 he subject of this website is the cell, the building block of the human body and of every species of plants and animals. Most people would say that this topic belongs to the realm of biology or even chemistry, reasoning that any treatise about the human cell could only be a biology or a chemistry textbook. However, the book you hold in your hands is no textbook. Its aim is neither to increase your scientific knowledge, nor teach you biology in detail, because by itself, increased biological knowledge of the cell is of no benefit. And besides, most of the details are taught to students while at school-though most of them forget it all soon after, never to remember it again. Why? Because this type of biological information about the cell is presented to students in a completely wrong logical context. In fact, young people are infected with this twisted logic right from the beginning of their lives. As soon as a young child starts to observe the world around him, he's amazed at everything he sees and begins to ask questions. Looking at the Sun, he is awestruck. "How," he asks, "can such a vast ball of fire can stay up there in space, just the right distance away to produce just enough heat and light for human beings on Earth? Who put the Sun there? And how? And why?" But in response to this and other similar questions, the answer that the child will probably receive is, "The Sun is a perfectly normal star, and it's been there for billions of years. Moreover, nobody placed it there. It appeared by chance as a result of a big explosion that took place, and the Earth-again by coincidence-formed in just the right spot for human life to exist." But if this same child was raised in a knowledgeable society possessed of a conscience, the answer he received would be quite different: "That the Sun gives us heat and light is a manifestation of God's endless knowledge and perfect creativity. If He had not willed the Sun to exist, we would not have been able to live our lives here on Earth. Had the Sun been either closer to, or further from, the Earth, we still couldn't exist. Just like everything else around us, the Sun is a miracle and a mercy from God. It should be a means for us to remember Him and to thank Him continuously." But as mentioned before, the child seldom gets this kind of response and his curiosity is put to sleep with strictly "scientific" logic. Meeting with this type of answer to his every question, finally he learns not to be amazed at anything and to overlook the extraordinariness of all things. When he first eats a tasty apple, he asks, "How is it that trees present such beautiful and beneficial things to man?" In all probability he will receive the same predictable answer: "Trees have been producing fruit for millions of years. It's a natural process. There's nothing amazing about it." The child who's been desensitized by the society he lives in obtains his real education at school. In general science first of all, he learns the scientific explanations behind all creatures and all events. Then, when he gets a bit older, physics, biology and chemistry lessons teach him about the workings of the human body or nature, but he is made to believe that all of this is just natural and not miraculous in any way. He is never allowed to ask the questions that need to be asked: How did all of this happen? What is the source of the intelligence behind it all? How could such a balance have come about? He learns never to ask such questions. For example, he learns the biological details of how fruit develops on trees. He is loaded up with facts about photosynthesis and plant structure. But all the while, questions like the following are never asked or answered: "How could such a perfect nutrient, presented in the world's most beautiful package and so suitable to a person's taste and health, have come from inside a piece of wood?" "Isn't this a sign that the fruit has been especially created for man; and that both the tree and man have been created by the same possessor of intelligence?" He is never asked to reflect on the purpose of created things. The only thing he does is to be given more and more information about the nature of these things. Dry facts and names do not benefit man in any way; nor do they have the slightest positive effect on his heart or his soul. As a result of all this, the child loses his sensitivity and his awe toward the miracles in creation. He learns not to display amazement towards anything. He learns to be blind, while claiming that he sees. Finally he is ready to accept certain other ideas. And at this point, the last stop in his education, the theory of evolution finally arrives on the scene. This desensitized young person has been blinded to all the miracles and extraordinary events surrounding him. Now he struggles to answer this one question: "How did all of these living things come into existence?" And so, the false savior of evolutionary theory comes to his aid. It presents to him in scientific guise such nonsense as the idea that everything came into being as a result of coincidence. And so, "enlightened" by this theory, this young person's heart becomes hardened and he becomes an unbeliever. He will spend the rest of his life in pursuit of comfort, seeking only to satisfy his selfish desires, and eating and drinking without any reflection. This is because he has eradicated from his heart the last remains of his conscience that, up until now, has continued to make him uncomfortable. But when death comes upon him in this state, and he is thrown towards the Fire, he will beg to be returned to the Earth and become one of the believers. But he will be given the following reply: And so, as mentioned in the verse above, it behooves man to reflect and take heed during the period of time given to him. It is not known when one's time will be up, nor is there a minute to lose. Man has been created in order to reflect upon how he and every thing around him have been created and, consequently, to know God and appreciate His power. This is the fundamental purpose of man's life in this world. And this book's purpose is to aid in your reflection and guidance. As mentioned before, the dry facts learned at school numb the brain because this method stops one from asking questions that need to be asked. The following pages will analyze some of the technical details taught at school but at the same time, we are going to ask the necessary questions and search for the wisdom behind the events that are so dryly described. |
FOREWORD
INTRODUCTION
efore examining the extraordinary human cell, it's a good idea to consider the faulty logic behind the theory of evolution. Like every long-standing deception, it has been carefully prepared, but within, it possesses discrepancies of logic. We can explain this mentality of evolutionary theory, composed of complete fraudulent and deceitful scenarios, with an analogy:Consider a remote-controlled toy car. Assume that the person holding the remote control is hiding nearby. Another person observing this car will see its movements only, because he cannot perceive the remote control or whoever is controlling it. He watches the car performing quite intelligent feats, turning according to the path it's on and making apparently conscious movements.
At this point, if the observer's principle is to believe only what he perceives, then he will accept as real only the world he sees around him. He will reject the possibility of another location that he cannot see or that to which he has no access. He won't accept that there is an intelligent mind who he can't see or hear, and that the car moves under this person's command. And so, the person is left to think that the car gained its ability to move about in so intelligent a manner as a result of a series of coincidences-and he will then try to convince himself and everyone around him of this explanation.
His next step will be to develop fictitious theories under the guise of science to support this "belief," but which have no intelligent basis. With a little imagination, the problem is solved, however unlikely the whole scenario: The atoms that compose the car came together "coincidentally" to form this complex mechanical structure. As a result of their coming together accidentally and assembling into a complicated, functional structure, the car also "evolved" such abstract qualities as the ability to think, make decisions, and move about intelligently by itself. Thus is put forth a theory that explains the car.
In a short time, this "scientist" finds others who think like him. Together, they develop this theory further and establish a "forum" from which they propose a new branch of science. They then begin a scientific analysis of the car's movements and develop various formulas. How much does the car slow when it approaches a curve, and at what angle does it turn? Under what conditions does it speed up, and how fast does it go? Under what conditions does it slow down or stop? When does it reverse? They meticulously measure these and many other similar characteristics and make calculations. They then write a book detailing all these measurements and calculations.
But their actual problem lies in explaining how the car came to be able to carry out such perfect actions all by itself. And none of the analyses and research carried out by these so-called "scientists" can answers that question. They may have described innumerable features about the car's technical aspects and details, and are coming up with more findings every day. But as yet, they haven't made the slightest advance in understanding the radio-car's manufacture, and thus are no better off than when they first started: Who made the car? How did it come about to move in such a "conscious" manner? These are all still mysteries.
The "scientists" reply by avoiding and disguising these questions. To begin with, they try their best to prevent them from arising in the first place. When questions do come up, they give a very "scientific" explanation: "Maybe we don't have any evidence that holds up right now, but surely answers will be found in the future."
The theory that the car came about by itself is so entrenched and elaborated that by now, it has become the foundation of these scientists' careers. For this reason, they try their hardest to keep the theory credible, whatever the cost. If need be, they'll even resort to deceit and trickery to keep the theory from losing credibility and to stop people from considering other possibilities. But of course, any such dishonesty should be overlooked in the cause of advancing such a "sublime" goal.
These books are written very cleverly, in that they contain some accurate technical details which have been discovered about the car. With a little imagery and a few plays on words, one gets the impression that it does, in fact, answer the question of how the car came into existence and how it came about to possess its apparent intelligence. And here is the important point: By interspersing all this nonsense about "chance" and "coincidence" with these complicated formulas and calculations about how the car came about, one is left with the impression that the nonsense too is scientific fact. In this way, a false and decaying theory, which has now become an ideology, is established with skilful and artful deceit, and interspersed with some facts that are wholly correct, yet do not bring one any closer to the truth. Moreover, care is taken to choose a tone of the utmost self-confidence and superiority, and which instills trust. In this way, various falsehoods proposed by this theory are taken to have been scientifically proven. Now that the lie has a so-called foundation, it takes only a strong imagination to create unlimited but fantastic scenarios based on it. Meanwhile, the car has already taken its place in the "evolutionary tree," and this amazing object-actually created by a superior engineer-is proclaimed to be the result of a chain of miraculous "coincidences." Of course the car is given a Latinized name, just to further enhance the "scientific" flavor.
We should admit that all the calculations made about the car's movements may in fact be true. However, the logical basis and foundation on which these measurements rest-that is, that the car came into being by itself and that it moves by making intelligent decisions-is faulty from the start. But a large segment of the population is unaware of the fine processes involved. Even the briefest explanations are enough to make believe illogical claims, because they are told by "an esteemed scientist." Of course, this scientist is going to be "smarter" than them and will know more, for which reason, they assume that everything the scientist says is true. Whatever he says and however he thinks must be correct. Different techniques-psychological methods-are used for those with a higher level of education, who recognize the scientific fraud lying beneath the deceit, to make them digest it.
This type of psychological pressure and inculcation, influencing people's subconscious and directing them to a desired way of thinking, is one of the most important aspects of the plan that defends the theory. By adopting and defending the opinions of these so-called "scientists," a person is considered to be up-to-date, knowledgeable, and progressive. If anyone objects to or rejects the theory, he is addressed in quite condescending terms such as unfashionable, fanatical, and backward. Thus, people lacking the courage to risk being stigmatized and slandered in this way are prevented from reacting unfavorably to this theory and becoming a problem. The result is an effective process of indoctrination, consisting of audaciously fabricated lies and deceit and scenarios which are wholly imaginary, endless fantasies and frauds, deception and illusions, socio-psychological methods of subconscious suppression, plus a variety of other methods of brainwashing-all with the appropriate logistical support from the media and academia. And most people do fall under the influence of this indoctrination.
However, anyone with only a little intelligence can free himself from the effects of this spell. To unprejudiced eyes, this pompous "theory" developed to explain how the car moves is nothing but nonsense. Because the car is in the hands of an unseen controller, and is not doing anything other than moving according to the commands given to it. And the way to arrive at this conclusion is not through science, but through intelligent consciousness. As we mentioned before, science can analyze only the movements of the car; and once it has carried out this analysis, its job is done. Science is not a guide, only a means. And the way to understanding that the toy car has no mind of its own, but that a greater mind manifests in the car, is via intelligence and conscience.
And so if people are devoid of these qualities, no matter the number of universities from which they may have graduated, regardless of whether they've reached the pinnacle of their academic careers and have dedicated their lives to science, they can descend to such a comically pitiful state that they cannot perceive such an evidently plain truth. They waste their whole lives in the struggle to find intricate but erroneous explanations for events.
This is similar to a man who remains unaware of the Sun because he never lifts up his head. He then travels his whole life, constructing thousands of incongruous theories to explain why the world is illumined for some hours, and then becomes shrouded in darkness. He will hit on any number of complicated theories, all in accord with his degree of cleverness. To find the source of the light, he will make detailed extraordinary links between the objects found on Earth and everyday processes. But since he doesn't have enough intelligence, he won't be able to witness the existence of the Sun up in the sky and will not be able to perceive such a plain truth.
His situation is not far different to that of someone who doesn't understand that the whole universe in which he lives and all of the components of this universe were created by God and are regulated by Him.
Why cannot these people comprehend such a clear and evident truth?
The secret of this is given to us in the Qur'an: Cleverness is not enough to comprehend the true nature of the universe in which we live; we also need wisdom. Only to the degree that a person possesses true wisdom can he arrive at accurate and firm conclusions as a result of what is transmitted to his intellect and attain to fundamental truths. Intellect is a function of the brain; whereas as is explained in the Qur'an, wisdom is a function of the heart. If a person's heart has become hardened and calloused, he will not be able to understand and therefore, will not succeed in reaching God via the things he sees around him. And because he will not have perceived the purpose of his being created, he will only be in the position of an animal slightly smarter than the other animals. He will continue his life like an animal, a creature that does not think or comprehend. The Qur'an speaks of these people whose hearts have become rusted-that is, who have become bereft of conscience and common sense-with the following words:
Don't such people realize that they will be raised up on a Terrible Day, the Day humanity will stand before the Lord of all the worlds? (Qur'an, 83:4-6)
Woe that Day to the deniers: those who deny the Day of Reckoning. No one denies it except for every evil aggressor. When Our signs are recited to him, he says, "Just myths and legends of the previous peoples!" No indeed! Rather what they have earned has rusted up their hearts. No indeed! Rather that Day they will be veiled from their Lord. (Qur'an, 83:10-15)
He gives wisdom to whoever He wills and he who has been given wisdom has been given great good. But no one pays heed but people of intelligence.
(Qur’an, 2:269)
(Qur’an, 2:269)
CHAPTER 1 THE TINIEST LIVING ENTITY
t every location in our bodies, a tiny yet complex living process takes place.Whenever we examine with a microscope the details of any human organ, we see millions of tiny living entities that have massed together to form that organ and which at every instant are in constant activity. Not just human beings, but all living organisms are formed from aggregates of these tiny microscopic entities called cells.
 Figure 1.1 Cross section of a cell. The nucleus (in the center) and the organelles. |
Your body contains more than 100 trillion cells, some so small that one million of them brought together would fit on the tip of a needle. Despite this tiny size, however, the cell is considered by the scientific community as the most complex structure man has ever come across. Though many of its secrets have still not been unraveled, it forms the greatest impasse for evolutionary theory. The Russian evolutionist Alexander I. Oparin expresses this truth, which cannot be overlooked:
Unfortunately, however, the problem of the origin of the cell is perhaps the most obscure point in the whole study of the evolution of organisms.Another admission on this topic belongs to Professor Klaus Dose, the Director of the Institute for Biochemistry at Johannes Gutenburg University. In regard to the formation of the living cell, Dose has this to say:1
In spite of many attempts, there have been no breakthroughs during the past 30 years to help to explain the origin of chilarity in living cells.2With these words Dose admits that evolution cannot explain the origins of living things.
From these admissions, it is quite clear that evolutionary theory stumbles right from its first step and has no possibility of going any further. Because, as is known, the living organism's basic unit is the cell. Consequently a theory that cannot explain how the cell came into being-or, even how the proteins that make up the cell, or how the amino acids that make up the protein came into being-is in no way able to explain how all living beings on Earth were formed.
On the contrary, the cell is one of the most dazzling proofs that the human being was, in fact, created.
For the cell to continue its existence, all of the components that carry out the vital processes need to be assembled together in one place. Anyone who claims that the cell came about as a result of so-called evolutionary changes is actually asserting that the millions of different components making up the cell formed at the same time and in the same place-by coincidence. Moreover, all of these parts needed to have come together in a particular order and plan. It's undoubtedly impossible that such an event could have come about by chance. Therefore, a structure like the cell is a clear proof of creation.
We can illustrate this with an analogy: The possibility that the cell arose through a series of coincidences, as the theory of evolution proposes, is less likely than if a bomb were to explode in a printing house and an encyclopedia was published as a result. In other words, a living organism coming into being by coincidence is beyond the limits of possibility.
 Figure 1.2 Protein-producing ribosomes; energy-producing mitochondria; DNA, the central information bank; the endoplasmic reticulum that facilitates transport, the Golgi body that acts as a depot, the membrane which controls entry into and exit from the cell; all of the enzymes that have a duty in all reactions in the cell-with all of this planned, endless activity the cell operates like a perfectly run factory. Remember that the cell, harboring all of these processes, is a trillion times smaller than any factory. | 1. NUCLEUS All of the information pertaining to the human body is encoded here, in this DNA molecule. 2. ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM It isolates and transports proteins and other molecules. 3. MITOCHONDRIA The cell's primary source of energy. The molecule ATP, vital for all body functions, is synthesized here. 4. CELL MEMBRANE GATES They allow glucose and oxygen in, and transport synthesized protein and enzymes outside the cell. 5. CELL MEMBRANE Semi-permeable, it controls the entry and exit of molecules. |
Equally amazing as the formation of a single cell is the perfect harmony and cooperation amongst cells. All of the myriad cells in the human body came about as a result of the division-and subsequent multiplication-of just one cell. And right from the start, all of the knowledge to shape the structure of our bodies as they are now, their design and all of their features were present in the chromosomes located in the nucleus of that very first cell.
All cells resemble one another in their general features. However, each organ possesses cells that are different from any other organ's. Cells have been bestowed with specialized shapes and abilities, depending on the structure and duty of the organ they compose.
One single cell possesses a complexity akin to a large city's in terms of its systems and communication, its transport and management. Just a few of the complex structures found in the cell include powerhouses that produce energy for the cell's use; factories that manufacture enzymes and hormones vital to the cell's existence; a knowledge bank containing all the information needed to manufacture all the products that the cell will produce; a complex transport system and roadways that transfer raw materials and products from one site to another; a laboratory and refinery that can distinguish and separate raw materials coming in from outside; specialized membrane proteins that control the entry and exit of the materials. Any human's continued existence occurs as a result of the harmonious cooperation within and amongst the cells that make up the body. The cell works in great harmony with others, while maintaining its own existence within a sensitive balance. By itself, it determines and then produces the materials and energy it needs to maintain this inner balance. Whenever it cannot meet some of its requirements itself, it meticulously selects the necessary materials from outside. It is so selective that without its "permission," no substance, even one found in abundance outside the cell, can accidentally enter through its membrane. There is never to be found an unnecessary molecule or one that doesn't have a purpose in the cell. All substances leaving the cell are under the same tight controls and strict regulations.
In addition to all this, the cell possesses a defense system to protect it from external threats and attacks. Yet despite the number of structures and systems contained within it, and the endless activity that takes place, the average size of a cell is measured not in square kilometers like a modern city, but in only hundredths of a millimeter.
All these amazing processes, which we have mentioned briefly and which we will analyze separately in the rest of the book, take place in such a tiny living thing. That is a miracle in itself.
 Figure 1.3 Generalized diagram of an animal cell |
The World's Most Advanced Factory
The cell's production system can be likened to a factory, the likes of which have not yet been built, and which works with the most advanced technology (Figure 1.2). This imaginary factory is a huge facility, made up of numerous highly developed units each producing different high-tech products. It uses some of these products within its inner structure, and some of them it assembles to produce new production machinery. It exports many of its products as raw materials or machinery. Using up the least amount of energy to produce the highest yield, it is more environmentally friendly than any present factory anywhere on the face of the Earth. It destroys its own waste and thus almost never pollutes its environment.The factory's production and operating systems have been perfectly designed. The directors, engineers, workers-in short, the entire staff-are made up of robots and computers able to perform their duties faultlessly, and are so advanced that we would encounter them only in science fiction films.
Production in the cell takes place just as this imaginary factory. Specialized and complex protein molecules, called enzymes, take the place of the factory's robots and machines. The cell's knowledge of how to manage itself is stored in a large, helical molecule called DNA, highly specialized for this process and formed from the assembly of numerous atoms.
Now, let's look at the structure of this bewilderingly miraculous molecule and the processes it manages to carry out.
CHAPTER 2 THE SECRET WORLD OF DNA
he building and management of any high-tech product utilizes hundreds of years of the experience and knowledge developed by mankind. The information and experience needed for the construction of the human body, the world's most advanced and complex system, is found in the DNA. The point to be stressed here is that DNA, in all its perfection and complexity, has been in existence from the time of the first human being. The following pages will show more clearly how ridiculous is the evolutionists' notion that this molecule, whose structure and features leave one awestruck, could have come about at random, and by chance.
Life in the Nucleus If we compare the human body to a building, its "floor plan" and design, including all the particulars and technical details, are all spelled out in DNA which is contained in the nucleus (Figure 2.1).The development of a baby in its mother's womb and after birth is regulated according to a specific program. The perfect organization of a person's development is expressed in the Qur'an as follows: While you were still a fertilized egg cell in your mother's womb, all the characteristics that you would possess in the future were determined by God, and organized, and placed in your DNA. At 30 years of age, the characteristics you possess-such as height, color, blood group, facial features-were all encoded in the nucleus of your single original cell at the time of fertilization, 30 years and nine months earlier. The information in DNA does not determine only physical features, like the ones just mentioned. It also controls the thousands of different events and systems that take place in the cell and the entire body. For example, even information about whether your blood pressure will be low, high or normal is contained within your DNA. The Giant Encyclopedia in the Human Cell  An astounding amount of information is recorded in DNA, so much so that found within a single DNA molecule (which cannot be seen with the naked eye) is enough information to fill an encyclopedia of 1,000,000 pages. In the nucleus of one cell is encoded enough information to control all the processes in the human body that would be contained in a giant encyclopedia of 920 volumes. For comparison's sake, one of the world's largest encyclopedias, the 23-volume Encyclopedia Britannica, has a total of only 25,000 pages. Within a microscopic cell, in a molecule found in its nucleus, much smaller than the cell itself, is encoded enough data to fill a store of information 40 times larger than the world's most thorough encyclopedia, the likes of which have never been seen before. It's been calculated that DNA's giant "encyclopedia" would possess up to 3 billion different instructions.At this point, let's reflect on possesses instructions, those two words that fall from our lips so easily. In saying that there are billions of instructions in one cell, what we are talking about is not a computer or a library, but is a tiny sphere, smaller than a 100th of a millimeter and composed of just protein, fat and water molecules. That even one instruction, let alone millions of them, can be maintained within this tiny piece of tissue is absolutely amazing. To store information today, people use computer technology, considered to be at the forefront of all other technologies. The amount of information that could be stored in a room-sized computer 20 years ago can now be encoded in a tiny microchip. But even this latest modern technology, the result of much effort and knowledge accumulated over many years, hasn't come close to the capacity of even one cell's nucleus for storing information. The following comparison explains the tiny size of DNA, and its amazing capacity for information storage: The information necessary to specify the design of all the species of organisms which have ever existed on the planet… could be held in a teaspoon, and there would still be room left for all the information in every book ever written.3How can a helix that we cannot see with our eyes, which is a billionth of a millimeter in diameter and formed from the coming together of atoms, store and remember such a huge amount of information? To this one question, add another: Each of the 100 trillion cells in your body can effortlessly recall one million pages of data, but how many pages of an encyclopedia can you-a conscious, intelligent human being-memorize during your lifetime? Intelligence in the Cell You would have to accept that any single cell in your stomach or your ear is more knowledgeable than you. And because it evaluates its information in the most correct and perfect way, it must also be more intelligent than you.So what is the source of this intelligence? How does each and every one of the 100 trillion cells in your body possess such incredible intelligence? After all, a cell is just a collection of organic molecules, with no consciousness. Even if you joined together the atoms of all of the elements, in different numbers and permutations to form different molecules, you still could not produce intelligence. Whether these resulting molecules are big or small, simple or complex is irrelevant. From them, you will not be able to produce a conscious mind that can organize anything. DNA is formed from a particular number of atoms without consciousness, coming together in a certain way, and enzymes that work in harmony, carrying out many conscious processes. How can it perfectly and faultlessly organize the innumerable and complex processes that take place within the cell? The answer is very simple: Intelligence is not to be found within these molecules or within the cell itself, but in the One Who created the molecules and programmed them to carry out these processes. In short, intelligence lies not in the product itself, but in that product's Creator. Even the most advanced computer is the result of an intellect who has written the program that will run the computer, down to the most minute detail. In the same way, the DNA and the RNA found inside the cell, and the human being who arises from the coming together of these cells, are nothing but the product of their Creator. It doesn't matter how perfect, faultless and effective the product may be. Intelligence always lies in its maker. Suppose that you run across a highly advanced computer disc, load it and read what appears on the screen, only to find that it contains millions of instructions personalized and unique to you… The first question that would come to your mind would be "Who wrote the instructions, and for what purpose?" So why not ask the same questions about the cell? If somebody wrote the information on the disc in our example, then who created DNA so perfectly, which is much more superior and more highly advanced; and then placed it carefully in a tiny cell-which is a miracle by itself-without losing any of its characteristics, from thousands of years ago until today? (Never forget, the human brain that manufactured the disc and programmed the instructions inside it is composed of these same cells we are talking about). What more important questions could there be than who created the cell and why? These cells are on constant duty to let you read these lines, see, breathe, think, in short exist and continue your existence. The answer to that question is this: Almighty God created all entities in the universe, living or inanimate, from nothing and installed DNA, with all its miraculous properties, into the cell, the building block of all living things. The purpose of human life is to be able to see this truth and serve our Great Lord. A Few Further Examples After a plane crash, survivors who are left stranded, will make a giant X on the ground in an empty field, so that rescue workers flying overhead may be able to spot them. With their belongings or anything else they can find, they construct a big and obviously artificial cross. Seeing this product of intelligence, rescue workers will realize that there are conscious creatures-in other words, human beings-down there.When you drive along highways in Turkey, sometimes you come across sentences written in white stones on a hillside, such as Everything for the nation. It's quite clear how these messages came to be there. Somewhere nearby, beyond the hill, is an army unit, and they have formed these words with white stones. Could anyone claim that these words were not written by a conscious, literate soldier, but that they just appeared there by coincidence? Could anyone say that as the stones rolled down the hill, they randomly formed such sentences? What if a scientist were to declare, "There are trillions of stones in the world, and they have been rolling around for millions of years. Therefore, it is possible that some of these stones could come together at random to form meaningful sentences." Wouldn't even children laugh at him? And on top of that, were he to employ scientific language and give scientific explanations with probability calculations, wouldn't people be suspicious of his mental capacity? Forget the entire sentence. There's no chance that even a neat letter could be formed by happenstance. Even if you saw merely that first capital written neatly atop a hill, you would wonder why somebody wrote it there. With these examples, we are trying to say that if there exists the slightest degree of planning anywhere, then there must be a conscious intellect behind it. No product of an intellect can ever appear by chance. If you roll a few white stones down a hill millions of times, you wouldn't even get a straight letter forming. If a letter were to appear, everyone would have to agree that there can be no letter without a scribe. The human body, however, has a structure a trillion times more complex than any sentence spelled out in rocks, and there is absolutely no chance that this complex structure could have come about by "coincidence." Therefore it is God Who perfectly planned and faultlessly organized the human being, its cells, and its DNA. To deny the existence and power of God, the Creator of the heavens and the Earth and everything in between, is the greatest possible senselessness and impertinence. It is great disrespect towards the Possessor of that intelligence and power. But sadly, many people who can instantly grasp the impossibility of stones bringing words together by chance, can listen, without objection, to the deceitful claim that a molecule like DNA, which can perform such amazing tasks, could have formed as a result of a series of coincidental joinings of single atoms. Just like someone who's been hypnotized and imagines himself to be a door, a tree or a lizard when suggested so. The Language of DNA's Encyclopedia
The language of the cell is similar: All of a human being's physical features have been codified and stored in the nucleus of the cell, where the cell can refer to again by using this code. This code is the language of the director molecule, the DNA, formed from four special bases called nucleotides, each represented by one of the letters A, T, G, and C. These bases, by coming together one after the other in a meaningful manner, form the DNA molecule (Figures 2.2 and 2.3). Information in the nucleus' data bank is stored in this way. In the interests of simplicity when explaining the cell's information coding system, we'll keep using these letters to represent the nucleic acid molecules making up DNA. These letters form opposite pairs and form one rung of the ladder. These rungs are joined together to form genes. Every gene, which is just one section of the DNA molecule, controls a particular feature in the human body. Innumerable characteristics such as height, eye color, and shape of nose, ears, and skull come about via commands given by the relevant genes. We can compare these genes to the pages of a book, which bears various writings made up from the four letters A, T, C and G. In the DNA of human beings are found about 200,000 genes, each made up of between 1,000 and 186,000 nucleotides, which come together in different orders depending on the corresponding protein they make. These genes contain the codes for approximately 200,000 different proteins with various duties in the body, the production of which is again controlled by genes. Yet the amount of information contained in these 200,000 genes represents only about 3% of the total information contained in DNA. The remaining 97% has remained a mystery to this day. Recent research has shown that this mysterious remaining 97% contains vital information about mechanisms that facilitate highly complex activities, and information about how the cell continues its existence. However, scientists still have a long way to go. Genes are found within chromosomes. There are 46 chromosomes in each cell in the human body (excluding the generative cells; see Figure 2.5). Comparing each chromosome to a volume comprised of genes, then we can say that in each cell there is a 46-volume cellular encyclopedia that contains all the information relevant to human beings. Using our earlier analogy, this is equivalent to the amount of information stored in a 920-volume Encyclopedia Britannica.
All the organs in your body are built according to a planning scheme outlined in your genes. To give a few examples from a gene map constructed by scientists, the skin is regulated by 2,559 genes; the brain by 29,930; the eyes by 1,794; salivary glands by 186; the heart by 6,216; the breast by 4,001; the lungs by 11,581; the liver by 2,309; the intestines by 3,838; the skeletal muscles by 1,911 and the blood cells by 22,092 genes.
If even one single letter cannot come about without a scribe to write it, then how can billions of meaningful "letters" arise inside a human cell? How did these letters come together, one after the other, in meaningful patterns to comprise the plan of a unique and complex human body? Were there even the slightest flaw in the order of these letters, you could find your ear where your stomach is supposed to be, or your eyes on your heels, and have to live as a freak. The secret of your being a regular person is the faultless order in which the billions of letters are arranged in your DNA's 46-volume encyclopedia. Obviously, these letters can't possibly realize such an arrangement of their own accord. These genes, which we have been calling letters, have been created by God, the Master of superior intelligence and infinite knowledge. This extraordinary arrangement, which renders the word "coincidence" meaningless, is a result of God's perfect creativity:
DNA Defies the Notion of Coincidence Mathematically, there is no chance for coincidence in the formation of DNA's encoded information. The possibility that even one of the 200,000 genes found in DNA could have come about by chance-let alone the DNA molecule itself, made up of millions of sections-has been completely invalidated. An evolutionary biologist, Frank B. Salisbury, has this to say:A medium protein might include about 300 amino acids. The DNA gene controlling this would have about 1,000 nucleotides in its chain. Since there are four kinds of nucleotides in a DNA chain, one consisting of 1,000 links could exist in 41000 forms. Using a little algebra (logarithms) we can see that 41000=10600. Ten multiplied by itself 600 times gives the figure 1 followed by 600 zeros! This number is completely beyond our comprehension.4Even if we assume that the surrounding environment contains all of the necessary nucleotides, plus the complex molecules and binding enzymes needed to connect them together, the probability that these nucleotides will ever bind together in the desired order is 1 in 41000-or in other words, 1 in 10600. In short, the possibility of an average human protein coming about by itself, is 1 out of a number resulting from putting a 1 followed by 600 zeros. This number, beyond astronomical in practical terms, means zero probability. Such an arrangement could therefore have come about only under the control and knowledge of an intelligent and conscious power, which belong to Almighty God, the Creator of the heavens and the Earth. Take this sentence you are reading right now. If somebody claimed that the letters-each with the proper size and font-came together by themselves and randomly formed that sentence, what would you say? Obviously, you would find such a claim highly illogical, and reply that this sentence definitely originated from one who was most intelligent and knowledgeable. And the case of DNA is no different.
An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that, in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to be almost a miracle.5According to Crick, life could never have appeared on this Earth by chance. So even one of the greatest specialists in DNA, and an evolutionist to boot, gives no credence to the notion of coincidence in creation. The information in DNA, comprised from five billion bases, comes about as a result of the unique and meaningful order of the A, T, G and C letters. But not a single mistake can be made in this order. In an encyclopedia, a mistyped word or letter isn't too important and can be ignored. It may not even be noticed. In contrast, an error in any rung of the DNA ladder-for example, a mistake in the coding of one letter in the 1, 719, 348, 632nd rung-results in frightful consequences for the cell and therefore for the human. For instance, leukemia, the blood cancer seen in children, results from such a mistake in coding. To be accurate, we shouldn't really say a mistake in coding. Just like everything else that exists, DNA has been created by God, and any "mistakes" we may perceive arise due to a particular wisdom, a divine purpose. The coding defect that brings about cancer has been specially created to show man his utter powerlessness and weakness-to remind us of the fine, delicate balance within which we've been created and what problems can result with even the slightest deviation. Self-Replication of DNA
But after this process of division, what happens to DNA? Any one cell contains only one helix of DNA. But clearly, the newly divided cells will each need their own DNA. To overcome this problem a new series of processes takes place, each step of which is a miracle in itself. Just before the cell divides, its DNA is replicated, so that each new cell receives an exact copy of the original. Microscopic observations reveal that before the cell divides, it must reach a certain size. Once it does, the process of division is initiated. As the cell begins to widen into the shape required for division, the DNA starts to replicate itself. What this means is that the cell as a whole "decides" to divide, and its different parts begin to act accordingly. Clearly, the cell doesn't possess the knowledge to carry out such a cooperative process successfully. The process of division starts with a silent command, and with the DNA leading the way, the rest of the cell follows suit.
The new DNA molecule resulting from this pairing is checked over and over again by control enzymes. If there is a mistake-and any mistakes could prove fatal-it is quickly identified and repaired. The faulty segment is removed and a corrected one brought and put into place. All of these processes occur at dizzying speeds. For example 3,000 base pairs are produced every minute, while each rung of the ladder is gone over by enzymes on duty and then repaired, if need be. External factors can cause mistakes to occur at a higher rate than normal in the synthesis of the new DNA molecule. In this case, ribosomes in the cell begin to manufacture repair enzymes according to the command given by the DNA. In this way, the DNA is protected, and the next generation of cells is preserved. Cells, just like the human beings they make up, are born, multiply and die. But the life span of the cell is much shorter. For instance, most of the cells that made up your body six months ago are no longer alive today. You still exist because those old cells divided and left new cells to take their place. For human life to continue, it's vitally important that such processes as the multiplication of cells and the copying of the DNA be carried out flawlessly. In fact, the replication process takes place so perfectly that the rate of error is only one base pair in 3 billion. And before it can cause the body any problems, this single mistake is fixed by control mechanisms of a higher order. So all day, without your even knowing it, innumerable processes, controls, and precautions take place in your body with astonishing meticulousness and sense of responsibility to keep you alive without any problems. God has provided you with innumerable atoms and molecules, from the tiniest to the largest, from the simplest to the most complex, so that you can live your life in the most healthy fashion. Isn't this favor and blessing alone enough to make man continuously grateful? Or must people wait for a problem to arise in this faultless system, before they come to their senses? Most interesting is that the enzymes facilitating the production of DNA and the regulation of its structure are all encoded within the DNA itself. In fact, they are proteins synthesized under the DNA's command and control. This system is so amazingly intricate that it's absolutely impossible for it to have arisen by a series of coincidental steps. Because in order for the enzyme to exist, the DNA must exist, but in order for the DNA to exist, so must the enzymes. And for both of them to exist, the cell must exist in its entirety, from the cell membrane inward to all its complex organelles. The theory of evolution proposes that organisms developed "step by step" as a result of "beneficial coincidences." But this DNA-enzyme paradox absolutely refutes it, since both the DNA and the enzymes must be in existence at the same time. This is blatant evidence of God's existence.
Mutations: The Last Resort of the Evolution Falsehood When Darwin first proposed his theory, he couldn't explain the reason for variation within species, nor the logic behind one of his own conjectures that "one species is transformed into another." He couldn't have explained it in any case, because he didn't know about the existence of DNA. Darwin knew nothing of genetics, biostatistics, or microbiology. These scientific fields did not exist in Darwin's day, so there was no way he could have known of them. With the facilities available at the time, he dissected various organisms, and from similarities in their anatomy, but with no ability to closely study the cell, he arrived at unscientific conclusions that were, for the most part, products of his imagination. Thanks to recent technology, people today are aware of the complex mechanisms present in the cell. And it has become understood that these perfect mechanisms cannot have come about by themselves, or as a result of chance. All of this complex system's components had to be in the same place at the same time, with nothing more and nothing less. As we mentioned, thousands of different sub-systems make up this system. Thus for this faultless system to have come about at the same time, in the same place, there remains only one explanation: creation. Advances in scientific knowledge and technology have proven over and over how the theory of evolution is a great lie, put forward to deny the fact of creation and thereby, turn people away from the path of God. Evolution is not a scientific fact, but the imaginary foundation on which all ideologies depend that fall into the mistake of denying creation. Whatever the cost, their lie must go on, and so they found a solution in another lie: mutations-which, evolutionists proposed, advanced the development of primitive species and the emergence of entirely new ones. Mutations are changes that can arise in the organism's DNA as a result of external factors like chemical agents, x-rays, and radiation. But such changes can never bring about the formation of a new species, because mutations are deficiencies or changes in the order of the genetic information. They cannot add anything new to the genetic mix. Information pertaining to any living thing has been recorded in the genetic code of that particular creature. Consequently any genetic mutation will cause a deliberate alteration in that species' number, color or type of existing organs and structures. They can never result in a brand-new organ or feature. What's more, 99.9% of mutations are harmful, and in fact may be lethal for living things. The remaining 0.01% either have no effect, or their damage cannot swiftly be determined. Apart from viruses, whose genetic and physiological structures are deliberately adjusted to tolerate mutations, the question of beneficial mutations never arises. DNA's structure is highly advanced in terms of the information it contains and in the way it can store it. Obviously, any external tampering will ruin such an advanced system. Any random change to a device with highly complex mechanisms will not improve the device but on the contrary, will destroy it. Or to use another analogy, an earthquake cannot build a city, it will level it-just like the effects of a mutation on DNA. Let's assume that a beneficial mutation does exist. But for every beneficial mutation, there are thousands of harmful ones, and so the overall effect is going to be the species' deterioration or extinction. Today's world should have been full of freaks who have undergone minor mutations: fish hatched with three eyes, or cats that give birth to five-legged kittens. But just as mutations are harmful, they are also extremely rare. The changes that mutations could result in are like those experienced in Hiroshima, Nagasaki or Chernobyl. In the hopes of proving the theory of evolution, scientists have carried out experiments that result in fruit flies that, having been subjected to radiation, have legs coming out of their heads. To this day, no beneficial mutation has been observed. All have been harmful. Dr. Mahlon B. Hoagland, author of the book The Roots of Life, expresses this as follows: You'll recall we learned that almost always a change in an organism's DNA is detrimental to it; that is, it leads to a reduced capacity to survive. By way of analogy, random additions of sentences to the plays of Shakespeare are not likely to improve them! …The principle that DNA changes are harmful by virtue of reducing survival chances applies whether a change in DNA is caused by a mutation or by some foreign genes we deliberately add to it.6
Another point worth noting is that for mutations to be passed on to future generations, they must arise in the generative cells. Any change in the body cells or organs alone will not be passed along. For example, if a woman loses her finger, her future baby will not lose his and will not therefore be born without a finger. Even if, for a thousand generations every monkey born is taught to walk on two legs, this ability trait will not be passed on when the 1001st generation is born. Another example, say you cut off the left arm of a particular species, the 10th generation will still be born with a left arm, there being no chance that the arm will disappear. In conclusion, mutations cannot be the source of variation in species. DNA's perfect organization can only be a result of a special creation. And the Owner of this superior power of creation is God. The Qur'an tells us about God's perfect creation as follows: Again we find in the Qur'an news of the situation of the deniers of this creation:
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CHAPTER 3 PROTEIN SYNTHESIS IN THE CELL
he proteins that humans ingest for their nutrition are not all used by the body in the same form. First of all, they are decomposed into smaller molecules called amino acids. Later on, these amino acids are brought together in new arrangements to make any one of the 200,000 different types of protein encoded in the DNA which may be needed at that particular time. The name given to this complex process, each step of which is a miracle in itself, is protein synthesis. Each step is broken down into tens of other steps. Without even realizing it, during your daily routine, these processes are repeated over and over again in the 100 trillion cells throughout your body. A Giant Factory that Can't Be Seen with the Naked Eye
In order to understand this topic more fully, let's remember that the cell's organizational setup for protein production can be compared to a giant factory that can manufacture hundreds of different products all at the same time. Obviously, no factory on Earth can perfectly manufacture such a wide range of products. In order to understand the cell's perfect production methods, we can imagine a science-fiction model factory that possesses similar features and abilities. Such a theoretical factory would work as follows: An external command arrives at the factory, and the decision is made to manufacture (for instance) a fighter plane. The plane's technical details are stored in the factory's computer, along with all its other measurements and specifications. The computer presents all these calculations and measurements into a plan that the production-and-assembly robots can understand, and sends these plans to them by special transport systems.
Carefully, the assembly system begins to manufacture the plane. Its every part is brought by an assembly robot responsible solely for that particular piece and then is assembled in the correct location. The smallest error will later result in the plane falling out of the sky; but the system makes no mistake. On the rare occasion a defective product is produced, it passes through sensitive quality-control checkpoints and is removed from the assembly line, whereupon the defective product is disassembled and its parts are used for new products. Nothing is wasted. At the same time, the factory is able to produce hundreds of other products such as dialysis machines, computers, and cars. Some of these products it uses for itself, and others it exports outside.
The cell's organization is actually much more perfect than this science-fiction analogy suggests. As mentioned before, the human body uses more than 200,000 different types of proteins, and all of these are synthesized in the cell. The plans for all of these proteins are also found in the cell. But the cell selects from its DNA only the information needed to make the proteins it will use for itself or it will export outside, and then makes only these proteins. The functional differences between the proteins it produces are at least as great as the differences between those of a plane and a television.
How Is the Synthesis of Proteins Realized?
 Figure 3.1 The RNA polymerase enzyme copies the requisite information on the DNA, in a process known as transcription. It is sent to the ribosomes for production according to the information on the copied RNA section. Figure 3.2 Every three consecutive nucleotides (codon) in mRNA specifies a particular amino acid in protein synthesis. Each amino acid is attached to the ribosome by the corresponding transfer RNA. |
- All information about the particular protein's structure is encoded in the nucleus within the DNA. All instructions relevant to the protein to be made are copied from the DNA with the aid of many enzymes and a strand of RNA molecule produced from this DNA. The protein will be produced according to the information in this RNA, which has been copied from the DNA. And so, this RNA is referred to as messenger RNA (mRNA; Figure 3.1 ).
- The mRNA, having received its instructions, heads towards the ribosomes-the cell's main production units. The ribosomes read the instructions, starting from the beginning of the RNA strand. Each code in the DNA is made up of three bases called a codon, and represents one amino acid in the protein chain.
 Figure 3.3 In the cytoplasm are found for protein synthesis pools of amino acids, tRNAs (transfer RNAs), and ribosomal subunits. A. PRODUCTION COMPLEX (In order to start production, an mRNA binds onto an intact ribosome made up of the two subunits.) B. Relative positions of the binding sites for tRNAs and the mRNA C. Protein synthesis begins with the bringing of the amino acid by the tRNA corresponding to the codon (AUG) that orders the start of protein synthesis. D. The amino acid corresponding to the second codon is brought by its tRNA to the ribosome. |
- One by one, the amino acids are brought to a molecule called the transfer RNA, or tRNA. Every tRNA carries its own special amino acid. The tRNA carries the amino acid on one end and on the other, the code with the address where the tRNA will deposit its load (the anticodon; Figure 3.2).
- The tRNA that arrives at the ribosome aligns along the mRNA transcript at the described address. There it deposits the amino acid it is carrying and moves away from the ribosome. The ribosome moves one codon (three bases) along the mRNA transcript. Another tRNA molecule arrives at the new address and aligns along the mRNA, depositing its amino acid. Once all of the codons have been "read," the amino acids join together to form a protein molecule.
As you can imagine, the event crudely outlined in a few sentences above, in reality occurs as a result of processes that are miraculously complex, beyond the limits of what the mind can conceive. But they do leave us facing some important questions.
The first has to do with the beginnings of protein synthesis. How does a cell-which cannot be seen with the naked eye, formed from mindless molecules-make the decision to start producing something? The ability to decide, think, and evaluate is a feature of conscious living things. Obviously, unconscious molecules of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen atoms don't possess the ability to make decisions. There must be another power inspiring the cell to make these decisions and then directing it accordingly.
Once a decision is made, the next step is for the messenger RNA to read the instructions encoded within the DNA. The enzyme responsible for producing RNA finds in the DNA only the instructions needed for the desired protein-but in reality, the process is extremely difficult. Finding the relevant information in the DNA means locating and extracting an instruction consisting of 900 base pairs from a store of 5 billion. This is like trying to find one particular sentence in a 20-volume encyclopedia, without any help. However this problem has been made easy in an awe-inspiring way: The relevant portion of the DNA has been marked by "start" and "stop" labels that the enzyme can find.
Who has placed these labels, understood only by enzymes, in the relevant places? Who gave these enzymes the ability to recognize these labels?
The undoubted answer to these questions is clear: the One Who made these faultless systems and the One Who placed every detail where it needs to be, and Who has allowed all of this to proceed in harmony is the Creator of all living things, God, the Possessor of infinite knowledge.
 E. The bond between the first tRNA carrying the start codon and the amino acid is broken. A peptide bond is formed between the amino acids, aligned next to each other. F. The ribosome moves one step along the mRNA transcript. The tRNA molecule brings to the ribosome the amino acid dictated by the next codon. G. A peptide bond is again formed between the second and third amino acids. The ribosome shifts along and reads the transcript, and a corresponding amino acid is brought to the ribosome until the protein is completed. |
All Manner of Precautions
Enzymes do not stop once they've found the relevant information. They facilitate its being copied at great speed, but some enzymes keep any problems from arising during the replication of DNA's highly complex structure. You'll recall that the DNA molecule is coiled, and shaped like a spiral ladder. During the replication stage, the rungs of the ladder need to open up so that their information can be read, and this is done by an enzyme. This unwinding process is so fast that friction might cause the DNA molecule to heat up and disintegrate. But this danger is overcome by precautions that have been taken beforehand. A special enzyme holds both sides of the helix apart, preventing any friction. Again with the help of special enzymes, the DNA molecule is prevented from getting tangled and messed up while being unwound during replication.Remember, the enzymes that carry out such complicated and difficult tasks are just proteins themselves, also produced by the same method: protein synthesis inside the cell. In order for this production to be carried out, all of the required enzymes, the vitamins that help the enzymes, helper proteins and energy sources, the required genetic instructions and production organelles-are all needed at once, and in the same place. The lack of just one of these components will render the whole mechanism ineffective.
Consequently, the first cell that ever appeared on Earth had to have formed in its entirety, all at once. Undoubtedly, this means that the cell was created-a situation that evolutionists can never explain, proposing that living things formed step by step as a result of coincidences. Two evolutionary scientists Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramansinghe express the quagmire within which evolutionists have fallen:
…life cannot have had a random beginning. Troops of monkeys thundering away at random typewriters could not produce the works of Shakespeare, for the practical reason that the whole observable universe is not large enough to contain the necessary monkey hordes, the necessary typewriters, and certainly the waste paper baskets required for the deposition of wrong attempts. The same is true for living material. The likelihood of the spontaneous formation of life from inanimate matter is one to a number with 40,000 noughts after it... It is big enough to bury Darwin and the whole theory of evolution. There was no primeval soup, neither on this planet nor on any other, and if the beginnings of life were not random, they must therefore have been the product of purposeful intelligence.8
Do you not know that God is He to Whom the kingdom of the heavens and the Earth belongs and that, besides God, you have no protector and no helper? (Qur’an, 2:107) |
The Enigma of Unwanted Sequences
During the copying of DNA by RNA in some cells, amazing events take place. The enzyme that produces RNA reads and copies the code in the DNA relevant to the protein it will produce, but it sometimes runs across codes that aren't needed for this production. Because during replication, the enzyme reads the DNA fragments in order, it has to read the irrelevant instructions as well. But remember, even one irrelevant instruction can render an entire synthesized protein completely worthless.Let's examine in more detail the problem this enzyme encounters. Say a protein of 1,000 amino acids is to be produced. If each amino acid is represented by three bases (a codon), then in order to perform this duty, the enzyme needs to read a 3,000 base pair DNA sequence-in order. But within this 3,000-base pair sequence is a complete sequence of say 500 base pairs for which the enzyme has no need. But in order to reach the instructions that follow, the enzyme cannot just skip over these 500 base pairs without copying them. It must copy them whether it wants to or not. The enzyme cannot cut the giant DNA molecule, nor can it skip over it. What would you-a human being, possessed of intellect-do to solve this problem?
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| Figure 3.4 DNA shows mRNA the way by presenting it with only the relevant information. The regions depicted by the numbers I, II, III, IV, V, VI and VII contain irrelevant information. That is why they coil out in loops and are prevented from being copied. Regions represented by the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are relevant information presented to the mRNA. Unconscious atoms like carbon, hydrogen, and phosphate cannot possess intelligence. This intelligence belongs to God, Who wrote that genetic information there, Who allows it to be read and brings it to life. | Figure 3.5 Enzymes copy certain instructions relevant to the protein they are to make, but some irrelevant information gets transferred to the mRNA. Once the RNA has been made, these instructions are removed from it and discarded, leaving only the relevant base pairs. |
 Figure 3.6 The genetic code of Beta-globin gene. Codons needed for synthesis of this protein are highlighted in pink. DNA presents this region to the enzyme that synthesizes RNA. |
A second method is used to prevent the problem of the introns. The RNA first copies the entire DNA molecule from start to finish, including the irrelevant sequences. Later on, as if obeying a command, it coils out the unnecessary sequences in loops, which are then broken off and removed (see Figure 3.5). But who tells the RNA that the sequences it has coiled up and broken off are irrelevant and unnecessary?
The enzyme that brings about these events must be very familiar with both the DNA and the RNA molecules. It must have received special training for such a specific job, know its responsibilities and work in a cooperative manner with the other enzymes to carry out its duty. On the other hand, the DNA, like a separate living entity, must have the ability to make decisions and, according to the situation, present certain instructions to the enzyme while keeping others from it and guiding the enzyme to what it needs to do. And of course both the enzymes and the DNA need to know the function of the protein they are manufacturing. First of all, they need to know what protein needs to be made, then must make the necessary plans and all the complex calculations to bring this about.
But it is clear that such abilities as knowing, calculating, wanting, and creating cannot exist in this heap of tiny molecules. These functions are attributes of God, the Master of Infinite Power. As He displays these attributes throughout the whole universe, so does He display them in the lifeless molecules in the nucleus of a tiny cell. A person of any intelligence would understand that this system has been created and, just like all of the other systems in the universe, the cell is also under God's absolute control.
His dominion over all of creation is given in the Qur'an as follows:
I have put my trust in God, my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature He does not hold by the forelock. My Lord is on a straight path. (Qur'an, 11:56)
Getting the Order Ready
As a result of the processes enumerated in the previous section, the instructions needed for the order for the particular protein are transferred by enzymes from the DNA to the messenger RNA (mRNA). Now it's the ribosomes' turn to manufacture the particular protein, according to orders given them by the DNA. The ribosome manufactures a substance to the exact specifications desired. The structural plan of the ordered protein is also found in the mRNA. The mRNA, together with the instructions it has copied from the DNA, moves out of the nucleus and towards one of the ribosomes found in the cytoplasm, to which it binds. An amino acid, corresponding to each codon in the mRNA, is brought to the ribosome by transfer RNA (tRNA), and attached to the relevant site. To one end of the tRNA is attached the anticodon of one of the codons in the mRNA, and on the other end is the amino acid represented by the codon. As the tRNA binds to the codon in the mRNA that corresponds to its own anticodon, the amino acid it bears is automatically placed in the correct sequence. There are 20 different tRNA molecules for the 20 different amino acids used. Each amino acid can bind only to its own tRNA. This is because in order for them to bind to each other, their three-dimensional shapes have to fit together exactly (see Figure 3.7). The fact that the tRNA and the amino acids, composed of thousands of atoms, have been made to fit together is a proof of the harmony and perfection in God's creation. God is the Creator, the Maker, the Giver of Form (al-Bari) (Qur'an, 59:24).
Thousands of amino acids join together to form the desired polypeptide chain (or protein molecule), according to the thousands of instructions found on the mRNA arriving at the ribosomes on which the protein is synthesized. Not even one extra amino acid is included in the mRNA plan to be attached to this molecule. No amino acid attaches to a different site than what the plan requires, and no amino acid is left out. If any of these mistakes occur, the desired protein will not be made, and a different, unwanted protein will be synthesized. But cells and organisms will not generally tolerate foreign proteins. They will make antibodies against them and demonstrate an allergic reaction.
 Figure 3.7 Transfer RNA. Every amino acid is carried by a transfer RNA molecule especially created for it. The amino acid and the transfer RNA bind tightly to each other at one end. Such perfect cooperation in an area a billionth of a millimeter, and that this cooperation exists in 20 different amino acids is clear proof of the Creator. |
The synthesis of just one protein, according to instructions given in the DNA, requires at least 75 helper molecules in the cell working together in harmony. The enzymes carrying out the duty of copying the instructions in the DNA are not included in this number.
Each protein molecule is made, the last amino acid is attached, and the protein is complete. But the synthesis is not considered finished until the cell (or more correctly, its ribosomes) go through one more control checkpoint. If any fault is found at the last minute, the cell does not just say, "That's good enough. Let this one go through," and produce a molecule like this outside of the plan. Such tolerance, allowing the construction of a protein that's not the one originally planned, will degenerate the cell's control system and drive it towards disorder and destructive anarchy-a state that comes about only in pathologic conditions or when the cell is dying.
Under normal, healthy circumstances, a protein molecule that is incomplete and imperfect is delivered to destructive enzymes that break many or all of its peptide bonds. They reduce the protein to its constituent amino acids or into short, harmless polypeptide chains and leave them available as structural building blocks for other protein syntheses.
This cellular process amazes even Prof. Muammer Bilge, a Turkish evolutionist academician and cell specialist:
Because of the facilitation of all of these results as required within the cell, and the lack of any danger or loss to itself, or the falling into any impasses, we can say that the protein synthesis industry in the cell is carried out by a perfect organization and faultless foresightedness…all of this occurs within the cell as such. But how does it all take place, and how does the cell manage to do so? We still do not understand this. We can only see the results and we can only perceive some of the finer points of the perfect organization bringing about these results.9Life Cannot Arise by Coincidence
Figure 3.8 Overview of protein synthesis
How does evolutionary theory explain how proteins, the first stage of life, were first formed?
The answer is simple: it cannot. The evolutionists' claim is nothing more than that proteins came about by chance, as a result of a series of coincidences. Examining their claim's inconsistency, we can see how strikingly deceitful evolution really is.
How could the first protein molecule have come about by coincidence, under such uncontrolled conditions as-according to the claim of evolutionists-existed on our primitive Earth? How could the ordering of amino acids have come about "by chance" despite all the negative factors present on that primitive planet?
What's more, it's not enough for just this one protein to have formed itself. In this wildly uncontrolled environment, it had to wait for another protein molecule to form just like itself-by coincidence under the same conditions-without anything destroying it in the meantime. This had to occur again and again until at last, millions of appropriate and necessary proteins had come together "coincidentally" in the same place to form the cell. The very first proteins that formed had to wait patiently for thousands and millions of years for other proteins to form right next to them-without being destroyed in the meantime despite ultraviolet radiation and a harsh environment. Then these proteins, assumed to have formed by coincidence in enough numbers and in the same place, had to have come together in a meaningful way to form the organelles in the cell. No foreign substance, harmful molecule, or useless protein should have been incorporated into the chain. These organelles had to come together in the most organized fashion, with all the necessary enzymes, and had to have been surrounded by a membrane, containing a special fluid that constituted the most ideal environment.
But even if all of these implausible events took place, the pile of molecules that resulted still would not have come to life.
Research has shown that the mere coming together of substances necessary for living things is not sufficient enough for life to come about. Even if all of the proteins needed for life were placed in a test tube, they still wouldn't result in a living being, because life is much more than just a few molecules being found together.
Life is a metaphysical concept. Life is a reflection of the al-Hayy (The Living) attribute of God. Only with His will does life begin, continue and then cease. Just like everything else, life comes about through the mere command of Be from God.
The theory of evolution cannot explain how the necessary substances for life formed, nor how they came together, nor how life first started.
Let's for a moment accept all of these impossibilities: that billions of years ago, all of the substances needed for life came together as a living entity. Alas, the theory of evolution is still destined to collapse! Even if the cell became alive, eventually it would have died. There would have been nothing left, and we would have been back where we started. Because this first living had no genetic system in place, cell would have died not having been able to replicate itself and therefore, could not have left behind a new generation. Life would have expired along with the cell.
The genetic system is not made up of just DNA. Vital components include enzymes that read the code in the DNA, the production of mRNA from the reading of this code, ribosomes upon which the mRNA with its codons binds, the tRNAs that carry to the ribosomes the amino acids to be used in production, and innumerable other complex enzymes that facilitate these processes. All had to be found in the same environment-which, moreover, had to have been completely isolated and controlled. Only in the cell itself are found all of the needed raw materials and energy sources. Consequently, an organic substance can replicate itself only if there first exists a completely functional cell with all its organelles in place. This means that the cell, with its all incredibly complex structure, was created in one instant.
But for a complex structure to come into being instantaneously, what are the implications?
We can compare the cell's complexity to that of a highly developed car (even though the cell actually constitutes a much more complex and highly developed system). Now, suppose you went for a walk through an untouched forest one day and found the latest model car among the trees. All the raw materials making up the car-iron, plastic, rubber, etc.-are made from substances that occur naturally. But would you believe that such a sophisticated, user-friendly machine came about as a result of the coincidental coming together of different elements in the forest over millions of years? Would you think that these various substances were also made coincidentally, and then came together to make such a car?
Of course, you know that any car is the product of conscious design-by engineers working in a factory. And you would wonder what it was doing in the middle of a forest.
For such a complex structure as the cell to come into being in one instant indicates that it was created by a conscious Being. The probability that one useful, meaningful protein could come about by chance is zero, so how impossible is the coming together of millions of these various proteins to form a cell?
Moreover, this chain of impossibilities does not end there. Even if the millions of proteins needed came about by coincidence and gathered at the same point, this is still the equivalent of simply heaping bricks and cement onto a site where a sophisticated skyscraper is to be built. Only with a plan of utmost complexity, after the most sensitive measurements, calculations, and assuming a chain of order and command among intelligent builders, can such a skyscraper be erected.
But some people, on seeing a skyscraper, will ask, "Who built this?" yet still wonder about the "coincidences" that brought about living things. This blindness is really difficult to understand. To understand this is possible only with the advice given in the Qur'an because, as the Qur'an informs us, some people "have hearts they do not understand with. They have eyes they do not see with. They have ears they do not hear with. Such people are like cattle. No, they are even further astray! They are the unaware." (Qur'an, 7:179)
The fact that some people cannot see clear truths that are in front of their eyes and their denial of their Creator is one of the miracles of God. And like other miracles, it too is astonishing. Just as the creation of the Earth, the Sun and everything in the universe is a sign of God's infinite power and knowledge, so too is the creation of one who denies, even though surrounded by an infinite number of proofs-another sign that God has power over all things.
If you are surprised at their blindness, what could be more surprising than their words: "What, when we are turned to dust, shall we then be created all anew?" These are the people who reject their Lord. Such people have iron collars round their necks. Such people are the Companions of the Fire, remaining in it timelessly, for ever. (Qur'an, 13:5)
Some Other Examples of Discrepancies
The living cell possesses the most complex structure the scientific world has ever come across. Even the single cell of tiny prokaryotic bacterium-the simplest organism capable of living as a separate entity-has developed such complexity that the technology of a space shuttle is simple by comparison. To accept the impossible, suppose that the cell did form coincidentally and then let's consider the plausibility of this supposition. In this situation, most of the innumerable objects and tools we see around us, which are much simpler in structure than the cell, would have to have been formed a thousand times easier than the cell. According to the rules of simple logic, the formation of a less complex object by chance is much easier than the formation of a more complex object by chance. If this highly complex structure could have formed on its own, then simpler ones in the same environment would have to have formed much more easily and in greater numbers. Consequently, if we accept for a second that coincidences have the power to create, then the probability that a television, a car, a microchip or a walkman could form at random, with no creative mind, in a primitive environment, is much higher than a cell theoretically forming by chance. (Without a doubt, in reality, the possibility that these formed by coincidence is zero, and this is a solely imaginary example, the cell included).
Consider another discrepancy.
For a living cell to form, multiply, and continue the next generation, the proteins making up a major part of the cell's components and the DNA that facilitates genetic transmission must have been found together at the same time. If all the proteins and enzymes, organelles, cell membrane, and DNA all came together at random, even this is not enough to form a cell because of one great danger: DNA can in no way come into contact with these proteins since DNA is acidic, and proteins are bases. Whenever they come in contact, they will immediately react and neutralize each other. Even if the DNA nucleotides and the proteins came together in the "primitive soup"-the imaginary environment so named by evolutionists-they would have destroyed each other and never moved on to the next step.
Another miraculous aspect is that although an acid and a base naturally react together when brought in contact, in the cell these two substances display perfect cooperation and work together in harmony to facilitate production-yet their coming together freely outside of the cell spells destruction for both of them.
As always, this system has been planned in great detail, with all manner of precaution. The DNA has been placed in the nucleus, the safest of all places in the cell, and isolated by very sensitive and special means from surrounding structures that might harm it. During the DNA replication process, contact between the DNA and the enzyme proteins occurs in such a controlled and measured manner that no molecule is damaged, and both substances enjoy the highest productivity.
Molecules Have No Consciousness
Biology books by evolutionist authors commonly emphasize that the elements of the processes we have discussed apparently act with conscious intent. Whether writing about the cell, the RNA or the DNA, the enzymes or the organelles, we too frequently used verbs like reads, decides, chooses, tries, repairs. Quite clearly, these verbs can only follow a noun that possesses knowledge, intelligence and will. But the cells we have written about up to this point are composed of mere atoms and molecules that in no way possess the ability to think, make decisions, or reason. As made clear in previous sections, however complex and amazing a structure the cell may have, it can in no way possess intelligence or consciousness. For this cell or any of its components to desire, decide or control anything is consequently not an issue.
For this reason, verbs such as decides, controls and repairs, assumed to apply to the cell, need in reality to be attributed to the knowledge and intelligence of the Creator.
For example, when we say "this book is trying to say that…" it is obvious that we are talking about what the author of the book is trying to say. Otherwise it is clear that it cannot be understood from this expression that the book itself, its pages and its ink, thought about something and then tried to explain it. (For this to be understood by someone would indicate that that person has a serious mental health problem).
In the same way, expressions such as wants, decides, calculates, which are used in many parts in this website, are just analogies chosen to practically describe and depict the events that take place. To attribute false meanings to the words other than what they mean will lead man into a deep misconception. It's obvious that the will to desire and decide does not come from this heap of unconscious molecules. These characteristics, the creative power that allows this pile of molecules to carry out such conscious and calculated acts and that creates these according to their duties belong only to God. The One Who desires, and decides and makes to happen is God.
That substances we cannot normally form a connection with such concepts carry out these extraordinary acts is a means whereby we can perceive more easily and clearly the true possessor of power and intelligence behind them all.
Up to now, we have explained just a few of the miracles that take place in the cell and in the human body. Anyone with a conscience can perceive the perfection in the creation of his own body and by thus knowing God's handiwork, can grow closer to Him. In contrast, those at a lower level of intelligence will of course maintain the perspective that "However all of this happens, it happens. I care only about what goes in my pocket and down my throat."
But a person of knowledge and conscience will ask, "Why was this perfect system created? And who made it?" There is only one purpose behind this system in each of the trillions of cells in the human body: so that man can perceive and comprehend God's infinite knowledge, intelligence, power and perfection in His creation, and His close attention… Man must realize that not even one molecule within a cell can act without His permission and knowledge, let alone behave like a conscious human being who walks and talks.
Even if we assume that there were no other miracles on the face of the Earth, the fact that 5 billion instructions have been stored in a single cell is enough proof for a person of knowledge and conscience to have faith. And the same proof will this time be proof against those people who, having received such knowledge, turn their faces from God-proof that will drive them to punishment on the Day of Judgment.
God, the Possessor of infinite mercy, displays an infinite number of proofs not just in the tiny cell but also right throughout the universe. Those who believe can further strengthen their guidance with the number of these proofs. Those who deny, however, will receive their punishment for rejecting all of this and thinking it was all just empty and without purpose. One verse in the Qur'an states the following:
We did not create heaven and Earth and everything between them to no purpose. That is the opinion of those who disbelieve. Woe to those who disbelieve, because of the Fire! (Qur'an, 38:27)
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