Stars, Cells, and God | ERVs and Embryo Development and Just the Right Amount of Water

Episode Description: Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana and Jeff Zweerink as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence. ERVs and Embryo Development For many people, the shared ERV (endogenous retrovirus) sequences in the human and great ape genomes evince common ancestry and an evolutionary origin for humanity. Yet, new discoveries about the physiological role of ERVs suggest another interpretation for why they appear in the human genome. In this episode, biochemist Fuz Rana discusses the latest insight into ERV molecular biology and explores the question, “Can a creation model explain the occurrence of ERV sequences in the human genome?” References: PODCAST LINK: Endogenous Retroviruses Shape Pluripotency Specification in Mouse Embryos Additional Resource: Insights about Suppressyn Support Creation Model View of ERVs YOUTUBE LINK: Sergio de la Rosa et al., “Endogenous Retroviruses Shape Pluripotency Specification in Mouse Embryos,” https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adk9394 Fazale Rana, “Insights about Suppressyn Support Creation Model View of ERVs,” https://reasons.org/explore/blogs/the-cells-design/insights-about-suppressyn-support-creation-model-view-of-ervs Just the Right Amount of Water Most people know that life depends on Earth’s oceans, but the continents play an equally critical role in Earth’s capacity to support life. However, a planet’s ability to have land relies on having just the right amount of water. Too little and there are no oceans at all but too much and the continents never rise above the ocean’s surface. One factor that influences the amount of surface water is the planet’s capacity to store water in its interior. Recent studies indicate that the ancient earth could store much less water than today. Therefore, doubling the amount of water on Earth would have prevented the formation of continents that rise above the oceans and stymied Earth’s capacity to support life. References: PODCAST LINK: Constraining the Volume of Earth’s Early Oceans with a Temperature-Dependent Mantle Water Storage Capacity Model YOUTUBE LINK: Junjie Dong et al., “Constraining the Volume of Earth’s Early Oceans with a Temperature-Dependent Mantle Water Storage Capacity Model,” https://doi.org/10.1029/2020AV000323