Abiogenesis ... fact or fraud
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 10:53 am
Is the Chemical Origin of Life (Abiogenesis) a Realistic Scenario?
Let us look at the origin of life. There are only two possibilities for the existence of life:
1. Chance assembly of life from chemicals
2. There is a Creator who designed biological systems
If you deny the existence of a Creator, scientific studies demonstrate that you must believe each of the following things about the origin of life:
Scientific Facts
Solution
Homochirality somehow arose in the sugars and amino acids of prebiotic soups, although there is no mechanism by which this can occur (1) and is, in fact, prohibited by the second law of thermodynamics (law of entropy). (2)reject the second law of thermodynamics.
In the absence of enzymes, there is no chemical reaction that produces the sugar ribose (1), the "backbone" of RNA and DNA.
"science of the gaps"
Chemical reactions in prebiotic soups produce other sugars that prevent RNA and DNA replication.
discard chemistry data "science of the gaps"
(1).Pyrimidine nucleosides (cytosine and uracil) do not form under prebiotic conditions and only purine (adenine and guanine) nucleosides are found in carbonaceous meteorites (1) (i.e., pyrimidine nucleosides don't form in outer space either).
discard chemistry data "science of the gaps"
Even if a method for formation of pyrimidine nucleosides could be found, the combination of nucleosides with phosphate under prebiotic conditions produces not only nucleotides, but other products which interfere with RNA polymerization and replication (1).
discard chemistry data "science of the gaps"
Purine and pyrimidine nucleotides (nucleosides combined with phosphate groups) do not form under prebiotic conditions (3).
discard chemistry data "science of the gaps"
Neither RNA nor DNA can be synthesized in the absence of enzymes
"science of the gaps"
Enzymes cannot be synthesized in the absence of RNA and ribosomes.
"science of the gaps"
Nucleosides and amino acids cannot form in the presence of oxygen, which is now known to have been present on the earth for at least four billion years (4), although life arose at least ~3.5 billion years ago.
discard geological data discard chemistry data
(5)Adenine synthesis requires unreasonable HCN concentrations. Adenine deaminates with a half-life of 80 years (at 37°C, pH 7). Therefore, adenine would never accumulate in any kind of "prebiotic soup." The adenine-uracil interaction is weak and nonspecific, and, therefore, would never be expected to function in any specific recognition scheme under the chaotic conditions of a "prebiotic soup." (6) Cytosine has never been found in any meteorites nor is it produced in electric spark discharge experiments using simulated "early earth atmosphere." All possible intermediates suffer severe problems (7). Cytosine deaminates with an estimated half-life of 340 years, so would not be expected to accumulate over time. Ultraviolet light on the early earth would quickly convert cytosine to its photohydrate and cyclobutane photodimers (which rapidly deaminate) (8.). Mixture of amino acids the Murchison meteorite show that there are many classes of prebiotic substances that would disrupt the necessary structural regularity of any RNA-like replicator (9). Metabolic replicators suffer from a lack of an ability to evolve, since they do not mutate (10). The most common abiogenesis theories claim that life arose at hydrothermal vents in the ocean. However, recent studies show that polymerization of the molecules necessary for cell membrane assembly cannot occur in salt water (11). Other studies show that the early oceans were at least twice as salty as they are now (12) Life arose in freshwater ponds (even though the earth had very little land mass), using some unknown mechanism.
discard geological data discard chemistry data
Comparison of the dates of meteor impacts on the moon, Mercury, and Mars indicate that at least 30 catastrophic meteor impacts must have occurred on the earth from 3.8 to 3.5 billion years ago (13). These impacts were of such large size that the energy released would have vaporized the entirety of the earth's oceans (14), destroying all life.
discard geological data discard chemistry data
(Small edit, sorry I know it's long, but necessary) Recent "studies" have evaluated the possibillity of the presence of TNA in prebiotic conditions, which in and of itself is reactionary with enzymes that are destructive to RNA. Thus there is a new theory that a condition existed that would have changed TNA to RNA through some other as yet unnamed enzyme base. Which also implies the idea of the "self actualizing" molecule.
I know that many evolutionary, empiricists are proponents of the above mentioned "theories", my problem is that from a strictly methodological, data driven perspective, they don't work.
I lean adamantly towards fraudulent data corruption based on agenda.
I remember my sophomore year in college chemistry was started by Dr. T. Thurman will the following maxim: "Twist the data hard enough, and it will scream whatever you want. In my lab, screaming equates to failure, and fail you will if you can't unfalsifiably show me your results."
Let us look at the origin of life. There are only two possibilities for the existence of life:
1. Chance assembly of life from chemicals
2. There is a Creator who designed biological systems
If you deny the existence of a Creator, scientific studies demonstrate that you must believe each of the following things about the origin of life:
Scientific Facts
Solution
Homochirality somehow arose in the sugars and amino acids of prebiotic soups, although there is no mechanism by which this can occur (1) and is, in fact, prohibited by the second law of thermodynamics (law of entropy). (2)reject the second law of thermodynamics.
In the absence of enzymes, there is no chemical reaction that produces the sugar ribose (1), the "backbone" of RNA and DNA.
"science of the gaps"
Chemical reactions in prebiotic soups produce other sugars that prevent RNA and DNA replication.
discard chemistry data "science of the gaps"
(1).Pyrimidine nucleosides (cytosine and uracil) do not form under prebiotic conditions and only purine (adenine and guanine) nucleosides are found in carbonaceous meteorites (1) (i.e., pyrimidine nucleosides don't form in outer space either).
discard chemistry data "science of the gaps"
Even if a method for formation of pyrimidine nucleosides could be found, the combination of nucleosides with phosphate under prebiotic conditions produces not only nucleotides, but other products which interfere with RNA polymerization and replication (1).
discard chemistry data "science of the gaps"
Purine and pyrimidine nucleotides (nucleosides combined with phosphate groups) do not form under prebiotic conditions (3).
discard chemistry data "science of the gaps"
Neither RNA nor DNA can be synthesized in the absence of enzymes
"science of the gaps"
Enzymes cannot be synthesized in the absence of RNA and ribosomes.
"science of the gaps"
Nucleosides and amino acids cannot form in the presence of oxygen, which is now known to have been present on the earth for at least four billion years (4), although life arose at least ~3.5 billion years ago.
discard geological data discard chemistry data
(5)Adenine synthesis requires unreasonable HCN concentrations. Adenine deaminates with a half-life of 80 years (at 37°C, pH 7). Therefore, adenine would never accumulate in any kind of "prebiotic soup." The adenine-uracil interaction is weak and nonspecific, and, therefore, would never be expected to function in any specific recognition scheme under the chaotic conditions of a "prebiotic soup." (6) Cytosine has never been found in any meteorites nor is it produced in electric spark discharge experiments using simulated "early earth atmosphere." All possible intermediates suffer severe problems (7). Cytosine deaminates with an estimated half-life of 340 years, so would not be expected to accumulate over time. Ultraviolet light on the early earth would quickly convert cytosine to its photohydrate and cyclobutane photodimers (which rapidly deaminate) (8.). Mixture of amino acids the Murchison meteorite show that there are many classes of prebiotic substances that would disrupt the necessary structural regularity of any RNA-like replicator (9). Metabolic replicators suffer from a lack of an ability to evolve, since they do not mutate (10). The most common abiogenesis theories claim that life arose at hydrothermal vents in the ocean. However, recent studies show that polymerization of the molecules necessary for cell membrane assembly cannot occur in salt water (11). Other studies show that the early oceans were at least twice as salty as they are now (12) Life arose in freshwater ponds (even though the earth had very little land mass), using some unknown mechanism.
discard geological data discard chemistry data
Comparison of the dates of meteor impacts on the moon, Mercury, and Mars indicate that at least 30 catastrophic meteor impacts must have occurred on the earth from 3.8 to 3.5 billion years ago (13). These impacts were of such large size that the energy released would have vaporized the entirety of the earth's oceans (14), destroying all life.
discard geological data discard chemistry data
(Small edit, sorry I know it's long, but necessary) Recent "studies" have evaluated the possibillity of the presence of TNA in prebiotic conditions, which in and of itself is reactionary with enzymes that are destructive to RNA. Thus there is a new theory that a condition existed that would have changed TNA to RNA through some other as yet unnamed enzyme base. Which also implies the idea of the "self actualizing" molecule.
I know that many evolutionary, empiricists are proponents of the above mentioned "theories", my problem is that from a strictly methodological, data driven perspective, they don't work.
I lean adamantly towards fraudulent data corruption based on agenda.
I remember my sophomore year in college chemistry was started by Dr. T. Thurman will the following maxim: "Twist the data hard enough, and it will scream whatever you want. In my lab, screaming equates to failure, and fail you will if you can't unfalsifiably show me your results."