Return to David's theory of evolution PARTS 1 & 2 (Evolution)

by David Turell , Friday, March 25, 2022, 19:08 (972 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: And still you tell me about the war your God designed, and refuse to tell me why you think he chose war over peace. Do you think God is incapable of providing leaves that don’t fight back and that have no feelings – you, who refuse to believe that cells are sentient beings and not automatons? The fact that you can’t imagine a system in which life forms cooperate in finding energy without killing one another to get it doesn’t say much for your imagination.

God's 'war' began at the beginning of life:

https://phys.org/news/2022-03-bacteria-self-vaccinate-viral-invaders.html

"Researchers at The Rockefeller University discovered that a surprising level of cooperation takes place between the CRISPR-Cas system and bacteria's other prominent defense strategy, known as restriction enzymes.

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"The findings, published in Molecular Cell, show that while restriction enzymes act as the first line of defense, they also prepare the material that CRISPR-Cas will need to target the virus with precision. "The mechanism is reminiscent of our own multi-pronged immune response," Marraffini says. "It includes a temporary first line of defense before activating a second, more robust adaptive response."

"Restriction enzymes are capable of cleaving short DNA sequences, so the bacterium makes use of them just as soon as the virus invades the bacterial cell. CRISPR-Cas, a more sophisticated system, comes in later. While the restriction enzyme chops up viral DNA with the crudeness of a lawn mower, CRISPR-Cas is like a razor-sharp shear used by a painstaking gardener. It slits the viral intruder with immaculate precision by neatly aligning it to a molecular guide targeting a specific genetic sequence.

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"Maguin and his colleagues found how the two systems work in concert—segments previously clipped by restriction enzymes help the CRISPR-Cas machinery generate the molecular guide needed to find the viruses and put an end to the infection.

"'It's a bit like vaccination," Marraffini says. "The restriction enzyme cuts little pieces of the virus that CRISPR will then use to mount an adaptive response.'"

Comment: I assume viruses and bacteria were both at the start of life, and God designed bacteria with the described defenses. The issue of dog eat dog is the only way our form of life can survive. I believe God gave us the best system He could devise and most likely the only workable system. God would know that. dhw's god probably would not.