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MAKING LIFE IN THE LAB
Commentary by Roger Oakland For printer friendly version,
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During the dark ages, people believed non-living materials could become life by a spontaneous process. They foolishly believed that garbage had the potential to turn into maggots, flies, and rats. This was proven false when the Italian physician Francesco Redi performed his famous experiment. He covered some garbage with a very fine gauged screen separating the flies and rats so that were not able to infest the garbage. Redi’s simple experiment proved that life could not arise from non-life spontaneously. This became the prerequisite for the important Law of Biology that states all life comes from pre-existing life. Later in history, Darwin and other evolutionary biologists modified Redi’s law by stating life originated spontaneously from non-life in the distant unobservable past. These scientists believed that billions of years ago, in some unknown place, in some unknown way, non-living molecules assembled by chance to form the first cell which then became the mother of all life. Of course, this has never been duplicated in the lab. It is important to note that in spite of the lack of documentation scientists who believe in evolution still have the faith to believe this is how life originated. According to the Bible, God is the creator of life and that life perpetuates from generation to generation by the process of reproduction. Sometime ago, I read an interesting article that appeared in the Orange County Register titled “Scientists nearly ready to create artificial life.” [1] If you overlook the significance of the headline, then the first paragraph of the article should provoke an alarm. This is how the article began: More than 3.5 billion years after nature transformed non-living matter into living things, populating earth with a cornucopia of animals and plants, scientists say they are finally ready to try their hand at creating life. If they succeed, humanity will enter a new age of “living technology” harnessing the power of life to spontaneously adapt to complex situations that currently defy modern engineering abilities. [2] If this sounds like something out of a Frankenstein movie, let me remind you. I am quoting from an article that makes reference to current plans conjured up by scientists living in the 21st century. However, the author of the article noted there are some who have concerns. He stated: “While some experts see this new technology as providing unlimited benefits, others worry about the moral appropriateness of man-made life and the introduction of new species.” [3] Or consider reservations expressed by a researcher from Los Alamos National Laboratory regarding this new technology: It’s certainly true that we are
tinkering with something
very powerful here. The more
powerful the technology you
unleash, the more careful
you have to be.
[4] So, take a moment and consider the following question. Do you place your faith and trust in scientists who are attempting to play the role of God? They may have the knowledge to make it possible to tinker with genetic information, but do they have the wisdom to do so? Will the Creator who created all life as we read about in the book of Genesis ignore what is happening, or will He respond?
I am willing to make a prediction. If scientists continue down this road by formulating new kinds of life by defying God, there will be consequences. In the book of Revelation chapter 16 verse 17 we read, “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
Perhaps the time for this judgment the Bible foretells may be very soon. Email This to a friend
[1] Ronald Kotulak, “Scientists nearly ready to create artificial life,” Orange County Register, April 10, 2004, p. 22 [2] Ibid. [3] Ibid [4] Ibid.
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