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lnstitute of Technology, the total
number of protein molecules that
has ever existed on earth is about
10
52
•
This is a rather generous estí–
mate, but let us assume it's true. Let
us further assume that all these
10
52
protein molecules are the size of the
modest 400-unit protein we have
been considering. When we com–
pare 10
52
to 10 120 , we reach the con–
clusion that there is less than one
chance in a hundred thousand bil–
lion billion billion billion billion bil–
lion billion that even a single one of
all the protein molecules that ever
existed on earth would, by chance
alone, have only left-handed amino
acids! And, of course, even if such a
molecule did come into existence, it
would not. by any stretch of the
imagil}ation, constitute " life."
Another comparison: The num–
ber 1
oso
is a generous estimate of the
tota l number of atoms in the entire
universe. Let's assume that every
atom in the universe represents a
separate randomly produced pro–
tein of 400 amino acids. Actually,
our assumption is ridiculous be–
cause each protein molecule would
require thousands of atoms to con–
struct. so a universe of
!Oso
atoms
could not possibly contain
JOI'~
pro–
teins. But even so, the odds are still
more than ten thousand billion bil–
lion billion billion to one against
one or more of those chains being
solely comprised ofleft-handed am–
ino acids! And remember, we are
not even requiring any particular se–
quence for the 20 different kinds of
amino acids. Our only stipulation is
that they be left-handed.
Is the left-handed twist found
throughout living things just "an–
other chance accident," as most evo–
lutionists are forced to claim, or is it
a result of the fore thought and p lan–
ning of every organism on earth?
The answer should be obvious.
The fact that the amino acids in
living protein are
al/
L-amino acids
cannot be explained by evolution–
ary theory. However, it can be read–
ily explained as the result of the
purposeful design of a Supreme De–
signer!
Chalk one up. a big one, for the
Creator!
O
-RobertA. Ginskey
The
PLAIN TRUTH August 1978
BYCHANCE?
(Continued from page 13)
act~ally
consist of chains of chem–
ical compounds called amino acids.
A very simple protein would consist
of a chain of about 100 arnino acids.
How likely would
it
be for such a
protein to form by chance?
Suppose we have a "soup" full of
arnino acids. We want these acids to
link up at random to form a protein
consisting of .100 amino acids. How
many combinations are there?
Suppose there are 20 different
types of amino acids avai lable. If we
wanted a chain of two acids, there
would be 20 possibilities for the first
acid and 20 for the second-or a
total of 20
x
20
=
400 possibilities.
Similarly, if we wanted a chain of
three acids , there would be
20
x
20
x
20
=
8,000 possibilities.
Therefore, for a protein consisting
of a eha in of 100 acids, we have
20
X
20
X ... X
20
..._.....______ =
20100
100 times
possibilities. But 20 100 is approxi–
mately equal to 10 ' 30 - that is, 1 fol–
lowed by 130 zeros.
Is it reasonable to believe that
such a protein could have been
formed by chance du.ring the history
of the universe?
Scientists have stated that there
may be as many as
10
22
stars in the
observable universe. Let 's be gener–
ous and say 1,000 times as many
( 10
25
)
stars, j ust to be on the safe
side. Instead of allowing just one
planet like earth for each star, we'll
give each star ten such planets for a
total of 10
26
"earths" in the universe.
Let 's also give each "earth "
oceans the same size as our earth's
oceans-about
IOH
molecules.
Again, we'll be generous and fill the
oceans with a "soup" of amino acids
rather than seawater. So we have
10
26
x
10
46
=
10
72
amino acids float–
ing a·round.
In order to give the evolutionists a
sporting chance, we'll Jet all of these
acids link up into chains 100 acids
long· every second. Since 100
=
10
2 ,
this would give us
wn
+
10
2
=
10'
0
chains per second.
A year has less than 10
8
seconds,
but we'll round it off and say we
have 10
70
chains per second times
10
8
seconds per year for a total of
10'
8
chains per year.
Now al! we need is an upper
bound on the age of the universe.
Various estimates have been given,
but a safe upper bound is about 100
billion (
=
10
11
)
years. Therefore, we
would have 10
78
x
l 0
11
=
JOS 9
chains formed in all our "oceans of
amino acid soup," on all our
"earths," around all the stars, for al!
the years the universe has existed!
But we have already seen that
there are about 10 130 possibilities.
Therefore, the probaóility of form–
ing by chance the given protein con–
sisting of 100 amino acids in 10
69
tries is less than 10
89
/ 10
130
=
1/10
41
•
How probable is this? The odds
against such an event are beyond
astronomical! Even though we have
been exceedingly generous, the odds
that one small protein could have
evolved are infinitesimally small.
And the odds against an average–
size protein of 500 amino acids
evolving are, of course, far greater.
True, an evolutionist (or maybe
even a sincere skeptic) can always
claim (preposterous as it seems) that
it could have happened. Reasoning
based on probability alone cannot
lead to the conclusion that a protein
could not form at random. But it
does show the incredible odds
against it happening!
Here are sorne of the evolution–
ists' counterarguments-and the an–
swers:
1) You can
'r
pro ve anything by
probability.
Sorne people say you
can't prove the world exists; you
can't prove cyanide is poison unless
you try it; etc. What kind of proof
do they w:ant? Do they want proof
that things fall down, not up? From
back-alley dice games to highly so–
phisticated research laboratories.
the laws of probability have proven
themselves to be just as dependable
as the law of gravity.
2) Not al/ chains of amino acids
are equal!y like!y to be formed. The
ones needed for lije are more like!y
than the others.
Th!s is pure specula–
tion. There is no evidence that such
i.s the case. The idea is based on an
15