Session 13

The Origin of Life Chemical Evolution Biological Evolution

The Origin of Life (Two Possibilities) 1. Life started by naturalistic processes. 2. Life was created by God. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

Evolution Over millions of years, in some primordial chemical soup, molecules bonded together to make a living cell. = = +

“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him..” Colossians 1:16 God created all life

Atoms H H O Molecules Amino Acids Proteins

Miller Experiment Attempts to Create Life

Critical Thinking 1. Why did Miller use the gases he did (methane, ammonia and no oxygen)? 2. What type of amino acids did Miller get? 3. What were the real results?

Oxygen and the Origin of Life “If free oxygen (O 2 ) was present in the atmosphere, then the chemical reactions to form the basic building blocks of even the simplest cell (amino acids, proteins, lipids, etc.) could not occur.” Institute for Creation Research

No Oxygen and Life Ozone Crispy Critters

Water and Life

Three Major Problems - Pop Quiz Oxygen Absence of oxygen Water Problem Result _______________________________________________

Amino Acids Hundreds of types of amino acids Only 20 are used in life

Challenge The origin of life has nothing to do with evolution. Scientists haven’t figured out how life originated, however, in time they will.

“Concerning the origin of life itself, the watershed between chemistry and biology, the transition between lifeless chemical activity and organized biological metabolism, there is no direct evidence at all. The crucial transition from disorder to order left behind no observable traces.” Freeman Dyson (physicist and mathematician), Origins of Life, 1999, p. 36. Origin of Life Conclusion

“As regards the origin of life, our uniform experience is that it takes an intelligent agent to generate information, codes, messages. As a result, it is reasonable to infer there was an intelligent cause of the original DNA code.” Charles Thaxton (Ph.D. Chemistry), “DNA, Design, and the Origin of Life,” Darwin Under the Microscope, 2002, p. 74.