Theoretical origin of life; lipid containers (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, May 01, 2019, 23:57 (2033 days ago) @ David Turell

As cell membranes they will not work to support a living cell:

https://evolutionnews.org/2019/04/with-three-nobel-endorsements-chemist-marcos-eberlin-...

".... the book, which both recounts Dr. Eberlin’s personal experiences and gives his own perspective on the evidence for design in life. He surveys powerful indications at the micro and macro levels — bacteria, plants, birds, and more — that life’s evolution demonstrates not blind groping but intelligent “foresight,” looking from simpler beginnings to the complex biological wonders we know today.

"In case after case, he argues that life purposefully devised “solutions that anticipated problems before they arose,” a sure “hallmark of mind.” The unintelligent Darwinian process lacks the capacity for such engineering but so do other “alternative evolutionary proposals” (neutral evolution, evolutionary developmental biology, natural genetic engineering, a hypothetical multiverse, and other popular proposals).

Selected quote:

"The Cell Membrane
Only intelligent design stands as a theory capable of explaining, for example, the ingenious invention, the cell membrane, that keeps every living cell both sealed against and selectively open to its environment. No cell could live a moment without this remarkable feat of engineering. It must have been present in the first cell. As Eberlin writes:

{"If you were to bid this demanding, multifaceted job out to the most technologically advanced engineering firms in the world, their top engineers might either laugh in your face or run screaming into the night. The requisite technology is far beyond our most advanced human knowledge. And remember, getting two or three things about this membrane job right — or even 99 percent of the job — wouldn’t be enough. It is all or death! A vulnerable cell waiting for improvements from the gradual Darwinian process would promptly be attacked by a myriad of enemies and die, never to reproduce, giving evolution no time at all to finish the job down the road.

"This is the refrain of the book: “It is all or death!” “All or nothing!” Half-solutions are no solutions at all. As just one example, again drawn from his discussion of the cell membrane, “A successful water gate…poses an ‘all or nothing’ challenge for life. Foresee the need for these exquisitely precise water gates and somehow engineer them for just-in-time delivery, or the grand start-up called life quickly goes bust.”

"Scientists, though, habitually overlook the imperative of foresight:

"'Sometimes I come across articles in journals such as Science and Nature theorizing about simple, primordial cell membranes made of “rudimentary” molecules such as fatty acids. But such flights of fancy ignore key chemical details of what’s needed to render cellular life viable. '" (my bold)

Comment: This is the same observation as Behe's Irreducible Complexity. Biological cells and organisms must be completely designed from the beginning to function properly. They cannot be evolved stepwise. Which tells us the whole process runs with purpose. Please take careful note of the bolded last observation about science articles. That is why I constantly remind all that I reserve the right to interpret results. Don't just swallow the author's opinion about his results. I accept those but make my own judgment as to meaning.