Biological Big Bang: Another Explosion at the Dawn of Life (things couldn't be worse for Darwin!)

CEH ^ | July 23, 2009

[GodGunsGuts]

Biological Big Bang: Another Explosion at the Dawn of Life

July 23, 2009 — Eugene Koonin and two friends from the NIH went tree-hunting. They examined almost 7,000 genomes of prokaryotes. They found trees all right – a whole forest of them. They even found 102 NUTs (nearly universal trees) in the forest. Unfortunately, it’s not what they wanted to find: a single universal tree of life that Darwin’s theory requires. They had to seriously consider the question: was there a biological big bang?

Publishing in an open-access article in the Journal of Biology,[1] they began with the founding father’s vision: “The tree of life is, probably, the single dominating metaphor that permeates the discourse of evolutionary biology, from the famous single illustration in Darwin’s On the Origin of Species to 21st-century textbooks.” Alas, that 150-year-old icon must be dismantled. In their conclusion, they said, “the original tree of life concept is obsolete: it would not even be a 'tree of one percent'.”

What happened? It appears that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has scrambled the genes in prokaryotes so much that any trace of common ancestry has been lost. This means that Darwin’s metaphor lacks empirical evidence. A fair-minded scientist would have to consider the possibility of a...

[GodGunsGuts]

Ping!

[Onelifetogive]

prokaryotes

My sister had one of these when we were growing up. Noisy little creature, crapped all over its cage, made a huge mess with its seeds...

Maybe this article is over my head...

[mgstarr]

http://www.biology.arizona.edu/Cell_BIO/tutorials/pev/page2.html

Prokaryotes include the kingdoms of Monera (simple bacteria) and Archaea. Simply stated, prokaryotes are molecules surrounded by a membrane and cell wall. Prokaryotic cells lack characteristic eukaryotic subcellular membrane enclosed “organelles,” but may contain membrane systems inside a cell wall.

[fish hawk]

A whole bunch of scientist, right now, are closing their eyes, putting there hands over their ears and shouting Nananananananananananananana, I can’t hear you!

[mnehring]

Of course, I'm sure the author was thinking of this tree of life:

It should be obvious to most that science has moved beyond that a long, long time ago. That is akin to coloring books of the Bible, it is made as the most rudimentary example to show a concept, not to be for technical details. The current 'tree'(sic) based on genetic studies is far more complex and yes, not exactly a tree any more.
Here is a very zoomed out version:

Here is a .pdf version of that in which you can zoom in the details. The image is about 11% size, you need to zoom in at least to 200% to be able to read the details. This in itself is even just a fraction as genetic studies are adding more and more branches and some things get switched around. That is part of the constant learning and exploration process.

[Nathan Zachary]

'What happened? It appears that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has scrambled the genes in prokaryotes so much that any trace of common ancestry has been lost."

But of course! When there is absolutely not a trace of evolution to be found, not a single transitional life form among the millions that exist today, call it the result of evolution. That way no evidence needs to be found, all that was really needed was for evolutionary theory to be confirmed was a declaration. The next declaration will be that the evolutionary process is complete, it was only a temporary thing.

kinda like proving Obama was born in Hawaii. Lacking any evidence such as a birth certificate, just declare it to be so.

[hoosier hick]

It looks like Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Pellucidar to me....

hh

[GodGunsGuts]

So are you saying that there is empircal evidence for your PDF tree?

[GodGunsGuts]

Isn’t it amazing the lengths the Temple of Darwin will go to deny God’s creation!

[Nathan Zachary]

"So are you saying that there is empircal evidence for your PDF tree?"

All his pdf tree proves is the creator used a the same kinds of materials in different combinations for all his creations, kind of like how a painter uses the same primary colors of paint to make millions of different colors, and uses those to paint all kinds of different paintings from portraits to landscapes.

[GodGunsGuts]

There’s a good chance that he won’t answer, because a yes answer would lead to request for empirical evidence.

[aft_lizard]

Where is your empirical evidence for creation or ID? Or whatever you want to call it now adays.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

The Bible, composed of the literature of mortal humans, says so. That’s proof enough, LOL!

[GOP Poet]

bookmark

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

The Bible, composed of the literature of mortal humans, says so. That’s proof enough, LOL!

[GodGunsGuts]

The neo-Darwinian so-called “tree of life” was used as “evidence” for common descent. That tree of life is no more, and what we have instead is what looks like an explosion of organisms in the cambrian, all separate and distinct, with not a single uncontrovertible transitional between any of them. Since Creation, ID, and evolution all deal with the unobservable, unrepeatable past, it comes down to which one is the best inference from the extant empirical data. Creation/ID blows away Darwin's fanciful creation myth in this regard, as even the Evos admit biology appears to be designed for a purpose, but then turn around and tell us that this appearance is just an illusion perpetrated by random possesses plus survival.

[Nathan Zachary]

"There’s a good chance that he won’t answer, because a yes answer would lead to request for empirical evidence."

Truth will always lead to God, which is why in the end when Christ returns, all the knowlege of mankind is reduced to nothing.

"I shall destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing all the learning of the learned." 1 Cor.1:19

The more these evolutionists try to find some sort of proof to disprove god, the further from truth they get. In fact they reject any science that suggest creationism, and in doing so, ensure they will continue to drift further and further from the truth.

God Himself separated the camps of scholarship and faith and directed that they should oppose each other until the End. As a result, the frontal assault on faith that currently emanates from the intellectual community follows a plan fore-ordained by heaven.

"The wisdom of its sages shall decay, the intelligence of its intelligent men shall be shrouded." (Is.29:14).

Scholarship, by itself, of course, is not the problem. God created the world, and so discovery should always lead toward God, not away from Him. The fault lies in the agenda of those who manage the way it is pursued, interpreted and dispensed. It is the sustained effort by most academic leaders to deny and discredit God that has driven the intellectual community to the foot of Satan's altar.

If knowledge were as perfect as faith, all questions would lead us to God, but our knowledge is always wrong, so the answers lead us astray.
Because it is perfect and without error of any kind, the word of Jesus is a truth that can never change. By contrast, the truth that comes out of the schools changes constantly.

Every textbook is outdated (and therefore false) the moment it is published. New knowledge has passed it by -- and will always pass it by -- through a process that will be repeated over and over again until the end, showing that human knowledge is always in orbit around truth but can never touch it.

For this reason, a ten year old textbook is useless and a hundred year old one an object of ridicule. And a hundred years from now, it would be the same all over again. Today's truth in this world will always be tomorrow's error. Yet it is Jesus who is rejected, while the errant scholarship is retained.

So while knowledge has no power to lead us to God, it has a great power to lead us away from Him because it brings doubt to faith. (2 Thes.2:9-12). "Make no mistake about it: if any one of you thinks of himself as wise...then he must learn to be a fool before he can be wise. Why? Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God." (1 Cor.3:18).

[Paradox]

Despite your posts, outside of the echo chamber of YEC and ID proponents, Evolution Science is doing darn well.

This reminds me of the GW deniers, who think that every little bit of anti-Global Warming evidence is proof that the entire science is about to fall. This just isn't the case, sorry.

[Moonman62]

Simply stated, prokaryotes are molecules surrounded by a membrane and cell wall. Prokaryotic cells lack characteristic eukaryotic subcellular membrane enclosed “organelles,” but may contain membrane systems inside a cell wall.

You mean GGG's latest screed against knowledge doesn't include the interesting stuff like plants and animals?

[mnehring]

Yes, although like everything, the evidence is growing and, dare I say, evolving every day (after all, this is a science, not a religion, it is about studying and exploring).

Far too much information to post here but I suggest the book Molecular Systematics by David Hillis.

[mnehring]

The neo-Darwinian so-called “tree of life” was used as “evidence” for common descent.

It is not used as evidence. It is a graphical representation of a concept. It is a way to take a highly complex idea and represent it in a way that is easier to process or understand.

[Nathan Zachary]

"Where is your empirical evidence for creation or ID? Or whatever you want to call it now adays."

The wisdom of God.

[aft_lizard]

I literally can’t argue against that.

[mjp]

Now that evolution is dead, secular humanism needs to follow.

[mnehring]

The more these evolutionists try to find some sort of proof to disprove god...

As a group, those who study evolution don't do so to 'disprove God', that's not the goal. The goal is to look at the world and study it. At that, you'll find many people who believe in evolution see no conflict at all with believing in God. The Bible tells us why God created the world, evidence in the world is the blueprint how. You may be shocked that Theistic Evolution is recognized by the Catholic Church and most mainstream Protestant churches. Even the Non-Denominational evangelical church I go to now recognizes Intelligent Design over the old Young Earth arguments (the same church I grew up in whose school taught me YEC when I was young).

[Nathan Zachary]

"The Bible, composed of the literature of mortal humans, says so. That’s proof enough, LOL!"

No, the bible is the inspired word of God. It is "literature" like no other. No one has been able to reproduce anything like it, because they aren't inspired by God to write in the kind of metaphor and divine symbolism unique to the scriptures- God ultimate language, much of which wasn't even understood by the faithful until it was revealed by Jesus. Likewise the unfaithful today can't see and understand it which is why they make silly statements like this. Their lack of faith blinds them.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

“God decided that he was incapable of forgiving us without a blood sacrifice. So, to protect us from himself, he sent the human version of himself to appease himself by sacrificing himself to himself to save us from himself.”

How would you counter the above inference?

[Nathan Zachary]

"At that, you'll find many people who believe in evolution see no conflict at all with believing in God." Anything that conflicts with scripture is an error.

The Bible tells us why God created the world, evidence in the world is the blueprint how.

It also tells us how, and misinterpreted "evidence" that contradicts it is obviously error.

"You may be shocked that Theistic Evolution is recognized by the Catholic Church and most mainstream Protestant churches.

Recognized by some within these institutions, not all, and that doesn't make them right. These churches have been making some grave errors of late, caving in to the desires of the world rather than the word of the Lord. In fact scripture warms of this. ""Make sure that no one traps you and deprives you of your freedom by some secondhand, empty, rational philosophy based on the principles of this world instead of on Christ.">/i> Colossians 2:6-8

"This people honors me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless; the doctrines they teach are only human regulations." (Matt.15:8-9).

[Nathan Zachary]

"“God decided that he was incapable of forgiving us without a blood sacrifice. So, to protect us from himself, he sent the human version of himself to appease himself by sacrificing himself to himself to save us from himself.”

How would you counter the above inference?

Absolute rubbish written by someone who hasn't a clue what the purpose of Christ's coming was, and even a basic understanding of scripture itself.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

Without the melodramatics, doesn’t the whole thing reduce to that, in essence? Yes, or no?

[Nathan Zachary]

"Even the Non-Denominational evangelical church I go to now recognizes Intelligent Design over the old Young Earth arguments"...

They also think Christ is going to come and rule for a thousand years, therefore making his first visit and abject failure to establish his kingdom and divine authority over the entire world and universe.

Many are is direct conflict with scripture, or are fulfilling what it prophesizes, such as: "This people honors me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless; the doctrines they teach are only human regulations." (Matt.15:8-9).

Jesus commanded us to test all ministers by their fruits.
He has instructed that we compare every theological tenant we are asked to believe against the commandments of the Gospel He preached.

Therefore we have been empowered by none other than God, Himself, to draw our own conclusions and to disbelieve the teaching of any minster that tries to lead us astray.

Jesus did not do away with ministers because without them there could be no baptism and no spread of the faith. But He made their authority subservient to the Gospel.
In the process, He took away their teaching credentials -- because now there is only one teacher- his Gospel. Jesus made two things abundantly clear: First, obedience to the Gospel comes before anything or anybody. And second, there is no salvation in the Law (i.e., there is no salvation in theology). The ministers can baptize us, but their philosophies cannot save us.

[Nathan Zachary]

"Without the melodramatics, doesn’t the whole thing reduce to that, in essence? Yes, or no?"

Melodramatics?

Clearly you haven't a clue what "the whole thing" is symbolic of. is climatic to, and expands, not "reduces" to encompass.

[Nathan Zachary]

It is insulting garbage written by an idiot to be consumed by other idiots.

[xcamel]

Seems there are several now that believe themselves more firmly connected to the mind of God than any others, and even a GW ‘believer’ joins the fray.

[UCANSEE2]

My sister had one of these when we were growing up. Noisy little creature, crapped all over its cage, made a huge mess with its seeds...

The Eukaryotes are even worse.

[UCANSEE2]

Aw, come on. Everyone knows that’s one of those ‘crop circles’.

[count-your-change]

That HGT really ruins the party. It's like trying to check everyone’s I.D. when they've been trading name tags. Yep, they all might be from the same school but who is related and on and on.

[webstersII]

“This reminds me of the GW deniers, who think that every little bit of anti-Global Warming evidence is proof that the entire science is about to fall. This just isn’t the case, sorry.”

You should get out more. The momentum is building about the real story of the earth’s climate.

Here’s an example:
http://climatedepot.com/a/2248/Update-Scientist-Accuses-
American-Chemical-Society-Editor-of-censoring-of-articles-and-letters-that-reject-manmade-global-warming-claims

“A vast number of members are very upset with the lack of complete and balanced coverage of the AGW issue and the continued censoring of articles and letters by [editor] Rudy Baum that do not support the theory of catastrophic global warming caused by CO2 emissions from man’s use of petroleum and coal. “

[webstersII]

Oops. Here's the corrected link.

Link to article about American Chemical Society

[GodGunsGuts]

Please clarify exactly what you mean by Global Warming deniers.

As for neo-Darwinian evolution, it is in a shambles. They have lost their tree, they have lost their beads on a string understanding of genes, they have lost their prediction that the majority of DNA is leftover “junk” from our evolutionary past, and let’s not forget that things have only gotten worse for them with respect to the gaps in the fossil record, not to mention the super-sophisticated bio-nano world that is being uncovered by molecular and cell biology. Indeed, they are now finding dinos with blood vessels and soft-tissue still intact. Ouch!!!

You might as well face it, the HMS Beagle is sinking, and sinking fast. Of course, the latest scientific research only strengthens the HMS Creation, which leaves her even more ship-shape and ready for battle than ever before.

[GodGunsGuts]

Yes, phylogenetic trees have indeed been used as evidence for evolution. They were said to validate Darwin’s prediction of common descent...that is, until the Evos finally came to the conclusion, long predicted by Creationists and IDers, that said phylogenetic trees cannot be used as evidence for anything of the sort. Now they are even talking about a “Biological Big Bang” as the “generative mechanism” that led to the diversity of life! And as the author rightly points out, this generative mechanism sounds an awful lot like the historical Genesis recounted in the book by the same name in the Bible. In the end, God’s creation resists ALL naturalistic explanations of its origin. And as such, all God-free explanations for the same are bound to fail.

[Paradox]

You should get out more. The momentum is building about the real story of the earth’s climate.

Don't get me wrong, I am skeptical of the GW hysteria, but to pretend that we are on the precipice of the downfall of Global Warming theory is simply wishful thinking. I wish there were a smoking gun that would prove all GW stuff as bunk, but there isn't. I'm glad there is a more vocal decent, but GW advocates are way ahead, and they also have their "science" to prove it.

[GodGunsGuts]

If indeed they have been exchanging name tags. From everything I have seen so far, HGT is just an Evo add-on being used to explain why God’s creation resists the Temple of Darwin’s tree of life metaphore. That’s not to say that HGT does not take place in nature, but I have yet to see any empirical evidence to suggest that it could scramble phylogenetic common descent beyond all recognition.

[Paradox]

You might as well face it, the HMS Beagle is sinking, and sinking fast.

Get out of the echo chamber, and you will see that this is simply not the case. I don't know how else to inform you of this fact. Evolutionary science will be going strong long after you and I leave this earth. I'd wager big money on that, but then I couldn't spend it anyways..

[GodGunsGuts]

LOL...likening Creation and ID to an echo chamber when it is in fact Darwin’s evo-religion that is unconstitionally being enfored by the state, is the supreme irony of ironies.

[GodGunsGuts]

I think secular humanism would have no choice but to follow...at least until the evo-atheists invent the next Godless creation myth.

[OriginalIntent]

the HMS Beagle is sinking, and sinking fast.

But the Darwinists still have the enormous Centralized Big Government Public School monopoly to force their 'approved' secular myths into the minds of other people's children.

This is why the Darwinists have such a stake in the far left Public Schools who are completely controlled by the Big Government NEA and their leftist hate-America groups such as the ACLU, and a multitude of other deceptively named groups.

The leftist media are also devoted worshipers of the Darwinist Public Schools because all these groups know a required, forced indoctrination of their secular leftist ideas using taxpayer money is they key to recruitment into their secular religion.

The aggressively destructive liberalism of each of these groups is that they all begin by Denying that we are "endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights".

[GodGunsGuts]

Isn’t the power of a little truth amazing! The Evos control education, the press, and virtually all the institutions of government, and yet they can’t even make a dent one way or the other in the creation vs. evolution polls over the last 20 years! Must chap their hides to no end!!!

[grey_whiskers]

Java programmer, complete with class inheritance (har!)

Cheers!