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The Professor's Tale
"Darwin's theory encounters its greatest difficulties when it comes to explaining the development of the cell. Many cellular systems are what I term 'irreducibly complex'. That means the system needs several components before it can work properly. An everyday example of irreducible complexity is a mousetrap, built of several pieces (platform, hammer, spring, and so on). Such a system probably cannot be put together in the Darwinian manner, gradually improving its function.
You can't catch a mouse with just the platform and then catch a few more by adding the spring. All the pieces have to be in place before you catch any mice .... An example of an irreducibly complex cellular system is the bacterial flagellum: a rotary propeller powered by a flow of acid, that bacteria use to swim. The flagellum requires a number of parts before it works - a rotor, stator and motor (see next page). Furthermore, genetic studies have shown that about 40 different kinds of proteins are needed to produce a working flagellum .... A few scientists have suggested non-Darwinian theories to account for the cell, but I don't find them persuasive. Instead, I think that the complex systems were designed - purposely arranged by an intelligent agent .... Whenever we see interactive systems (such as a mousetrap) in the everyday world we assume that they are the products of intelligent activity. We should extend the reasoning to the cellular systems. We know of no other mechanism, including Darwin's, which produces such complexity. Only intelligence does."
Michael Behe: Associate Professor of Biochemistry - Lehigh University Source: New York Times Op Ed - 29 October 1996
Poisoning the Mind
The snake's poison system
1. A gland manufactures and secretes the poison.
2. There is a reservoir in which the poison is stored.
3. There is a fine canal which connects the reservoir to the fang.
4. Each fang has a hollow canal through which the poison can flow.
5. Each fang is incredibly sharp allowing the immediate penetration of its victim.
6. The snake has an intricate system to erect the fangs before it strikes.
7. A muscle system contracts the poison reservoir forcing the poison through the duct to the fang.
8. The snake's nervous system signals that it's the right time for contraction.
A fine example of an 'irreducibly complex' system!
"What would have been the selective advantage of the rest of the poison system if just one of its components had foiled to evolve? … To claim that it can be achieved through unbiased evolution is like expecting nine independent miners can attack the core of Mount Everest from various points at the foot of the Himalayas and meet exactly in the middle without the guidance of a surveyor."
E. Ramon: former Professor of Neurobiology Sberbrooke Medical School - Quebec - New Scientist 11 Nov. 1995 p.48
A little wonder
Any person looking at the diagram to the left would conclude that it was a technical drawing of a motorized device. It is in fact the flagellar rotary motor of the bacterium E. coli quite
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