Today's New Reason To Believe Archives

December 2004

Today's New Reason to Believe was not published between
December 24, 2004 - January 2, 2005

Today’s New Reason To Believe - Thursday, December 23, 2004
Ancient DNA Analysis Advances

  • Advances in ancient DNA analysis promise to provide powerful new insight into the biology of past organisms. In this new study, researchers analyzed ancient DNA isolated from a brown bear fossil specimen which dates to about 25,000 years in age. From this ancient DNA sequence (and the DNA sequences of other brown bear fossil specimens previously reported), researchers gained insight into 1) the timing and number of migrational waves of brown bears from Asia into North America, and 2) the relationship of the fossil specimens to extant brown bears. This new study illustrates the power of ancient DNA analysis to provide critical information about the biology of past organisms and their relationship to contemporary organisms. As ancient DNA technology continues to mature it will provide a powerful way to test evolutionary and creation models.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Imperfection or Elegant Design?

  • For many skeptics the "imperfections" found in living systems serve as compelling evidence for biological evolution. In support of this view, dynein, a molecular motor that moves cellular "cargo" along microtubule tracks inside the cell, is relatively inefficient and inherently less robust when compared to two other molecular motors that function in a similar vein: myosin (which transports cellular materials along actin tracks), and kinesin (which also transports cellular materials along microtubule tracks). To make up for its inefficiency, dynein requires an ensemble of accessory proteins and must function in conjunction with other dynein molecules. On this basis it appears as if dynein is an evolutionary "kluge job," and not the work of an all-powerful, all-knowing, good Creator. New research, however, indicates that the accessory proteins and greater complexity of the dynein motors allow the cell to regulate dynein’s function and may well be the chief means that the cell uses to coordinate the activities of dynein, myosin, and kinesin. The apparently cumbersome makeup of dynein, when better understood, actually turns into an elegant example of design that reflects the Creator’s handiwork.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Biochemical Design: Molecular Fine-Tuning

  • One defining feature of the cell’s chemistry is the fine-tuning required for biomolecules to effectively carry out life’s necessary operations. A new study illustrates this feature. Here its authors show how a single amino acid (arginine) in the protein NifL (found in the bacterium Azobacter vinelandii) plays a critical role in allowing the cell to respond to environmental signals that prompt nitrogen fixation (the conversion of gaseous nitrogen into a form usable by plants). If this amino acid is substituted, the entire structure of NifL becomes significantly altered, preventing NifL from properly taking part in the signaling pathway that initiates nitrogen fixation. Fine-tuning is one hallmark of well-designed man-made devices. Similarly, the fine-tuning characteristic of biochemical systems signifies that life originated from the Creator’s hand.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Monday, December 20, 2004
Biochemical Design: Life’s Molecular Machinery

  • A watch requires a watchmaker. And a machine requires a "machine maker." Biochemists have discovered that many biochemical systems function as molecular-level machines. One is the RecBCD enzyme complex found in bacteria. New research provides important insight into the structure and operation of this enzyme. The RecBCD complex plays a key role in the repair of DNA when both of its strands break (due to ionizing radiation or DNA replication errors). These so-called double-strand breaks are lethal if not repaired. The RecBCD complex contains two "motors" that unwind the DNA double helix at the site of the break and digest the unwound single strands until the RecBCD machine reaches a pre-determined location in the DNA molecule that serves as the site for the next step in the DNA repair process. The elegant design and machine-like behavior of the RecBCD enzyme suggests the work of a divine "Motor Maker."
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Sunday, December 19, 2004
Junk DNA Has Function

  • "Junk" DNA has become an icon of evolution. Evolutionary biologists maintain that because junk DNA is an imperfection, it provides incontrovertible evidence for evolution. Numerous recent studies, however, have identified function for many types of junk DNA. This new study shows that many functional genes in the human genome display up to an 80% similarity between their DNA sequences and those of junk DNA. This intriguing result opens up the possibility that additional functional significance may be uncovered for junk DNA. The functional importance of junk DNA indicates that careful planning by an Intelligent Designer, rather than undirected, random biochemical events, shaped the genomes of organisms.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Saturday, December 18, 2004
Evolutionary Trees Unreliable

  • For evolution to be declared factual, biologists must establish reliable, robust phylogenies (evolutionary trees). Frequently, dental characteristics are used to build phylogenies for extinct organisms, since teeth are often the only remains available from the fossil record. When evolutionary biologists use tooth morphology (form, structure) to build evolutionary relationships, the chief assumption is that the individual dental features are independent of one another. New research demonstrates that this is not the case. The nonindependence of dental features means that they cannot be used to reliably construct evolutionary histories. In light of these results, the assertion that evolution is a fact becomes scientifically untenable. To be established as a fact, evolutionary biologists must provide rigorous evidence of evolutionary relationships. This study shows that such determinations may never be possible, given that dental remains are the primary fossils available to paleontologists.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Friday, December 17, 2004
Biochemical Design: Molecular Fine-Tuning

  • One defining feature of the cell’s chemistry is the fine-tuning required for biomolecules to effectively carry out life’s necessary operations. This study illustrates this concept. Here its authors show how four amino acid residues must be precisely located along the channel wall of the pore protein AmtB (isolated from the bacterium E. coli) for this molecule to effectively transport ammonium ions across the plasma membrane. Structural fine-tuning is one hallmark of well-designed man-made devices. Therefore, the fine-tuning-characteristic of biochemical systems-signifies that life originated from the Creator’s hand.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Thursday, December 16, 2004
Junk DNA Has Function

  • "Junk" DNA has become an icon of evolution. Evolutionary biologists maintain that since junk DNA is an imperfection it provides incontrovertible evidence for evolution. Numerous recent studies, however, have identified function for many types of junk DNA. This new study continues in this vein. Researchers have identified 1400 non-coding DNA sequences that are highly conserved in human and pufferfish genomes. Biochemists consider conserved DNA sequences to be functional, since any changes to them (due to mutation) would be harmful and, therefore, would be weeded out by natural selection. In fact, researchers note that many of these non-coding sequences seem to be more conserved than corresponding human and pufferfish coding DNA sequences (genes). Researchers think that these non-coding DNA sequences play a role in the gene regulation that occurs during development. The functional importance of junk DNA indicates that careful planning by an Intelligent Designer, rather than undirected, random biochemical events, shaped the genomes of organisms.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Biochemical Design: Can Man Do It Better?

  • Biochemists have discovered that many enzyme systems located inside cells function as molecular-level machines. Typically, these machines operate with a remarkable degree of efficiency, far exceeding the operational capacity of man-made machines. In recent years, chemists have tried to design and synthesize molecular machines that emulate those found inside cells. A recent study describes the production of a man-made molecular motor that can rotate in both directions. This achievement, the first of its kind, is an example of science at its very best. Yet, this molecular motor’s operation is crude and cumbersome when compared to those found inside the cell. Does it make sense to conclude that the designs found in nature stem from random undirected processes when they are far superior to that which the best scientists and engineers can accomplish?
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Who Were Neanderthals?

  • RTB’s creation model for humanity’s origin regards Neanderthals (and other extinct hominids found in the fossil record) as non-human primates that lacked spiritual capacity. Morphological, developmental, and genetic evidence supports this view. All the data indicates that Neanderthals and humans were distinct species. Moreover, the data indicates, from an evolutionary perspective, that these hominids could not have evolved into modern humans. In an attempt to maintain an evolutionary connection between humans and Neanderthals, some paleoanthropologists suggest that humans and Neanderthals interbred. According to this view, Neanderthals contributed genetically to the make-up of modern humans. The results of a recent study conclusively reject this possibility. Based on mitochondrial DNA sequences and sophisticated population genetics models researchers demonstrate that Neanderthals and modern humans never interbred. The scientific evidence continues to indicate that modern humans were clearly distinct from Neanderthals, in line with RTB’s explanation for the hominid fossil record.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Monday, December 13, 2004
Biochemical Design: Organization of Simplest Life

  • Only 10 years ago, microbiologists viewed bacteria as a "container" of haphazardly arranged molecules. Recent advances indicate that this view is incorrect. Microbiologists now understand that these simplest of life forms possess a remarkable degree of internal organization at the molecular level. This article adds to this new understanding by describing the localization of phosphatase enzyme activity at the inner membrane in the bacterium, Escherichia coli. The localization of this enzyme activity plays a critical role in chemotaxis (the response of bacteria to chemical gradients in their environment). When phosphatase activity becomes delocalized the bacterium’s chemotactic response degrades. The internal organization of the simplest life forms serves as a marker for biochemical design and is expected if a Creator is responsible for life.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Sunday, December 12, 2004
Adult Stem Cells Offer Hope

  • Many are troubled by embryonic stem cell research since it involves the destruction of human embryos. This report announces a significant breakthrough. Researchers are able to effectively treat incontinence (caused by a weakening of sphincter muscles that help open and close the urethra) by implanting adult stem cells from the patient’s arm into the sphincter muscles. This opens up the possibility to do something similar to help restore lost cardiac muscle function after a myocardial infarction. Adult stem cells are not derived from embryos and do not involve the destruction of a human fetus. Scientific advance may provide the way out of the ethical dilemma created by emerging biotechnologies.
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    • Fazale Rana, A Christian Perspective on Biotechnology (audio cassette)

Today’s New Reason To Believe - Saturday, December 11, 2004
Biochemical Design: Irreducible Complexity

  • Irreducible complexity is a hallmark feature of designed systems. Many biochemical systems inside the cell appear to be irreducibly complex, and hence designed. One classic example is the cilia (and flagella) of eukaryotic cells. A recent study reveals that these systems display an even greater degree of irreducible complexity than initially believed. Researchers have discovered that a doublet of kinesin-like proteins associates with the central tubules of the cilia. If the kinesin doublet is not present, the cilia do not function properly. Natural process evolution simply cannot yield systems like those involved in the cilia. As biochemists continue to characterize the cell’s chemical systems, the evidence for design mounts and with it evidence that life is the product of a Creator.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Friday, December 10, 2004
Water Strider Designs

  • Chinese nanotechnologists discovered amazing design features in the legs of water striders. They found that the capacity of such creatures to stand and move quickly over water has much more to do with the design of the striders’ legs (and leg hair) than it does with the surface tension of the water. They determined that the legs are covered with numerous strategically oriented hairs, each hair outfitted with exquisitely designed nanogrooves. The nanogrooves eject about 300 times more water (by volume) than the volume of the leg. It is this amazing water repellency that enables the striders to stand and walk so easily over water. Such remarkable groove structure and orientation points to a supernatural Creator.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Thursday, December 9, 2004
Outer Solar System Design

Today’s New Reason To Believe - Wednesday, December 8, 2004
Optimal Design of Elements for Technology

  • Material scientists discovered that certain elements in the periodic table possess unique properties that indicate a Creator’s planning and preparation for the future development by humans of high technology microsystems. Specifically, the special characteristics of germanium and silicon permit the monolithic integration of sensors and electronics processing within very small microsystems. Poly-silicon germanium, for example, allows engineers to build excellent sensors that do not affect or destroy the underlying process circuitry. It appears that the Creator built into germanium and silicon special properties that facilitate humanity’s development of a high technology civilization. Such technology equips humans to fulfill certain God-given commands to manage the planet and its life forms and to spread the Gospel message.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Tuesday, December 7, 2004
Biodiversity and Soil Enhancement

  • European ecologists found more evidence for the optimized preparation of our planet for humanity’s benefit. They discovered that leaves decompose much more efficiently and effectively into nutrient-rich soils when there is a great diversity of soil-dwelling invertebrates manifesting a great diversity of life functions than when only a few species of soil-dwelling invertebrates exist. Thus, the observation by biologists that Earth sustains the maximum diversity of species suggests that a creator intentionally planned life’s history for the benefit of human life.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Monday, December 6, 2004
Accurate Distance to Large Magellanic Cloud

Today’s New Reason To Believe - Sunday, December 5, 2004
Abiogenic Methane

  • A new discovery has refuted the astrobiologists’ mantra that "where there is methane, there must be life." A prevalent assumption in astrobiology research is that only living or once-living organisms can produce significant amounts of methane on small rocky bodies like Earth, Mars, or Europa (one of Jupiter’s moons). Thus, the discovery of a large amount of methane on a rocky planet or moon, according to this prevalent assumption, would be proof for the existence of life on such a body-and evidence that life could arise naturally. In a lab experiment, a team of geochemists simulated the physical and chemical conditions of Earth’s upper mantle. They demonstrated that when iron oxide, calcite, and water in the upper mantle are subjected to the pressure and temperature conditions manifest there, methane is generated. Therefore, any body containing a mantle similar to Earth’s can be expected to produce methane-independent of any past or present biology. Thus, the discovery of methane on a planet like Mars would not prove that life had existed there or that life can originate there apart from the miraculous intervention of the Creator.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Saturday, December 4, 2004
Limit on Possible Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life

  • Another "null" result has come back from the ongoing search for extraterrestrial intelligent life-underscoring the probability that Earth life exists by design, not by chance. Apparently, no civilization exists on planets (or other bodies) circling the nearest 13,000 sun-like stars-assuming that such a civilization would be engaged in interstellar optical communication at an "Earth 2000" technology level. This result comes as no surprise to those who acknowledge that the physical requirements for the existence of intelligent life are so exacting that such life would not be expected apart from supernatural intervention.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Friday, December 3, 2004
A New Clock for Radiometric Dating

  • Geophysicists have developed a new radiometric tool for measuring Earth’s age and certain design characteristics of the early solar system. This laboratory technique produced the first accurate determination of the half-life of hafnium-182, which is 8.90 ± 0.09 million years (the time required for half of the original quantity of hafnium-182 to decay into tungsten-182). Knowing the hafnium-182 decay rate allows astronomers to see more clearly the precise fine-tuning, for life’s sake, of early conditions in our solar system. Additionally, given that no hafnium-182 remains on Earth today, its nearly nine-million-year half-life indicates that Earth must be older than a few thousands or even a few tens of thousands of years.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Thursday, December 2, 2004
Lense-Thirring Effect Tests General Relativity

  • The reliability of general relativity in describing the dynamics of the universe is the basis for the theory that the universe had a beginning and must be the "effect" of a causal Agent operating beyond matter, energy, space, and time. Consequently, any new evidence for the reliability of general relativity provides more evidence for the reality of the God of the Bible. Recently, physicists analyzed eleven years’ worth of measurements on two laser-ranged satellites, LAGEOS and LAGEOS 2, to see if indeed, as general relativity predicts, Earth drags and twists its local space-time frame as it rotates (a phenomenon called the Lense-Thirring effect). Their analysis confirmed that the Lense-Thirring effect is indeed observable and placed its value at 99±5 percent of the value predicted by general relativity. Thus, the biblical cosmic creation model has successfully passed another test.
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Today’s New Reason To Believe - Wednesday, December 1, 2004
Functionality of "Junk" DNA

  • A team of molecular biologists uncovered more evidence for the biblical account of life’s origin and development when they discovered a functional role for what had previously been presumed to be "junk" DNA (that is, DNA that appears to serve no useful purpose). A large fraction of the junk DNA found in the genomes of mammals, including humans, is comprised of retrotransposons. The team discovered that the retrotransposons are highly expressed in mouse eggs and (young) embryos and that this retrotransposon expression triggers gene expression in other parts of the DNA. In other words, retrotransposons play the life-essential role of timing the expression of certain genes in eggs and in the early developmental stages of embryos. Thereafter, the retrotransposons necessarily remain dormant and, therefore, appear useless to the casual observer. The design, organization, and operational timing of retrotransposons testify of a supernatural, super skillful Creator.
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