ways to form a miniature ‘brain’. Much of what the photoreceptors ‘see’ is interpreted and processed by the retina long before it enters the brain.
A computer program has allegedly ‘imitated’ the evolution of an eye. Do you accept this?
Those who produced this model would acknowledge that the model is such a gross oversimplification that it cannot be cited as a proof. May I quote a colleague’s reaction [Dr John Hay, B.Sc.(Hons), Ph.D., M.Sc., C.Biol., F.I.Biol.]:
‘Computer simulation of evolutionary processes such as that described have three important flaws. First, the findings imply that the development which is being measured over so many generations is independent of development of other structures which are necessary for function. Second, the changes observed from the simulation are dependent on the original data input which clearly is consequent to human design of the sequences/regions to be worked on and also the program(s) which are used for the simulation. These are not, therefore, random. The third aspect of all this is that there is translation error in such simulations involving computer hardware/software. This can take the form of electronic error in single bits which are coding for a particular digit. Over many loops in this performance, intrinsic error can be magnified considerably. Was the simulation repeated using different PCs etc.? One feels that these three arguments are essential to any computer simulation package of evolutionary processes.
‘My first point indicated that even if there is an eye, it will be useless unless the organism has the neural and/or the mental processes to utilize information perceived by the eye. How can a chance mutation provide this complexity in several different structures? The argument has usually been that there is a plausible intermediate series of eye-designs in living animals, e.g. Euglena has an eyespot; other organisms have a “cup” which acts as a direction finder.
‘However, the organism which defies this evolution is Nautilus. It has a primitive eye with no lens, which is somewhat surprising considering that its close relative, the squid, has one. This organism has (apparently!) been around for millions of years but has never “evolved” a lens despite the fact that it has a retina which would benefit from this simple change.’
What exactly does your work involve?
Lecturing to doctors in medicine who have specialized in ophthalmology and are attempting to gain fellowship with the Royal College of Ophthalmology (FRCOphth). However, my main remit is research into eye diseases using a combination of transmission electron microscopy and immunocytochemistry—a technique that uses antibodies to locate specific proteins such as enzymes.
Do you believe that accepting creation as portrayed in Genesis is essential to your Christian faith?
Yes! On not literally accepting the Genesis account of creation one is left with a major problem—what Scriptures do you accept as true and what Scriptures do you reject as false? Only by accepting the whole of Scripture as the inspired Word of God does one avoid this dilemma. There are Scriptures that are a source of stumbling to the intellect. My practice is to ‘pigeon-hole’ them temporarily and never allow them to be a stumbling block to my faith. It’s amazing how many of these knotty problems have subsequently resolved themselves. Thus Genesis creation may initially appear to be hard to accept, but it strikes me that evolution is equally if not more problematic to believe.
How useful do you find Creation magazine?
Its principal value is that it challenges what is uncritically accepted. Watch any TV program involving nature and you would think that evolution is an established fact. People get bombarded with this so often that they accept it without thinking. Creation magazine makes people realize that it is only a proposal and not fact. There are numerous places in my hospital where I can leave copies on coffee tables to get people to think for themselves.
What advice would you have for Christian students, or for Christians in a science course or teaching situation?
First, recognize that science can become a ‘religion’ in its own right. Scientists say something, so the general public (the ‘worshippers’) accept it without question. Scientists are much more cautious about one another’s findings. Second, science is not static. The science of today is quite different in many ways from the science of yesterday, and will probably bear little resemblance to the science of tomorrow. People once believed in ‘spontaneous generation’ which could be ‘proved’ by putting an old sack and a few bits of cheese in a dark corner. Mice spontaneously generated out of the sack. We laugh at such notions, but I suspect that in a hundred years’ time people will laugh at some of our scientific notions. Third, one can still become an eminent scientist without accepting evolutionary dogma; the ability to produce sound science in the laboratory is not diminished by one’s stance on creation.
Dr Marshall, thank you very much.

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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Birds and Flight - Evolution Impossible | Andy McIntosh



Birds and Flight

Andy McIntosh
Andy McIntosh is a Professor of thermodynamics. In this talk at an Edinburgh Creation Group meeting, he examines the structures that enable creatures to fly. He asks could these structures have arisen gradually by natural selection or do they make up a system, where each part is needed fully formed, before the others are of use? This talk starts by looking at bird navigation and ends by comparing the lungs of birds with those of dinosaurs. This is a fascinating exploration of flight.
Artist with vivid imagination.
“Dinosaur into Bird” artwork by paleoartist Mark Hallett, part of “The Dinosaur Postcard Book” (1987) from Running Press
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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

The Dictionary of Life | Origins with Dr. Paul A. Nelson



Dr. Nelson breaks down some of the amazingly complex functions of the most simple cells. The simplest cell is to complex to have come from non-life or evolved.






Paul Nelson

Ph.D. Philosophy, University of Chicago

Paul Nelson is currently a Fellow of the Discovery Institute and Adjunct Professor in the MA Program in Science & Religion at Biola University. Paul’s articles have appeared in Biology & Philosophy, Zygon, Rhetoric and Public Affairs, and Touchstone, and chapters in the anthologies Mere Creation, Signs of Intelligence, Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics, and Darwin, Design, and Public Education. His forthcoming monograph, On Common Descent, critically evaluates the theory of common descent. Paul is a member of the Society for Developmental Biology (SDB) and the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB). Paul is married to Suzanne Nelson, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University; they reside in Glenview, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) with their two daughters, Hannah (14) and Olivia (12).
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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Simple Cells Complex Realities | Origins with Dr. Paul A. Nelson



Simple Cells Complex Realities with Dr. Paul A. Nelson
Paul A. Nelson is currently a Fellow of the Discovery Institute and Adjunct Professor in the Master of Arts Program in Science & Religion at Biola University. He is a philosopher of biology who has been involved in the intelligent design debate internationally for over two decades. His grandfather, Byron C. Nelson (1893-1972), a theologian and author, was an influential mid-20th century dissenter from Darwinian evolution. After Paul received his B.A. in philosophy with a minor in evolutionary biology from the University of Pittsburgh, he entered the University of Chicago, where he received his Ph.D. (1998) in the philosophy of biology and evolutionary theory.

As an early associate of Professor Phillip Johnson of UC-Berkeley, author of the bestselling critique Darwin on Trial, Paul was an organizer of the Mere Creation conference (1996), where the modern intelligent design research community first formed. His research interests include the relationship between developmental biology and our knowledge of the history of life, the theory of intelligent design, and the interaction of science and theology. Paul lectures frequently at colleges and universities throughout the United States and Europe, has spoken on American and Italian national public radio, and written for popular publications as varied as the Oslo Dagbladet and the Christian Research Journal.

Nelson’s scholarly articles have appeared in journals such as Biology & Philosophy, Zygon, Rhetoric and Public Affairs, and Touchstone, and book chapters in the anthologies Mere Creation (Intervarsity Press), Signs of Intelligence (Brazos), Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics (MIT Press), and Darwin, Design, and Public Education (Michigan State University Press). Paul is one of the authors of the biology textbook Explore Evolution, and has appeared in several films on intelligent design for Illustra Media. He is a member of the Society for Developmental Biology (SDB) and the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB)

Articles by Paul Nelson
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Saturday, October 13, 2012

The Multidimensional Genome - Dr. Robert Carter - Creation Super Conference 2011



The Multidimensional Genome

The human genome is an incredibly complex computer program that operates in at least four dimensions. This includes the 1-D linear string of DNA, the 2-D interactions between different parts of the 1-D string, the 3-D conformation of the DNA in the nucleus, and the changes to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd dimensions over time (making the genome 4-D).

The complexity of the genome was not predicted by evolutionary theorists and their resistance to an increased understanding of this complexity has hindered scientific advancement. Not only that, but the level of complexity, even as currently understood, is extremely difficult for evolution to explain, and our knowledge of this complexity is increasing daily. In The Origin of Species, Darwin famously said, "If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down."

My challenge to the evolutionist is to explain the origin of the genome using a workable scenario that includes the source of informational changes, an account of the amount of mutation necessary, and a description of the selective forces necessary, all within the proper time frame. I claim the genome could not have arisen through naturalistic processes and, therefore, Darwin's theory absolutely breaks down.

Presented by Dr Robert Carter
Streaming: Download


Dr Robert W. Carter

Speaker/senior scientist, Creation Ministries International (USA)

Education

  • 2003 University of Miami, Ph.D. Marine Biology
  • 1992 Georgia Institute of Technology, B.S. Applied Biology

Professional Experience

  • Between my undergraduate and graduate work, I spent four years teaching high school science at a large college-prep school in NW Georgia. In addition to my teaching load (including AP biology, chemistry, physics, and electronics), I spent the winter months coaching the swimming and diving teams and the summer months running the outdoor high adventure program.
  • In 1996, I was awarded the three-year Maytag doctoral fellowship by the University of Miami. When that expired, I received a one-year fellowship from the Institute for Marine Science. While working on my PhD, I designed and performed many experiments in marine ecology and genetic engineering and helped to develop new protocols for the rapid cloning of fluorescent protein genes. The green and red fluorescent proteins my coworker and I cloned from hard and soft corals were used to create transgenic zebrafish. We patented one of these protein genes and licensed it to Promega, Inc. under the trade name ‘Monster Green’.
  • From 2001-2004, I helped design and build an aquaculture facility for Caribbean corals at UM’s Experimental Fish Hatchery. During these years I also performed over 500 research dives on the shallow coral reefs of the Florida Keys and Bahamas. Many of these were done at night to study the mass coral spawning episodes that happen at specific times during the warm summers.
  • I spent two years after obtaining my PhD working for an engineering company, mainly focused on impact mitigation for the Key West Harbor dredging project (since the channel runs right through the coral reef).
  • Upon leaving Miami, I was hired by the Institute for Creation Research to help on their GENE project. While there, I wrote computer programs to analyze human genetic data and managed to get one publication on this work into the secular literature.
  • In 2006, I was hired by Creation Ministries International as a scientist, speaker, and writer.

Publications and Patents

  • Carter RW (2007) Mitochondrial diversity within modern human populations. Nucleic Acids Research 35(9):3039–3045.
  • Gibbs PDL, Carter RW, and Schmale MC (2007) Fluorescent Proteins from Aquatic Species. US Patent #7,291,711.
  • Carter RW, Schmale MS, and Gibbs PDL (2004) Cloning of anthozoan fluorescent protein genes. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part C 138:259–270.
  • Carter RW (2003) Cnidarian Fluorescent Proteins. PhD Dissertation. University of Miami.
  • Manica A, Carter RW (2000) Morphological and fluorescence analysis of the Montastraea annularis species complex in Florida. Marine Biology 137:899–906.

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