Youwerecreated
VIP Member
- Nov 29, 2010
- 13,273
- 165
- 83
Another problem for your theory.
Papers
Neo-Darwinian history of life
The neo-Darwinian theory of evolution says that all
life on Earth arose from a common ancestor via
random mutations to genes that survived natural selection.
Organisms with beneficial mutations produced more
offspring, those with deleterious mutations produced less
(or no) offspring. Some beneficial mutations provided
new adaptations to new or changed environments, thereby
producing new kinds of organisms.
In order to get extra new information that was needed
to build more complex organisms, existing genes must have
been duplicated and then mutated into something useful.1
This error-ridden process was not very efficient and it left
behind in our genomes lots of ‘genetic fossil junk’:2
• mutations that were neutral and not selected out,
• duplicated genes that didn’t make it,
• functional genes that mutated beyond their
usefulness.
As a result, our ‘[evolutionary] history is woven into
the fabric of modern [life] inscribed in its coded characters.’3
This code, of course, is on the DNA molecule in the form
of a long string of letters consisting of four base molecules,
commonly represented by the initials T, A, G and C. The
code was thought to be written in a straightforward manner,
like the letters and words on this page. Neo-Darwinian
molecular taxonomists routinely use this ‘junk DNA’ as a
‘molecular clock’—a silent record of mutations that have
been undisturbed by natural selection for millions of years
because it does not do anything. They have constructed
elaborate evolutionary histories for all different kinds of
life from it. How wrong this has proved to be!
The ENCODE Project
When the Human Genome Project published its first
draft of the human genome in 2003, they already knew
certain things in advance. These included:
• Coding segments (genes that coded for proteins) were
a minor component of the total amount of DNA in each
cell. It was embarrassing to find that we have only about
as many genes as mice (about 25,000) which constitute
only about 3% of our entire genome. The remaining
97% was of largely unknown function (probably the
‘junk’ referred to above).
• Genes were known to be functional segments of DNA
(exons) interspersed with non-functional segments
(introns) of unknown purpose. When the gene is copied
(transcribed into RNA) and then translated into protein
the introns are spliced out and the exons are joined up
to produce the functional protein-producing gene.
• Copying (transcription) of the gene began at a specially
marked START position, and ended at a special STOP
sign.
• Gene switches (the molecules involved are collectively
called transcription factors) were located on the
chromosome adjacent to the START end of the gene.
• Transcription proceeds one way, from the START end
to the STOP end.
• Genes were scattered throughout the chromosomes,
somewhat like beads on a string, although some areas
were gene-rich and others gene-poor.
• DNA is a double helix molecule, somewhat like a
coiled zipper. Each strand of the DNA zipper is the
complement of the other—as on a clothing zipper,
one side has a lump that fits into a cavity on the other
strand. Only one side is called the ‘sense’ strand, and
the complementary strand is called the ‘anti-sense’
strand. Protein production usually only comes from
copying the sense strand. The anti-sense strand provides
a template for copying the sense strand in a way that
a photographic negative is used to produce a positive
print. Some exceptions to this rule were known (in some
cases, anti-sense strands were used to make protein).
This whole structure of understanding was turned on
Astonishing DNA complexity demolishes
neo-Darwinism
Alex Williams
The traditional understanding of DNA has recently been transformed beyond recognition. DNA does not, as
we thought, carry a linear, one-dimensional, one-way, sequential code—like the lines of letters and words on
this page. And the 97% in humans that does not carry protein-coding genes is not, as many people thought,
fossilized ‘junk’ left over from our evolutionary ancestors. DNA information is overlapping-multi-layered and
multi-dimensional; it reads both backwards and forwards; and the ‘junk’ is far more functional than the protein
code, so there is no fossilized history of evolution. No human engineer has ever even imagined, let alone
designed an information storage device anything like it. Moreover, the vast majority of its content is metainformation—
information about how to use information. Meta-information cannot arise by chance because
it only makes sense in context of the information it relates to. Finally, 95% of its functional information shows
no sign of having been naturally selected; on the contrary, it is rapidly degenerating! That means Darwin was
wrong—natural selection of natural variation does not explain the variety of life on Earth. The best explanation
is what the Bible tells us: we were created—as evidenced by the marvels of DNA—but then we fell and now
endure the curse of ‘bondage to decay’ by mutations.
112 JOURNAL OF CREATION 21(3) 2007
Papers
its head by a project called ENCODE that recently
reported an intensive study of the transcripts (copies
of RNA produced from the DNA) of just 1% of the
human genome.4,5 Their findings include the following
inferences:
• About 93% of the genome is transcribed (not 3%,
as expected). Further study with more wide-ranging
methods may raise this figure to 100%. Because much
energy and coordination is required for transcription
this means that probably the whole genome is used by
the cell and there is no such thing as ‘junk DNA’.
• Exons are not gene-specific but are modules that can
be joined to many different RNA transcripts. One exon
(i.e. a protein-making portion of one gene) can be used
in combination with up to 33 different genes located
on as many as 14 different chromosomes. This means
that one exon can specify one part shared in common
by many different proteins.
• There is no ‘beads on a string’ linear arrangement of
genes, but rather an interleaved structure of overlapping
segments, with typically five, seven or more transcripts
coming from just one segment of code.
• Not just one strand, but both strands (sense and antisense)
of the DNA are fully transcribed.
• Transcription proceeds not just one way but both
backwards and forwards.
• Transcription factors can be tens or hundreds of
thousands of base-pairs away from the gene that they
control, and even on different chromosomes.
• There is not just one START site, but many, in each
particular gene region.
• There is not just one transcription triggering (switching)
system for each region, but many.
The authors concluded:
‘An interleaved genomic organization poses
important mechanistic challenges for the cell. One
involves the [use of] the same DNA molecules for
multiple functions. The overlap of functionally
important sequence motifs must be resolved in time
and space for this organization to work properly.
Another challenge is the need to compartmentalize
RNA or mask RNAs that could potentially form
long double-stranded regions, to prevent RNARNA
interactions that could prompt apoptosis
[programmed cell death].’
The problem of using the same code to produce
many different functional transcripts means that DNA
cannot be endlessly mutable, as neo-Darwinists assume.
Most mutations are deleterious, so mutations in such a
complex structure would quickly destroy many functions
at once.
Their concern for the safety of so many RNA molecules
in such a small space is also well founded. RNA is a long
single-strand molecule not unlike a long piece of stickytape—
it will stick to any nearby surface, including itself!
Unless properly coordinated, it will quickly tie itself up
into a sticky mess.
These results are so astonishing, so shocking, that it is
going to take an awful lot more work to untangle what is
really going on in cells.
Functional junk?
The ENCODE project did confirm that genes still form
the primary information needed by the cell—the proteinproducing
code—even though much greater complexity has
now been uncovered. Genes found in the ENCODE project
differ only about 2% from the existing catalogue.
The astonishing discovery of multiple overlapping
transcripts in every part of the DNA was amazing in itself,
but the extent of the overlaps are huge compared to the
size of a typical gene. On average, the transcripts are 10 to
50 times the size of a typical gene region, overlapping on
both sides. And as many as 20% of transcripts range up to
more than 100 times the size of a typical gene region. This
would be like photocopying a page in a book and having
to get information from 10, 50 or even 100 other pages in
order to use the information on that one page.
The non-protein-coding regions (previously thought
to be junk) are now called untranslated regions (UTRs)
because while they are transcribed into RNA, they are
not translated into protein. Not only has the ENCODE
project elevated UTRs out of the ‘junk’ category, but it now
appears that they are far more active than the translated
regions (the genes), as measured by the number of DNA
bases appearing in RNA transcripts. Genic regions are
transcribed on average in five different overlapping and
interleaved ways, while UTRs are transcribed on average
in seven different overlapping and interleaved ways. Since
there are about 33 times as many bases in UTRs than in
genic regions, that makes the ‘junk’ about 50 times more
active than the genes.
Transcription activity can best be predicted by just
one factor—the way that the DNA is packaged into
chromosomes. The DNA is coiled around protein globules
called histones, then coiled again into a rope-like structure,
then super-coiled in two stages around scaffold proteins
to produce the thick chromosomes that we see under the
microscope (the resulting DNA/protein complex is called
chromatin). This suggests that DNA information normally
exists in a form similar to a closed book—all the coiling
prevents the coded information from coming into contact
with the translation machinery. When the cell wants some
information it opens a particular page, ‘photocopies’ the
information, then closes the book again. Recent other work6
shows that this is physically accomplished as follows:
• The chromosomes in each cell are stored in the
membrane-bound nucleus. The nuclear membrane
has about 2,000 pores in it, through which molecules
need ‘permission’ to pass in and out. The required
chromosome is brought near to one of these nuclear
pores.
• The section of DNA to be transcribed is placed in front
of the pore.
• The supercoil is unwound to expose the transcription
region.
JOURNAL OF CREATION 21(3) 2007 113
Papers
• The histone coils are twisted to expose
the required copying site.
• The double-helix of the DNA is
unzipped to expose the coded
information.
• The DNA is grasped into a loop by the
enzymes that do the copying, and this
loop is copied onto an RNA transcript.
The transcript is then checked for
accuracy (and is corrected or degraded
and recycled if it is faulty). Accurate
RNA transcripts are then specially
tagged for export through the pore
and are carried to wherever they are
needed in the cell.
• The ‘book’ of DNA information
is then closed by a reversal of the
coiling process and movement of the
chromosome away from the nuclear
pore region.
This astonishing discovery that
the so-called ‘junk’ regions are far more
functionally active than the gene regions
suggests that probably none of the human
genome is inactive junk. Junk is, by
definition, useless (or at least, presently
unused). But UTRs are being actively
used right now. That means they are not fossils of bygone
evolutionary ages—they are being used right now because
they are needed right now! If other animals have similar
DNA sequences then it means they have similar needs
that we do. This is sound logic based upon observable
biology—as opposed to the fanciful mutational suppositions
of neo-Darwinism.7
The molecular taxonomists, who have been drawing
up evolutionary histories (‘phylogenies’
for nearly every
kind of life, are going to have to undo all their years of
‘junk DNA’-based historical reconstructions and wait for
the full implications to emerge before they try again. One
of the supposedly ‘knock-down’ arguments that humans
have a common ancestor with chimpanzees is shared
‘non-functional’ DNA coding. That argument is now out
the window.
Multiple Codes
A major outcome of the studies so far is that there are
multiple information codes operating in living cells. The
protein code is the simplest, and has been studied for half
a century. But a number of other codes are now known, at
least by inference.
Cell memory code. DNA is a very long, thin molecule.
If you unwound the DNA from just one human cell it would
be about 2 metres long! To squash this into a tiny cell
nucleus, the DNA is wound up in four separate layers of
chromatin structure (as described earlier). The first level
of this chromatin structure carries a ‘histone code’ that
contains information about the cell’s history (i.e. it is a cell
memory).8,9 The DNA is coiled twice around a group of
8 histone molecules, and a 9th histone pins this structure
into place to form what is called a nucleosome. These
nucleosomes can carry various chemical modifications that
either allow, or prevent, the expression of the DNA wrapped
around them. Every time a cell divides into two new cells,
its DNA double-helix splits into two single strands, which
then each produce a new double-strand. But nucleosomes
are not duplicated like the DNA-strands. Rather, they are
distributed between either one or the other of the two new
DNA double strands, and the empty spaces are filled by new
nucleosomes. Cell division is therefore an opportunity for
changes in the nucleosomal composition of a specific DNA
region. Changes can also happen during the lifetime of a
cell due to chemical reactions allowing inter-conversions
between the different nucleosome types. The memory
effect of these changes can be that a latent capacity that was
dormant comes to life, or, conversely, a previously active
capacity shuts down.
Differentiation code. In humans, there are about 300
different cell types in our bodies that make up the different
tissue types (nerves, blood, muscle, liver, spleen, eyes
etc). All of these cells contain the same DNA, so how
does each cell know how to become a nerve cell rather
than a blood cell? The required information is written in
code down the side of the DNA double-helix in the form
of different molecules attached to the nucleotides that form
the ‘rungs’ in the ‘ladder’ of the helix.10 This code silences
developmental genes in embryonic stem cells, but preserves
their potential to become activated during embryogenesis.
Astonishing complexity of DNA. When the genetic code was first discovered, it was
thought that only protein information was coded in gene regions. Genes make up only
about 3% of the human genome. Francis Crick described the remaining 97% as ‘junk’.
But recent discoveries show that so much information is packed into, on and around
the DNA molecule that it is the most complex and sophisticated information storage
system ever seen by mankind. No one ever imagined such a thing before, and we are
still trying to understand the nature and depth of its information content.
By Alex Williams
114 JOURNAL OF CREATION 21(3) 2007
Papers
The embryo itself is largely defined by its DNA sequence,
but its subsequent development can be altered in response to
lineage-specific transcriptional programs and environmental
cues, and is epigenetically maintained.11
Replication Code. The replication code was discovered
by addressing the question of how cells maintain their
normal metabolic activity (which continually uses the
DNA as source information) when it comes time for cell
division. The key problem is that a large proportion of the
whole genome is required for the normal operation of the
cell—probably at least 50% in unspecialized body cells
and up to 70–80% in complex liver and brain cells—and,
of course, the whole genome is required during replication.
This creates a huge logistic problem—how to avoid clashes
between the transcription machinery (which needs to
continually copy information for ongoing use in the cell)
and the replication machinery (which needs to unzip the
whole of the DNA double-helix and replicate a ‘zipped’
copy back onto each of the separated strands).
The cell’s solution to this logistics nightmare is truly
astonishing.12 Replication does not begin at any one point,
but at thousands of different points. But of these thousands
of potential start points, only a subset are used in any one
cell cycle—different subsets are used at different times and
places. A full understanding is yet to emerge because the
system is so complex; however, some progress has been
made:
• The large set of potential replication start sites is not
essential, but optional. In early embryogenesis, for
example, before any transcription begins, the whole
genome replicates numerous times without any
reference to the special set of potential start sites.
• The pattern of replication in the late embryo and adult
is tissue-specific. This suggests that cells in a particular
tissue cooperate by coordinating replication so that
while part of the DNA in one cell is being replicated,
the corresponding part in a neighbouring cell is being
transcribed. Transcripts can thus be shared so that
normal functions can be maintained throughout the
tissue while different parts of the DNA are being
replicated.
• DNA that is transcribed early in the cell division cycle
is also replicated in the early stage (but the transcription
and replication machines are carefully kept apart).
The early transcribed DNA is that which is needed
most often in cell function. The correlation between
transcription and replication in this early phase allows
the cell to minimize the ‘downtime’ in transcription
of the most urgent supplies while replication takes
place.
• There is a ‘pecking order’ of control. Preparation for
replication may take place at thousands of different
locations, but once replication does begin at a particular
site, it suppresses replication at nearby sites so that
only one copy of the DNA is made. If transcription
happens to occur nearby, replication is suppressed until
transcription is completed. This clearly demonstrates
that keeping the cell alive and functioning properly
takes precedence over cell division.
• There is a built-in error correction system called the
‘cell-cycle checkpoints’. If replication proceeds without
any problems, correction is not needed. However, if too
many replication events occur at once the potential for
conflict between transcription and regulation increases,
and/or it may indicate that some replicators have
stalled because of errors. Once the threshold number is
exceeded, the checkpoint system is activated, the whole
process is slowed down, and errors are corrected. If too
much damage occurs, the daughter cells will be mutant,
or the cell’s self-destruct mechanism (the apoptosome)
will be activated to dismantle the cell and recycle its
components.
• An obvious benefit of the pattern of replication initiation
being never the same from one cell division to the next
is that it prevents accumulation of any errors that are
not corrected.
The exact location of the replication code is yet to
be pinpointed, but because it involves transcription factors
gaining access to transcription sites, and this is known to
be controlled by chromatin structure, then the code itself is
probably written into the chromatin structure.
Undiscovered codes?
Given that we now have at least four known codes, it
seems reasonable to infer that at least three other major
activities in cells have a, yet undiscovered, coded basis:
Regulatory code(s). At least some, and perhaps all, of
the untranslated regions are involved in gene regulation in
one form or another. According to Kirschner and Gerhart’s
facilitated variation theory,13 regulatory information is
organized into modules that they liken to Lego® blocks. That
is, they have strong internal integrity (hard to break), but they
are easily pulled apart (during meiosis) and rearranged into
new combinations (at fertilization). This built-in capacity
for variation, they claim, is essential for life to persist (i.e.
survive stress in any one generation) and evolve (down the
generations). It therefore seems reasonable to expect to find
some code associated with module structure, the rules by
which rearrangements can occur, and the constraints that
must apply in order to maintain normal metabolic functions
in the face of rearranged regulatory circuits.
Transcription code. The most common activity
associated with DNA is transcription. But how does a
transcription signal know which version of a transcript is
required? For any given gene, there are numerous different
transcript-starting sites, a number of different overlap
options, and numerous different signal molecules that can
trigger a transcription request, but only one transcription
machine can operate on a given segment of DNA at any
one time.
Nerve code. Nerve cells carry information internally via
electrical impulses, but then communicate with one another
by converting electrical impulses into neurotransmitter
JOURNAL OF CREATION 21(3) 2007 115
Papers
chemicals that then diffuse across the gap (synapse) between
them. There must be a code involved in conversion from
electrical to chemical transcription information.
Meta-information: an impossible conundrum
for evolution
The astonishing complexity of the dynamic information
storage capacity of the DNA/chromosome system is, in
itself, a marvel of engineering design. Such a magnificent
solution to such a monster logistics problem could surely
only come from a Master Designer. But the nature of the
majority of this information poses an impossible conundrum
for neo-Darwinists.
Proteins are the work-horse molecules of biology. But
protein-coding genes make up only a tiny proportion of
all the information that we have been describing above.
The vast majority of information in the human genome
is not primary code for proteins, but meta-information—
information about information—the instructions that a cell
needs for using the proteins to make, maintain and reproduce
functional human beings.
Neo-Darwinists say that all this information arose
by random mutations, but this is not possible. Random
events are, by definition, independent of one another.
But meta-information is, by definition, totally dependent
upon the information to which it relates. It would be quite
nonsensical to take the cooking instructions for making a
cake and apply them to the assembly of, say, a child’s plastic
toy (if nothing else, the baking stage would reduce the toy
to a mangled mess). Cake-cooking instructions only have
meaning when applied to cake-making ingredients. So
too, the logistics solution to the cell division problem is
only relevant to the problem of cell division. If we applied
the logistics solution to the problem of mate attraction via
pheromones (scent) in moths it would not work. All the vast
amount of meta-information in the human genome only has
meaning when applied to the problem of using the human
genome to make, maintain and reproduce human beings.
Even if we granted that the first biological information
came into existence by a random process in an ‘RNAworld’
scenario, the meta-information needed to use that
information could not possibly come into existence by
the same random (independent) process because metainformation
is inextricably dependent upon the information
that it relates to.
There is thus no possible random (mutation) solution to
this conundrum. Can natural selection save the day? No.
There are at least 100 (and probably many more) bits of
meta-information in the human genome for every one bit of
primary (protein-coding gene) information. An organism
that has to manufacture, maintain and drag around with it
a mountain of useless mutations while waiting for a chance
correlation of relevance to occur so that something useful
can happen, is an organism that natural selection is going
to select against, not favour! Moreover, an organism that
can survive long enough to accumulate a mountain of
useless mutations is an organism that does not need useless
mutations—it must already have all the information it needs
to survive!
What kind organism already has all the information it
needs to survive? There is only one answer—an organism
that was created in the beginning with all that it needs to
survive.
What kind of information is this?
These results present us with a spectacle never
before encountered in science—an information
structure so complex that it defies description. How
can we possibly understand it?
I believe there are at least two things that
we can reasonably conclude about it at this time.
First, it is most decidedly not the one-dimensional
linear sequence of characters that neo-Darwinists
need to provide the endlessly mutable source of
universal evolution. While it is certainly variable,
its extraordinarily complex structure cannot
possibly be endlessly mutable because a certain
amount of invariance is required to maintain
complex structure, otherwise it quickly degrades
into error catastrophe. The experimentally verified
universally deleterious nature of mutations supports
this conclusion.
The second thing we can conclude is that
according to Kirschner and Gerhart’s theory of
facilitated variation,14 DNA contains regulatorybased
modules which they liken to Lego® blocks.
That is, they have very strong internal coherence
Meta information. The computer memory chip (A) can hold over 2 billion bits of
information in binary code (B) but it requires a computer (C) with its operating
system and application software (meta-information) to do anything useful with
the information on the chip. Likewise, the protein information coded on the
genes in DNA needs the meta-information in the ‘junk’ regions together with
the machinery of the cell to do anything useful with the protein code.
Image by Alex Williams
116 JOURNAL OF CREATION 21(3) 2007
Papers
and integrity (difficult to break) but are easily pulled apart
(during meiosis) and reassembled (during fertilization) to
produce a built-in capacity for variation. To understand
it properly, we need to locate the Lego® blocks and the
boundaries between them.
Natural selection—irrelevant!
The most surprising result of the ENCODE project,
according to its authors, is that 95% of the functional
transcripts (genic and UTR transcripts with at least one
known function) show no sign of selection pressure (i.e.
they are not noticeably conserved and are mutating at the
average rate). Why were they surprised? Because man
is supposed to have evolved from ape-like ancestors via
mutation and natural selection. But if 95% of the human
functional information shows no sign of natural selection
then it means that natural selection has not been a significant
contributor to our ancestry.15
While this result surprised the neo-Darwinists, it is
perfectly in line with current research in human genetics. In
his ground-breaking exposé of current knowledge, Genetic
Entropy & The Mystery of the Genome,16 geneticist Dr John
Sanford of Cornell University showed that deleterious
mutations are accumulating at an alarming rate in the human
population and that both natural selection and even the worst
possible nightmare scenario of eugenics is powerless to stop
it. This is because the vast majority are deleterious single
nucleotide mutations that have a miniscule effect on fitness
so natural selection cannot detect them amongst the ‘noise’
and thus is unable to delete them. Also, there is so much
other information contributing to
fitness, and life always has many
different ways of achieving its
goals. Natural selection is also
powerless to delete numerous
mutations simultaneously,
because their effects on fitness
are complex, interactive and
often mutually interfering.
Natural selection only works
in simple cases that are easy
to explain in textbooks. One
organism with one (big) defect
will fail to reproduce. Alternately,
one big strong male will outcompete
his rivals and fertilize
more females, thus improving the
overall genetic well-being of the
species. These kinds of scenarios
only have a minor impact on the
human population. Most of us are
just mediocre, but most of us do
find partners and procreate.
If the average number of
deleterious mutations per person
per generation is much less than
1, then we have some hope that natural selection might
favour the strong over the weak and keep our species
genetically healthy. But in fact, the average number of
deleterious mutations per person per generation is very
much greater than 1—probably at least 100 per person
per generation, likely about 300 and perhaps much more.
This means that everyone is a mutant many times over and
natural selection is powerless to stop it because deleting
the weakest (whatever that might mean) will do nothing
to prevent everyone else reproducing, resulting in an
inexorable degeneration of the whole human population.
Even the most horrible eugenics program could not stop it.
This problem caused one author to write a paper entitled
‘Why are we not dead 100 times over?’
Let’s now put this information together with Haldane’s
dilemma.17 Famous geneticist J.B.S. Haldane calculated
that it would take about 300 generations for a favourable
mutation to become fixed in a population (every member
having a double copy of it). He calculated that in the
approximately 6 million years since our supposed hominid
ancestor split from the chimpanzee line, only about 1000
(<2000 according to ReMine18) such mutations could
become fixed. This is certainly not nearly enough to turn
an ape into a human. But most importantly, we now know
that there are about 125 million single nucleotide differences
between humans and chimps, resulting from about 40
million mutational events. This means that somewhere
between 39,998,000 and 124,998,000 deleterious changes
have occurred since the split with our common ancestor.
That means we have degenerated from chimps, which
makes a mockery of the whole mutation/selection theory
of origin.
Information about information. The most basic meta-information needed to use coded information
is instructions on how to read the code. In a computer, the binary code (Panel A) is divided into
‘bytes’ made up of 8 ‘bits’ (0,1), which are then translated into English via the ASCII code. In
protein-coding genes (Panel B), the nucleotides (T,A,G,C) are read in triplets, and these triplets
are translated into an amino acid sequence via the genetic code.
Image by Alex Williams
JOURNAL OF CREATION 21(3) 2007 117
Papers
Conclusion
The discovery that virtually all our DNA is functional
right now demolishes the neo-Darwinian argument that it
contains mostly junk which constitutes a unique fossilized
history of our genetic evolution. The most logical
explanation of shared DNA between different kinds of
organisms is now shared function, not shared ancestry.
The discovery that DNA contains astonishingly
complex information structures, beyond our capacity to even
imagine, let alone comprehend, means that neo-Darwinism’s
total dependence upon random mutations in linear code as
a source of new information is in error. We would expect
random mutations to extremely complex information
structures to be deleterious, and this is exactly the universal
result of many years of genetic research. Kirschner and
Gerhart’s theory that natural variation is largely the result
of random rearrangements of specially structured gene
modules14 is a far more reasonable explanation.
The discovery that the vast majority of the information
stored in DNA is not primary protein-coding information but
secondary meta-information, demolishes the neo-Darwinian
argument that it arose by some random (independent)
process. Meta-information is inextricably dependent upon
the information it refers to so an independent origin is
impossible.
The discovery that natural selection has been an
insignificant factor in our genetic history demolishes
Darwin’s theory that all life on Earth arose from a common
ancestor by means of the natural selection of natural
variation. This discovery is also completely consistent with
the genetic evidence that the human genome is degenerating
at an alarming rate.
Neo-Darwinian theory was a mirage built from ideology
upon a few general facts (natural selection, genes and
mutations). But now that we have glimpsed just some of
the vast molecular detail of how life actually works, the
mirage has evaporated.
References
1. This theory makes numerous predictions that are all falsified by molecular
biology data. The lack of any alternative source of the required new
information thus constitutes a fatal weakness in neo-Darwinian theory.
See Bergman, J., Does gene duplication provide the engine for evolution?
Journal of Creation 20(1):99–104, 2006; <Creation - Creation Ministries International
images/pdfs/tj/j20_1/j20_1_99-104.pdf>.
2. Carroll, S., The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic
Evidence of Evolution, Norton, New York, 2006.
3. Dawkins, R., The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution,
Houghton Miflin, Boston, MA, 2004, p.20.
4. Birney, E. et al., Identification and analysis of functional elements in 1%
of the human genome by the ENCODE pilot project, Nature 447: 799–816,
2007.
5. Kapranov, P., Willingham, A.T. and Gingeras, T.R., Genome-wide
transcription and the implications for genomic organization, Nature
Reviews Genetics 8: 413–423, 2007.
6. Akhtar, A. and Gasser, S.M., The nuclear envelope and transcriptional
control, Nature Reviews Genetics 8:507–517, 2007.
7. Mutations have been intensively researched in medical laboratories
over many years now and almost all of them are deleterious. The only
exceptions appear to be those that disable an existing mechanism such
that some specialized result is beneficial in some specialized conditions
(e.g. sickle-cell anemia (a serious disease) reduces the severity of malaria
in malaria-prone regions by killing the malaria parasite in the sickled
cells).
8. Latent memory of cells comes to life, 17 May 2007, <www.physorg.
com/news98623491.html>.
9. Segal, E., Fondufe-Mittendorf, Y., Chen, L., Thåström, A, Field, Y.,
Moore, I.K., Wang, J.-P.Z. and Widom, J., A genomic code for nucleosome
positioning, Nature 442(7104):772–778, 17 August 2006.
10. Mikkelsen, T.S. et al., Genome-wide maps of chromatin state in pluripotent
and lineage-committed cells, Nature 448:553–560, 2007.
11. Bernstein, B.E. et al., A bivalent chromatin structure marks key
developmental genes in embryonic stem cells, Cell 125:315–326, 2006.
12. Aladjem, M.I., Replication in context: dynamic regulation of DNA
replication patterns in metazoans, Nature Reviews Genetics 8:588–60,
2007.
13. Kirschner, M.W. and Gerhart, J.C., The Plausibility of Life: Resolving
Darwin’s Dilemma, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2005.
14. Kirschner and Gerhart, ref. 13. See also, Williams, A.R., Facilitated
Variation: A new paradigm emerges in biology, Journal of Creation, in
press.
15. Natural selection will have played some part in our ancestry because
grossly deleterious mutations will have been weeded out, and during
times of famine, plague and war, populations are usually depleted of some
genetic components more than others (e.g. young soldiers killed in war;
the young and the old dying in famine, sickle-cell anemia alleviating the
severity of malaria).
16. Sanford, J.C., Genetic Entropy & The Mystery of the Genome, Elim
Publishing, New York, 2005.
17. Batten, B., Haldane’s dilemma has not been solved, Journal of Creation
19(1):20–21, 2005; <www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4473>.
18. ReMine, W., Haldane’s Dilemma, <saintpaulscience.com/Haldane.htm>,
3 August 2007.
Alex Williams received a B.Sc. in botany from the University
of New England, an M.Sc.(Hons.) in radioecology from
Macquarie University, and is an elected member of the
Australian Institute of Biology. He has diplomas in Christian
studies from Tabor College and Bible College of South
Australia (in missiology), and a Licentiate in Theology
(with distinction) from the Australian College of Theology.
During 20 years in environmental research, he became the
Australian representative to the United Nations in his field.
He then spent seven years in mission work and is now an
honorary botanist at the Western Australian Herbarium in
Perth. He has published in many different areas of science
Papers
Neo-Darwinian history of life
The neo-Darwinian theory of evolution says that all
life on Earth arose from a common ancestor via
random mutations to genes that survived natural selection.
Organisms with beneficial mutations produced more
offspring, those with deleterious mutations produced less
(or no) offspring. Some beneficial mutations provided
new adaptations to new or changed environments, thereby
producing new kinds of organisms.
In order to get extra new information that was needed
to build more complex organisms, existing genes must have
been duplicated and then mutated into something useful.1
This error-ridden process was not very efficient and it left
behind in our genomes lots of ‘genetic fossil junk’:2
• mutations that were neutral and not selected out,
• duplicated genes that didn’t make it,
• functional genes that mutated beyond their
usefulness.
As a result, our ‘[evolutionary] history is woven into
the fabric of modern [life] inscribed in its coded characters.’3
This code, of course, is on the DNA molecule in the form
of a long string of letters consisting of four base molecules,
commonly represented by the initials T, A, G and C. The
code was thought to be written in a straightforward manner,
like the letters and words on this page. Neo-Darwinian
molecular taxonomists routinely use this ‘junk DNA’ as a
‘molecular clock’—a silent record of mutations that have
been undisturbed by natural selection for millions of years
because it does not do anything. They have constructed
elaborate evolutionary histories for all different kinds of
life from it. How wrong this has proved to be!
The ENCODE Project
When the Human Genome Project published its first
draft of the human genome in 2003, they already knew
certain things in advance. These included:
• Coding segments (genes that coded for proteins) were
a minor component of the total amount of DNA in each
cell. It was embarrassing to find that we have only about
as many genes as mice (about 25,000) which constitute
only about 3% of our entire genome. The remaining
97% was of largely unknown function (probably the
‘junk’ referred to above).
• Genes were known to be functional segments of DNA
(exons) interspersed with non-functional segments
(introns) of unknown purpose. When the gene is copied
(transcribed into RNA) and then translated into protein
the introns are spliced out and the exons are joined up
to produce the functional protein-producing gene.
• Copying (transcription) of the gene began at a specially
marked START position, and ended at a special STOP
sign.
• Gene switches (the molecules involved are collectively
called transcription factors) were located on the
chromosome adjacent to the START end of the gene.
• Transcription proceeds one way, from the START end
to the STOP end.
• Genes were scattered throughout the chromosomes,
somewhat like beads on a string, although some areas
were gene-rich and others gene-poor.
• DNA is a double helix molecule, somewhat like a
coiled zipper. Each strand of the DNA zipper is the
complement of the other—as on a clothing zipper,
one side has a lump that fits into a cavity on the other
strand. Only one side is called the ‘sense’ strand, and
the complementary strand is called the ‘anti-sense’
strand. Protein production usually only comes from
copying the sense strand. The anti-sense strand provides
a template for copying the sense strand in a way that
a photographic negative is used to produce a positive
print. Some exceptions to this rule were known (in some
cases, anti-sense strands were used to make protein).
This whole structure of understanding was turned on
Astonishing DNA complexity demolishes
neo-Darwinism
Alex Williams
The traditional understanding of DNA has recently been transformed beyond recognition. DNA does not, as
we thought, carry a linear, one-dimensional, one-way, sequential code—like the lines of letters and words on
this page. And the 97% in humans that does not carry protein-coding genes is not, as many people thought,
fossilized ‘junk’ left over from our evolutionary ancestors. DNA information is overlapping-multi-layered and
multi-dimensional; it reads both backwards and forwards; and the ‘junk’ is far more functional than the protein
code, so there is no fossilized history of evolution. No human engineer has ever even imagined, let alone
designed an information storage device anything like it. Moreover, the vast majority of its content is metainformation—
information about how to use information. Meta-information cannot arise by chance because
it only makes sense in context of the information it relates to. Finally, 95% of its functional information shows
no sign of having been naturally selected; on the contrary, it is rapidly degenerating! That means Darwin was
wrong—natural selection of natural variation does not explain the variety of life on Earth. The best explanation
is what the Bible tells us: we were created—as evidenced by the marvels of DNA—but then we fell and now
endure the curse of ‘bondage to decay’ by mutations.
112 JOURNAL OF CREATION 21(3) 2007
Papers
its head by a project called ENCODE that recently
reported an intensive study of the transcripts (copies
of RNA produced from the DNA) of just 1% of the
human genome.4,5 Their findings include the following
inferences:
• About 93% of the genome is transcribed (not 3%,
as expected). Further study with more wide-ranging
methods may raise this figure to 100%. Because much
energy and coordination is required for transcription
this means that probably the whole genome is used by
the cell and there is no such thing as ‘junk DNA’.
• Exons are not gene-specific but are modules that can
be joined to many different RNA transcripts. One exon
(i.e. a protein-making portion of one gene) can be used
in combination with up to 33 different genes located
on as many as 14 different chromosomes. This means
that one exon can specify one part shared in common
by many different proteins.
• There is no ‘beads on a string’ linear arrangement of
genes, but rather an interleaved structure of overlapping
segments, with typically five, seven or more transcripts
coming from just one segment of code.
• Not just one strand, but both strands (sense and antisense)
of the DNA are fully transcribed.
• Transcription proceeds not just one way but both
backwards and forwards.
• Transcription factors can be tens or hundreds of
thousands of base-pairs away from the gene that they
control, and even on different chromosomes.
• There is not just one START site, but many, in each
particular gene region.
• There is not just one transcription triggering (switching)
system for each region, but many.
The authors concluded:
‘An interleaved genomic organization poses
important mechanistic challenges for the cell. One
involves the [use of] the same DNA molecules for
multiple functions. The overlap of functionally
important sequence motifs must be resolved in time
and space for this organization to work properly.
Another challenge is the need to compartmentalize
RNA or mask RNAs that could potentially form
long double-stranded regions, to prevent RNARNA
interactions that could prompt apoptosis
[programmed cell death].’
The problem of using the same code to produce
many different functional transcripts means that DNA
cannot be endlessly mutable, as neo-Darwinists assume.
Most mutations are deleterious, so mutations in such a
complex structure would quickly destroy many functions
at once.
Their concern for the safety of so many RNA molecules
in such a small space is also well founded. RNA is a long
single-strand molecule not unlike a long piece of stickytape—
it will stick to any nearby surface, including itself!
Unless properly coordinated, it will quickly tie itself up
into a sticky mess.
These results are so astonishing, so shocking, that it is
going to take an awful lot more work to untangle what is
really going on in cells.
Functional junk?
The ENCODE project did confirm that genes still form
the primary information needed by the cell—the proteinproducing
code—even though much greater complexity has
now been uncovered. Genes found in the ENCODE project
differ only about 2% from the existing catalogue.
The astonishing discovery of multiple overlapping
transcripts in every part of the DNA was amazing in itself,
but the extent of the overlaps are huge compared to the
size of a typical gene. On average, the transcripts are 10 to
50 times the size of a typical gene region, overlapping on
both sides. And as many as 20% of transcripts range up to
more than 100 times the size of a typical gene region. This
would be like photocopying a page in a book and having
to get information from 10, 50 or even 100 other pages in
order to use the information on that one page.
The non-protein-coding regions (previously thought
to be junk) are now called untranslated regions (UTRs)
because while they are transcribed into RNA, they are
not translated into protein. Not only has the ENCODE
project elevated UTRs out of the ‘junk’ category, but it now
appears that they are far more active than the translated
regions (the genes), as measured by the number of DNA
bases appearing in RNA transcripts. Genic regions are
transcribed on average in five different overlapping and
interleaved ways, while UTRs are transcribed on average
in seven different overlapping and interleaved ways. Since
there are about 33 times as many bases in UTRs than in
genic regions, that makes the ‘junk’ about 50 times more
active than the genes.
Transcription activity can best be predicted by just
one factor—the way that the DNA is packaged into
chromosomes. The DNA is coiled around protein globules
called histones, then coiled again into a rope-like structure,
then super-coiled in two stages around scaffold proteins
to produce the thick chromosomes that we see under the
microscope (the resulting DNA/protein complex is called
chromatin). This suggests that DNA information normally
exists in a form similar to a closed book—all the coiling
prevents the coded information from coming into contact
with the translation machinery. When the cell wants some
information it opens a particular page, ‘photocopies’ the
information, then closes the book again. Recent other work6
shows that this is physically accomplished as follows:
• The chromosomes in each cell are stored in the
membrane-bound nucleus. The nuclear membrane
has about 2,000 pores in it, through which molecules
need ‘permission’ to pass in and out. The required
chromosome is brought near to one of these nuclear
pores.
• The section of DNA to be transcribed is placed in front
of the pore.
• The supercoil is unwound to expose the transcription
region.
JOURNAL OF CREATION 21(3) 2007 113
Papers
• The histone coils are twisted to expose
the required copying site.
• The double-helix of the DNA is
unzipped to expose the coded
information.
• The DNA is grasped into a loop by the
enzymes that do the copying, and this
loop is copied onto an RNA transcript.
The transcript is then checked for
accuracy (and is corrected or degraded
and recycled if it is faulty). Accurate
RNA transcripts are then specially
tagged for export through the pore
and are carried to wherever they are
needed in the cell.
• The ‘book’ of DNA information
is then closed by a reversal of the
coiling process and movement of the
chromosome away from the nuclear
pore region.
This astonishing discovery that
the so-called ‘junk’ regions are far more
functionally active than the gene regions
suggests that probably none of the human
genome is inactive junk. Junk is, by
definition, useless (or at least, presently
unused). But UTRs are being actively
used right now. That means they are not fossils of bygone
evolutionary ages—they are being used right now because
they are needed right now! If other animals have similar
DNA sequences then it means they have similar needs
that we do. This is sound logic based upon observable
biology—as opposed to the fanciful mutational suppositions
of neo-Darwinism.7
The molecular taxonomists, who have been drawing
up evolutionary histories (‘phylogenies’
for nearly everykind of life, are going to have to undo all their years of
‘junk DNA’-based historical reconstructions and wait for
the full implications to emerge before they try again. One
of the supposedly ‘knock-down’ arguments that humans
have a common ancestor with chimpanzees is shared
‘non-functional’ DNA coding. That argument is now out
the window.
Multiple Codes
A major outcome of the studies so far is that there are
multiple information codes operating in living cells. The
protein code is the simplest, and has been studied for half
a century. But a number of other codes are now known, at
least by inference.
Cell memory code. DNA is a very long, thin molecule.
If you unwound the DNA from just one human cell it would
be about 2 metres long! To squash this into a tiny cell
nucleus, the DNA is wound up in four separate layers of
chromatin structure (as described earlier). The first level
of this chromatin structure carries a ‘histone code’ that
contains information about the cell’s history (i.e. it is a cell
memory).8,9 The DNA is coiled twice around a group of
8 histone molecules, and a 9th histone pins this structure
into place to form what is called a nucleosome. These
nucleosomes can carry various chemical modifications that
either allow, or prevent, the expression of the DNA wrapped
around them. Every time a cell divides into two new cells,
its DNA double-helix splits into two single strands, which
then each produce a new double-strand. But nucleosomes
are not duplicated like the DNA-strands. Rather, they are
distributed between either one or the other of the two new
DNA double strands, and the empty spaces are filled by new
nucleosomes. Cell division is therefore an opportunity for
changes in the nucleosomal composition of a specific DNA
region. Changes can also happen during the lifetime of a
cell due to chemical reactions allowing inter-conversions
between the different nucleosome types. The memory
effect of these changes can be that a latent capacity that was
dormant comes to life, or, conversely, a previously active
capacity shuts down.
Differentiation code. In humans, there are about 300
different cell types in our bodies that make up the different
tissue types (nerves, blood, muscle, liver, spleen, eyes
etc). All of these cells contain the same DNA, so how
does each cell know how to become a nerve cell rather
than a blood cell? The required information is written in
code down the side of the DNA double-helix in the form
of different molecules attached to the nucleotides that form
the ‘rungs’ in the ‘ladder’ of the helix.10 This code silences
developmental genes in embryonic stem cells, but preserves
their potential to become activated during embryogenesis.
Astonishing complexity of DNA. When the genetic code was first discovered, it was
thought that only protein information was coded in gene regions. Genes make up only
about 3% of the human genome. Francis Crick described the remaining 97% as ‘junk’.
But recent discoveries show that so much information is packed into, on and around
the DNA molecule that it is the most complex and sophisticated information storage
system ever seen by mankind. No one ever imagined such a thing before, and we are
still trying to understand the nature and depth of its information content.
By Alex Williams
114 JOURNAL OF CREATION 21(3) 2007
Papers
The embryo itself is largely defined by its DNA sequence,
but its subsequent development can be altered in response to
lineage-specific transcriptional programs and environmental
cues, and is epigenetically maintained.11
Replication Code. The replication code was discovered
by addressing the question of how cells maintain their
normal metabolic activity (which continually uses the
DNA as source information) when it comes time for cell
division. The key problem is that a large proportion of the
whole genome is required for the normal operation of the
cell—probably at least 50% in unspecialized body cells
and up to 70–80% in complex liver and brain cells—and,
of course, the whole genome is required during replication.
This creates a huge logistic problem—how to avoid clashes
between the transcription machinery (which needs to
continually copy information for ongoing use in the cell)
and the replication machinery (which needs to unzip the
whole of the DNA double-helix and replicate a ‘zipped’
copy back onto each of the separated strands).
The cell’s solution to this logistics nightmare is truly
astonishing.12 Replication does not begin at any one point,
but at thousands of different points. But of these thousands
of potential start points, only a subset are used in any one
cell cycle—different subsets are used at different times and
places. A full understanding is yet to emerge because the
system is so complex; however, some progress has been
made:
• The large set of potential replication start sites is not
essential, but optional. In early embryogenesis, for
example, before any transcription begins, the whole
genome replicates numerous times without any
reference to the special set of potential start sites.
• The pattern of replication in the late embryo and adult
is tissue-specific. This suggests that cells in a particular
tissue cooperate by coordinating replication so that
while part of the DNA in one cell is being replicated,
the corresponding part in a neighbouring cell is being
transcribed. Transcripts can thus be shared so that
normal functions can be maintained throughout the
tissue while different parts of the DNA are being
replicated.
• DNA that is transcribed early in the cell division cycle
is also replicated in the early stage (but the transcription
and replication machines are carefully kept apart).
The early transcribed DNA is that which is needed
most often in cell function. The correlation between
transcription and replication in this early phase allows
the cell to minimize the ‘downtime’ in transcription
of the most urgent supplies while replication takes
place.
• There is a ‘pecking order’ of control. Preparation for
replication may take place at thousands of different
locations, but once replication does begin at a particular
site, it suppresses replication at nearby sites so that
only one copy of the DNA is made. If transcription
happens to occur nearby, replication is suppressed until
transcription is completed. This clearly demonstrates
that keeping the cell alive and functioning properly
takes precedence over cell division.
• There is a built-in error correction system called the
‘cell-cycle checkpoints’. If replication proceeds without
any problems, correction is not needed. However, if too
many replication events occur at once the potential for
conflict between transcription and regulation increases,
and/or it may indicate that some replicators have
stalled because of errors. Once the threshold number is
exceeded, the checkpoint system is activated, the whole
process is slowed down, and errors are corrected. If too
much damage occurs, the daughter cells will be mutant,
or the cell’s self-destruct mechanism (the apoptosome)
will be activated to dismantle the cell and recycle its
components.
• An obvious benefit of the pattern of replication initiation
being never the same from one cell division to the next
is that it prevents accumulation of any errors that are
not corrected.
The exact location of the replication code is yet to
be pinpointed, but because it involves transcription factors
gaining access to transcription sites, and this is known to
be controlled by chromatin structure, then the code itself is
probably written into the chromatin structure.
Undiscovered codes?
Given that we now have at least four known codes, it
seems reasonable to infer that at least three other major
activities in cells have a, yet undiscovered, coded basis:
Regulatory code(s). At least some, and perhaps all, of
the untranslated regions are involved in gene regulation in
one form or another. According to Kirschner and Gerhart’s
facilitated variation theory,13 regulatory information is
organized into modules that they liken to Lego® blocks. That
is, they have strong internal integrity (hard to break), but they
are easily pulled apart (during meiosis) and rearranged into
new combinations (at fertilization). This built-in capacity
for variation, they claim, is essential for life to persist (i.e.
survive stress in any one generation) and evolve (down the
generations). It therefore seems reasonable to expect to find
some code associated with module structure, the rules by
which rearrangements can occur, and the constraints that
must apply in order to maintain normal metabolic functions
in the face of rearranged regulatory circuits.
Transcription code. The most common activity
associated with DNA is transcription. But how does a
transcription signal know which version of a transcript is
required? For any given gene, there are numerous different
transcript-starting sites, a number of different overlap
options, and numerous different signal molecules that can
trigger a transcription request, but only one transcription
machine can operate on a given segment of DNA at any
one time.
Nerve code. Nerve cells carry information internally via
electrical impulses, but then communicate with one another
by converting electrical impulses into neurotransmitter
JOURNAL OF CREATION 21(3) 2007 115
Papers
chemicals that then diffuse across the gap (synapse) between
them. There must be a code involved in conversion from
electrical to chemical transcription information.
Meta-information: an impossible conundrum
for evolution
The astonishing complexity of the dynamic information
storage capacity of the DNA/chromosome system is, in
itself, a marvel of engineering design. Such a magnificent
solution to such a monster logistics problem could surely
only come from a Master Designer. But the nature of the
majority of this information poses an impossible conundrum
for neo-Darwinists.
Proteins are the work-horse molecules of biology. But
protein-coding genes make up only a tiny proportion of
all the information that we have been describing above.
The vast majority of information in the human genome
is not primary code for proteins, but meta-information—
information about information—the instructions that a cell
needs for using the proteins to make, maintain and reproduce
functional human beings.
Neo-Darwinists say that all this information arose
by random mutations, but this is not possible. Random
events are, by definition, independent of one another.
But meta-information is, by definition, totally dependent
upon the information to which it relates. It would be quite
nonsensical to take the cooking instructions for making a
cake and apply them to the assembly of, say, a child’s plastic
toy (if nothing else, the baking stage would reduce the toy
to a mangled mess). Cake-cooking instructions only have
meaning when applied to cake-making ingredients. So
too, the logistics solution to the cell division problem is
only relevant to the problem of cell division. If we applied
the logistics solution to the problem of mate attraction via
pheromones (scent) in moths it would not work. All the vast
amount of meta-information in the human genome only has
meaning when applied to the problem of using the human
genome to make, maintain and reproduce human beings.
Even if we granted that the first biological information
came into existence by a random process in an ‘RNAworld’
scenario, the meta-information needed to use that
information could not possibly come into existence by
the same random (independent) process because metainformation
is inextricably dependent upon the information
that it relates to.
There is thus no possible random (mutation) solution to
this conundrum. Can natural selection save the day? No.
There are at least 100 (and probably many more) bits of
meta-information in the human genome for every one bit of
primary (protein-coding gene) information. An organism
that has to manufacture, maintain and drag around with it
a mountain of useless mutations while waiting for a chance
correlation of relevance to occur so that something useful
can happen, is an organism that natural selection is going
to select against, not favour! Moreover, an organism that
can survive long enough to accumulate a mountain of
useless mutations is an organism that does not need useless
mutations—it must already have all the information it needs
to survive!
What kind organism already has all the information it
needs to survive? There is only one answer—an organism
that was created in the beginning with all that it needs to
survive.
What kind of information is this?
These results present us with a spectacle never
before encountered in science—an information
structure so complex that it defies description. How
can we possibly understand it?
I believe there are at least two things that
we can reasonably conclude about it at this time.
First, it is most decidedly not the one-dimensional
linear sequence of characters that neo-Darwinists
need to provide the endlessly mutable source of
universal evolution. While it is certainly variable,
its extraordinarily complex structure cannot
possibly be endlessly mutable because a certain
amount of invariance is required to maintain
complex structure, otherwise it quickly degrades
into error catastrophe. The experimentally verified
universally deleterious nature of mutations supports
this conclusion.
The second thing we can conclude is that
according to Kirschner and Gerhart’s theory of
facilitated variation,14 DNA contains regulatorybased
modules which they liken to Lego® blocks.
That is, they have very strong internal coherence
Meta information. The computer memory chip (A) can hold over 2 billion bits of
information in binary code (B) but it requires a computer (C) with its operating
system and application software (meta-information) to do anything useful with
the information on the chip. Likewise, the protein information coded on the
genes in DNA needs the meta-information in the ‘junk’ regions together with
the machinery of the cell to do anything useful with the protein code.
Image by Alex Williams
116 JOURNAL OF CREATION 21(3) 2007
Papers
and integrity (difficult to break) but are easily pulled apart
(during meiosis) and reassembled (during fertilization) to
produce a built-in capacity for variation. To understand
it properly, we need to locate the Lego® blocks and the
boundaries between them.
Natural selection—irrelevant!
The most surprising result of the ENCODE project,
according to its authors, is that 95% of the functional
transcripts (genic and UTR transcripts with at least one
known function) show no sign of selection pressure (i.e.
they are not noticeably conserved and are mutating at the
average rate). Why were they surprised? Because man
is supposed to have evolved from ape-like ancestors via
mutation and natural selection. But if 95% of the human
functional information shows no sign of natural selection
then it means that natural selection has not been a significant
contributor to our ancestry.15
While this result surprised the neo-Darwinists, it is
perfectly in line with current research in human genetics. In
his ground-breaking exposé of current knowledge, Genetic
Entropy & The Mystery of the Genome,16 geneticist Dr John
Sanford of Cornell University showed that deleterious
mutations are accumulating at an alarming rate in the human
population and that both natural selection and even the worst
possible nightmare scenario of eugenics is powerless to stop
it. This is because the vast majority are deleterious single
nucleotide mutations that have a miniscule effect on fitness
so natural selection cannot detect them amongst the ‘noise’
and thus is unable to delete them. Also, there is so much
other information contributing to
fitness, and life always has many
different ways of achieving its
goals. Natural selection is also
powerless to delete numerous
mutations simultaneously,
because their effects on fitness
are complex, interactive and
often mutually interfering.
Natural selection only works
in simple cases that are easy
to explain in textbooks. One
organism with one (big) defect
will fail to reproduce. Alternately,
one big strong male will outcompete
his rivals and fertilize
more females, thus improving the
overall genetic well-being of the
species. These kinds of scenarios
only have a minor impact on the
human population. Most of us are
just mediocre, but most of us do
find partners and procreate.
If the average number of
deleterious mutations per person
per generation is much less than
1, then we have some hope that natural selection might
favour the strong over the weak and keep our species
genetically healthy. But in fact, the average number of
deleterious mutations per person per generation is very
much greater than 1—probably at least 100 per person
per generation, likely about 300 and perhaps much more.
This means that everyone is a mutant many times over and
natural selection is powerless to stop it because deleting
the weakest (whatever that might mean) will do nothing
to prevent everyone else reproducing, resulting in an
inexorable degeneration of the whole human population.
Even the most horrible eugenics program could not stop it.
This problem caused one author to write a paper entitled
‘Why are we not dead 100 times over?’
Let’s now put this information together with Haldane’s
dilemma.17 Famous geneticist J.B.S. Haldane calculated
that it would take about 300 generations for a favourable
mutation to become fixed in a population (every member
having a double copy of it). He calculated that in the
approximately 6 million years since our supposed hominid
ancestor split from the chimpanzee line, only about 1000
(<2000 according to ReMine18) such mutations could
become fixed. This is certainly not nearly enough to turn
an ape into a human. But most importantly, we now know
that there are about 125 million single nucleotide differences
between humans and chimps, resulting from about 40
million mutational events. This means that somewhere
between 39,998,000 and 124,998,000 deleterious changes
have occurred since the split with our common ancestor.
That means we have degenerated from chimps, which
makes a mockery of the whole mutation/selection theory
of origin.
Information about information. The most basic meta-information needed to use coded information
is instructions on how to read the code. In a computer, the binary code (Panel A) is divided into
‘bytes’ made up of 8 ‘bits’ (0,1), which are then translated into English via the ASCII code. In
protein-coding genes (Panel B), the nucleotides (T,A,G,C) are read in triplets, and these triplets
are translated into an amino acid sequence via the genetic code.
Image by Alex Williams
JOURNAL OF CREATION 21(3) 2007 117
Papers
Conclusion
The discovery that virtually all our DNA is functional
right now demolishes the neo-Darwinian argument that it
contains mostly junk which constitutes a unique fossilized
history of our genetic evolution. The most logical
explanation of shared DNA between different kinds of
organisms is now shared function, not shared ancestry.
The discovery that DNA contains astonishingly
complex information structures, beyond our capacity to even
imagine, let alone comprehend, means that neo-Darwinism’s
total dependence upon random mutations in linear code as
a source of new information is in error. We would expect
random mutations to extremely complex information
structures to be deleterious, and this is exactly the universal
result of many years of genetic research. Kirschner and
Gerhart’s theory that natural variation is largely the result
of random rearrangements of specially structured gene
modules14 is a far more reasonable explanation.
The discovery that the vast majority of the information
stored in DNA is not primary protein-coding information but
secondary meta-information, demolishes the neo-Darwinian
argument that it arose by some random (independent)
process. Meta-information is inextricably dependent upon
the information it refers to so an independent origin is
impossible.
The discovery that natural selection has been an
insignificant factor in our genetic history demolishes
Darwin’s theory that all life on Earth arose from a common
ancestor by means of the natural selection of natural
variation. This discovery is also completely consistent with
the genetic evidence that the human genome is degenerating
at an alarming rate.
Neo-Darwinian theory was a mirage built from ideology
upon a few general facts (natural selection, genes and
mutations). But now that we have glimpsed just some of
the vast molecular detail of how life actually works, the
mirage has evaporated.
References
1. This theory makes numerous predictions that are all falsified by molecular
biology data. The lack of any alternative source of the required new
information thus constitutes a fatal weakness in neo-Darwinian theory.
See Bergman, J., Does gene duplication provide the engine for evolution?
Journal of Creation 20(1):99–104, 2006; <Creation - Creation Ministries International
images/pdfs/tj/j20_1/j20_1_99-104.pdf>.
2. Carroll, S., The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic
Evidence of Evolution, Norton, New York, 2006.
3. Dawkins, R., The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution,
Houghton Miflin, Boston, MA, 2004, p.20.
4. Birney, E. et al., Identification and analysis of functional elements in 1%
of the human genome by the ENCODE pilot project, Nature 447: 799–816,
2007.
5. Kapranov, P., Willingham, A.T. and Gingeras, T.R., Genome-wide
transcription and the implications for genomic organization, Nature
Reviews Genetics 8: 413–423, 2007.
6. Akhtar, A. and Gasser, S.M., The nuclear envelope and transcriptional
control, Nature Reviews Genetics 8:507–517, 2007.
7. Mutations have been intensively researched in medical laboratories
over many years now and almost all of them are deleterious. The only
exceptions appear to be those that disable an existing mechanism such
that some specialized result is beneficial in some specialized conditions
(e.g. sickle-cell anemia (a serious disease) reduces the severity of malaria
in malaria-prone regions by killing the malaria parasite in the sickled
cells).
8. Latent memory of cells comes to life, 17 May 2007, <www.physorg.
com/news98623491.html>.
9. Segal, E., Fondufe-Mittendorf, Y., Chen, L., Thåström, A, Field, Y.,
Moore, I.K., Wang, J.-P.Z. and Widom, J., A genomic code for nucleosome
positioning, Nature 442(7104):772–778, 17 August 2006.
10. Mikkelsen, T.S. et al., Genome-wide maps of chromatin state in pluripotent
and lineage-committed cells, Nature 448:553–560, 2007.
11. Bernstein, B.E. et al., A bivalent chromatin structure marks key
developmental genes in embryonic stem cells, Cell 125:315–326, 2006.
12. Aladjem, M.I., Replication in context: dynamic regulation of DNA
replication patterns in metazoans, Nature Reviews Genetics 8:588–60,
2007.
13. Kirschner, M.W. and Gerhart, J.C., The Plausibility of Life: Resolving
Darwin’s Dilemma, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2005.
14. Kirschner and Gerhart, ref. 13. See also, Williams, A.R., Facilitated
Variation: A new paradigm emerges in biology, Journal of Creation, in
press.
15. Natural selection will have played some part in our ancestry because
grossly deleterious mutations will have been weeded out, and during
times of famine, plague and war, populations are usually depleted of some
genetic components more than others (e.g. young soldiers killed in war;
the young and the old dying in famine, sickle-cell anemia alleviating the
severity of malaria).
16. Sanford, J.C., Genetic Entropy & The Mystery of the Genome, Elim
Publishing, New York, 2005.
17. Batten, B., Haldane’s dilemma has not been solved, Journal of Creation
19(1):20–21, 2005; <www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4473>.
18. ReMine, W., Haldane’s Dilemma, <saintpaulscience.com/Haldane.htm>,
3 August 2007.
Alex Williams received a B.Sc. in botany from the University
of New England, an M.Sc.(Hons.) in radioecology from
Macquarie University, and is an elected member of the
Australian Institute of Biology. He has diplomas in Christian
studies from Tabor College and Bible College of South
Australia (in missiology), and a Licentiate in Theology
(with distinction) from the Australian College of Theology.
During 20 years in environmental research, he became the
Australian representative to the United Nations in his field.
He then spent seven years in mission work and is now an
honorary botanist at the Western Australian Herbarium in
Perth. He has published in many different areas of science
