Abiogenesis

 The scientific problem of abiogenesis, the origin of life from non-living matter, has become increasingly difficult to solve over time.

• By the late 1980s, the field of origin-of-life biology had reached an impasse. The central challenge is explaining how brute chemistry in a prebiotic soup could transition into a living cell, especially given the immense complexity we now know exists within cells. The impasse wasn't just about making the parts; it was about the assembly instructions. Forty plus years ago the field realized that even if you have a soup full of amino acids, you still face the DNA Enigma: chemistry alone does not organize those chemicals into the precise sequences needed to fold into functional proteins, just as a pile of Scrabble letters doesn't spontaneously arrange itself into a Shakespearean sonnet.

•  In 1953, the Miller-Urey experiment successfully synthesized amino acids, leading many to believe science was close to solving the origin of life. However, simultaneously, Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA. This discovery eventually revealed that life relies on complex information, making the random chance theory far less plausible . The irony runs deeper when looking at the details. We now know the Miller-Urey experiment used a hydrogen-rich reducing atmosphere that likely did not exist on early Earth. Furthermore, the experiment required intelligent intervention, a trap, to protect the amino acids from being destroyed by the very energy source that created them. Meanwhile, Watson and Crick's discovery revealed that the secret of life was not a chemical substance, but the information it carried."

• Contrary to the 1950s view of a "simple cell," modern biology reveals cells are full of nanotechnology.

  • Proteins are not just chemicals; they are intricate 3D tools and machines (like rotary engines and walking motors) 

  • Building these proteins requires precise instructions, much like a CAD/CAM manufacturing process. 

  • Kinesin: A motor protein that literally 'walks' along the cell's cytoskeleton, hauling cargo like a truck driver, taking steps that are timed perfectly.

  • ATP Synthase: A rotary engine that spins at up to 100,000 rpm, converting energy with near 100% efficiency—a feat human engineering has yet to match.

  • The Logic: These aren't just metaphors; they have rotors, stators, drive shafts, and bushings. This mechanical complexity suggests a mind, an engineer, far more than a random chemical process."

• Digital Code & The Sequence Hypothesis: In 1957, Francis Crick proposed the Sequence Hypothesis, suggesting that the chemicals inside DNA function like alphabetic or digital characters. This digital code directs the construction of proteins. And in our experience, information, and code always originate from a programmer or intelligent agent, not random chemistry.

• DNA isn't just complex (like a random string of letters); it possesses 'specified complexity.' Just as the string 'xfkgj8' is complex but meaningless, and 'cat' is simple but meaningful, DNA is both complex and specified. It conveys a precise message. The Sequence Hypothesis confirmed that the chemical bases in DNA function literally as a code, and in our uniform experience, such functionally specified information always arises from a mind, never from a material process.

• Scientific Materialism: Many scientists persist with materialist theories despite the growing evidence of complexity. One can attribute this to a worldview commitment to scientific materialism, the belief that matter and energy are the only fundamental realities, which excludes the possibility of a designing intelligence or God from the start.This resistance is often due to a convention known as 'methodological naturalism', the rule that scientists must only infer material causes, regardless of what the evidence suggests. This definition blinds science to the most obvious explanation. If we see a computer program, we infer a programmer. To deny this inference in biology simply because it implies a non-material cause is, he argues, to limit the search for truth."  See here for rebuttals to naturalism.

The Protein Folding Problem

• The Code: Proteins are long chains of 20 different types of amino acids (the "pearls on a necklace"). The specific sequence of these amino acids determines how the chain "folds" or crunches down into a unique 3D shape.

• The understanding of how a sequence encodes a specific shape was a major mystery. Until biophysicists recently made massive strides, allowing us to compute and predict these structures using computers. 

• A protein's shape is critical because it determines its function, whether it becomes a component of muscle, a brain protein, or an antibody. Proteins are literal machines that use energy to create force and motion: some proteins act like propellers (flagella) to move bacteria through water. Proteins in muscles "walk" or slide past each other to generate physical force. Membrane proteins act as smart valves to control the flow of water and chemicals in and out of cells.

Conclusion: The discovery of digital information at the foundation of life is a powerful indicator of intelligent design, as no chemical evolutionary theory can adequately explain the origin of biological information.