Welcome to Science, Scripture, and Salvation, a radio ministry of the Institute for Creation Research. In this program, we want to encourage you in your Christian faith by showing how scientific evidence supports the Bible, particularly the Genesis account. The book of Genesis lays the foundation for all matters addressed in the rest of the Bible. The nature of God, His sovereignty in creation, man's purpose, sin, marriage, family, and why we need a Savior are all introduced and explained in Genesis. When we see that the first and most foundational book of the Bible can be trusted in all matters, including science, it builds confidence in the rest of the inspired word all the way to Revelation.
I'm Frank Sherwin, zoologist and research associate with the Institute for Creation Research. Join me for today's show of Science, Scripture, and Salvation. We've all seen this amazing molecule on the cover of science and news magazines and in movies and nature programs. It's deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, God's amazing molecule of life. It's an informational molecule forming the genetic material of all cells.
Its sequential of paired nitrogenous bases constitute what has been called the famous genetic code. In the 1950s, Crick, Watson, and Rosalind Franklin did the research which revealed the DNA polynucleotide looked like a twisted ladder. It's composed of two anti-parallel strands that run in opposite directions. DNA is the ultimate store of molecular information in cells. It's organized into what we call chromosomes.
Now people, for example, have forty six chromosomes, upon which many thousands of genes, that is, units of heredity composed of nucleotides, are found. One cannot discuss DNA without also addressing the nature of what is called the gene. What exactly is a gene?
Well, that's a good question. In the twenty first century the definition of a gene continues to become more convoluted, with the possibility that the word, like the word life, will remain a challenge to define. Confusion over what exactly a gene is has been added to by discoveries made through ongoing investigations into genome, that is, the total genetic material within a cell or individual. Take, for example, the amazing genetic discovery called the Splicing Code that was announced in Nature magazine in twenty ten by computer scientists and molecular biologists. A news release at the time declared, and I quote, researchers at the University of Toronto have discovered a fundamentally new view of how living cells use a limited number of genes to generate enormously complex organs such as the brain.
This amazing splicing code directs when and how the genes and regulatory elements are to be assembled by a communication network. In this splicing code that's discussed in Nature Magazine, Volume 465. Researchers used algebra, geometry, Probability theory, vector calculus, information theory, code optimization, and other advanced methods. This exceedingly complex code certainly doesn't sound like it was put together through time, chance, and natural processes as evolutionists sincerely wish. If you've discussed human evolution with someone, they probably mentioned the well worn and wrong statistic that states man and chimpanzee, that supposedly our closest evolutionary ancestor, as having 98% the same DNA.
How would a creationist respond to this seemingly convincing statistic?
Well, ICR scientist Dr. Jeff Tompkins stated, and I quote, for the past several decades, the standard mantra has been that humans are 98% genetically identical to chimpanzees.
However, this claim is based on cherry-picked data and does not take into account the vastly different regions of the two respective genomes. Dr. Tompkins continues, major research published over the past decade comparing human and chimpanzee DNA was recently reviewed and critiqued. In every publication, researchers only reported on the highly similar DNA sequence data and discarded the rest, apparently because it was too dissimilar. In fact, says Dr.
Tompkins, when the DNA similarities from these studies were recalculated using the omitted data, markedly lower levels between 81 and 86 percent similarity were found. One thing is abundantly clear. When creatures are only 80% similar in their DNA, it's time to put the cork back in the champagne bottle and put away the party hats. The celebration was way premature. But some evolutionists desperate to have chimpanzees as their cousins will say 80% is the same DNA is still a significant number.
Really? Good science shows chimpanzees, like people, eat the same food, drink the same water, and breathe the same air. Because of this, much of their DNA is the same because regulatory proteins called enzymes must break down the same foods, whether it was eaten by a chimp or a man. Same thing goes with breathing the air and drinking the water. The same exact enzymes must be used, whether it's a mouse, a rat, a bat, a chimpanzee, or a person.
This does not mean a common ancestor. But it does mean a common creator. Let's take a short break. I'll continue on this topic when we come back. Dinosaurs are fascinating creatures.
Seeing their fossils inspires a sense of awe and wonder that sparks the imagination. We're learning more about them all the time, but many questions still remain: Are dinosaurs really millions of years old? Did they live at the same time as humans? How do they fit with the Bible? And why are they extinct today?
The Institute for Creation Research addresses these questions and more in their full-color and easy-to-read book, Guide to Dinosaurs. Guide to Dinosaurs delves into the history of dinosaurs, fossil discoveries, dinosaur kinds, and what the Bible has to say about these mysterious creatures. It serves as a helpful resource for parents and kids alike. Order your copy of Guide to Dinosaurs from the Institute for Creation Research by calling 800-628-7640 or visiting icr.org. That's 800-628-7640 or visiting icr.org.
Yeah. Welcome back to Science, Scripture, and Salvation, a radio ministry of the Institute for Creation Research. DNA on occasion can become mutated. that is, a change in the chemical structure of the molecule. This results in a change in the characteristics of the plant, animal, or person.
The majority of mutations are changes in the individual genes, but there may also be large structural changes in the chromosomes. The modern evolutionist believes that new traits come about by chance. But these random changes in a gene or mutations belie that idea. Other than horror movies where we see the effects of mutations producing new traits, what we see today in the real world are mutations causing genetic defects such as hemophilia, albinism, and Tay Sachs disease. The popular lab animal, the common fruit fly, has been mutated for over a century, but such procedures has never produced a better fruit fly.
So mutations are real, they are something we observe and they do make changes in traits. But do they produce beneficial evolutionary traits? The answer is no. There are limits to extrapolating from random mutational changes of our DNA into real molecules to man evolutionary changes. As creation scientist Gary Parker says, mutations, yes, evolution, no.
There are mathematical challenges to mutational changes forming new structures and creatures. Mutations are fairly rare, occurring on an average of once in every ten million duplications of a DNA molecule. But since our bodies are made up of about a hundred trillion cells, the odds are quite good that we have cells with a mutated form of almost any gene. The mathematical problem for evolution comes when you want a a series of related mutations of DNA. What are the odds of getting three sequential mutations in a row?
The answer is one in a billion trillion. This is an incredible challenge to evolution. To turn a fish into the first amphibian millions of years ago, the evolutionist needs a lot more than just three sequential mutations of DNA. Evolutionist Cardong said in his twenty twelve University text regarding vertebrates, and I quote hundreds, if not thousands, of favorable mutations must occur in Ripidystrian fishes to prepare them for their pioneering trek to land. Creationists do not rely on such incredible odds.
Contrary to evolutionary theory, not only is the DNA molecule clearly designed, there are limits as to how much it can be mutated. It's been known for some time that DNA possesses the incredible ability to repair itself when damaged. But how did such self repair come about? time and chance, or purpose and special creation. It's difficult enough for the secularist to explain a Darwinian step-by-step description of the origin of a functional DNA molecule from raw chemicals.
But how did the over 130 known DNA repair genes of people evolve that help with DNA repair? Surely, as DNA was evolving from lifeless chemicals, it would need the attention of DNA repair molecules that could only evolve later on, having been programmed by You guessed it. DNA. The amazing and dedicated pioneering work of biologists, mostly conducted in the nineteen seventies and eighties, opened up what has been called a large research field of biology. ICR's Brian Thomas said, and I quote, Investigators around the world continue to uncover new enzymes and communication networks, including feedback protocols and cellular subroutines, all aimed at protecting DNA.
Good thing this happens in every cell on the planet because otherwise DNA would lose vital information. ⁇ This is why living things need repair enzymes. DNA is amazing enough, but its automatic error correction utilities are enough to stagger the imagination. There are dozens of repair mechanisms designed by God to shield our genetic code from damage. Finally, it should be noted that it takes DNA to make and correct DNA by way of proteins.
You can't have proteins unless they are programmed by DNA. But you need proteins to make DNA. It's a no win situation for the secularist who doesn't tolerate God and their naturalistic equation. George Cody, an origin of life researcher, said, quote, no one knows anything about the origin of life. But Jesus said in John fourteen six, I am the way, the truth.
and the life. We at ICR maintain that life only comes from life. And that life is the Creator Himself. Thank you for joining us on Science, Scripture, and Salvation, a radio ministry of the Institute for Creation Research. That's all the time we have for our program today, but we would love to connect with you through our website at icr.org.
For over 45 years, ICR has equipped believers with evidence of the Bible's accuracy and authority by showing how science supports the Genesis creation account. Our scientists research the evidence for creation and communicate their findings through books, articles, DVD series, and conferences. Please visit our website at icr.org for more information about the latest scientific discoveries, to subscribe to our free magazine and devotional, and to locate our next creation conference at a venue near you. All of this and more at icr.org. If you've enjoyed this podcast, subscribe to Science, Scripture, and Salvation on iTunes.
Also, do us a favor and rate and review the show so that more listeners can find us. Thanks for listening and God bless.
