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Creating Life in the Lab: How New Discoveries in Synthetic Biology Make a Case for the Creator
Each year brings to light new scientific discoveries that have the power to either test our faith or strengthen it--most recently the news that scientists have created artificial life forms in the laboratory. If humans can create life, what does that mean for the creation story found in Scripture?
Biochemist and Christian apologist Fazale Rana, for one, isn't worried. In Creating Life in the Lab , he details the fascinating quest for synthetic life and argues convincingly that when scientists succeed in creating life in the lab, they will unwittingly undermine the evolutionary explanation for the origin of life, demonstrating instead that undirected chemical processes cannot produce a living entity.
Biochemist and Christian apologist Fazale Rana, for one, isn't worried. In Creating Life in the Lab , he details the fascinating quest for synthetic life and argues convincingly that when scientists succeed in creating life in the lab, they will unwittingly undermine the evolutionary explanation for the origin of life, demonstrating instead that undirected chemical processes cannot produce a living entity.
235 pages, Paperback
Published February 1, 2011
About the author
Fazale Rana
26 books56 followersBiochemist Fazale “Fuz” Rana is president, CEO, and senior scholar at Reasons to Believe, an organization that researches and communicates the compatibility of science and Christianity.
Rana earned a BS in chemistry with highest honors (West Virginia State College) and a PhD in chemistry with an emphasis in biochemistry (Ohio University). He pursued postdoctoral studies on cell membranes at the Universities of Virginia and Georgia and worked as a senior scientist in research and development at Procter & Gamble for seven years. Additionally, Rana has been published in multiple peer-reviewed scientific journals and delivered numerous presentations at international scientific meetings. He also holds two patents.
Rana’s books include Humans 2.0, Creating Life in the Lab, and Fit for a Purpose. He has addressed hundreds of university, church, and conference audiences around the world. Rana has also made numerous media appearances on television, radio, and in print.
Rana earned a BS in chemistry with highest honors (West Virginia State College) and a PhD in chemistry with an emphasis in biochemistry (Ohio University). He pursued postdoctoral studies on cell membranes at the Universities of Virginia and Georgia and worked as a senior scientist in research and development at Procter & Gamble for seven years. Additionally, Rana has been published in multiple peer-reviewed scientific journals and delivered numerous presentations at international scientific meetings. He also holds two patents.
Rana’s books include Humans 2.0, Creating Life in the Lab, and Fit for a Purpose. He has addressed hundreds of university, church, and conference audiences around the world. Rana has also made numerous media appearances on television, radio, and in print.
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September 29, 2024
A CHRISTIAN BIOCHEMIST LOOKS CRITICALLY AT THE PROSPECTS
Fazale Rana has written/cowritten other books such as 'The Cell's Design: How Chemistry Reveals the Creator's Artistry,' 'Who Was Adam?: A Creation Model Approach to the Origin of Man,' 'Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off,' 'What Darwin Didn't Know,' etc.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 2011 book, "The very real prospect of scientists' creating life in the lab... raises all sorts of theological and ethical questions... one can't help but ask, 'Is it right for human beings to play God?'... 'How should we balance the potential benefits of this emerging biotechnology with the real possibility of danger?'
"For many Christian theists, the genesis of novel life-forms by human hands raises other troubling questions... These questions, concerns, and implications have not been lost on atheists and agnostics... These mysteries have motivated my research as a biochemist. They've also motivated me to write this book... I'm convinced ... [that] the successful attempts to modify and even make new life in the lab will compellingly demonstrate that life's origin and transformation could not have happened apart from the work of an intelligent agent." (Pg. 20-21)
He provides a very thorough survey of modern origin-of-life researches. He also admits, "This is not to say that researchers haven't produced self-replicating molecules. They have---just not molecules with any realistic relevance to the origin of life." (Pg. 18) He adds, "it looks as if scientists are genuinely on the verge of creating artificial and synthetic life-forms from both the bottom up and the top down. And the timetable suggested by Borenstein seems realistic." (Pg. 20) Later, he adds, "So it appears that limited evolution of the genetic code CAN take place, but only in special circumstances. These deviant codes represent merely another instance of microevolutionary change at a biochemical level." (Pg. 68)
However, he states his own belief frankly: "Creationists and intelligent design proponents remain skeptical of evolution at this level [macroevolution]. I include myself among those skeptics. My view is that while organisms can adapt to changing environments and other selective pressures, they cannot evolve in dramatic ways. In other words, a Creator must be responsible for life's origin and history, and biological and biochemical systems show every indication of having been intelligently designed." (Pg. 30)
He points out, "the amount of intellectual effort put forth by Venter's team has been astounding. Each part of the process required careful planning and expert execution of laboratory procedures by highly trained chemists and molecular biologists." (Pg. 45)
Later, he adds, "I find these top-down efforts to modify life and create nonnatural life-forms intriguing. This work provides empirical demonstration that unless intelligent agents are directly involved, life cannot undergo any significant transformation at the biochemical level." (Pg. 63) He reiterates, "only by deliberate effort, inordinate ingenuity, and astonishing skill can synthetic biologists even begin the process of making artificial life... even the simplest life-form cannot arise without the involvement of an intelligent agent." (Pg. 90-91)
He also notes, "While origin-of-life researchers have shown, in principle, that under the right conditions and chemical compositions, atmospheric chemistry can generate biologically interesting compounds... they have failed to demonstrate the geochemical relevance of their findings. Experiments said to model conditions of early Earth actually do not. When more realistic conditions are employed in simulations, experiments fail to provide validation. It appears as if the atmosphere of the early Earth could not have supported the chemistry needed to form prebiotic compounds." (Pg. 129) He summarizes, "if researchers hadn't carefully selected the appropriate chemicals, carefully adjusted the experimental conditions and the concentration of reactants, and precisely stopped the experiment before degradation began, then it is debatable that physiochemical processes could have produced any supply of homochiral building blocks." (Pg. 156)
Not exactly "light summer reading," this book will be extremely for Christians (and others as well, of course) looking for a critical summation of current origin-of-life research.
Fazale Rana has written/cowritten other books such as 'The Cell's Design: How Chemistry Reveals the Creator's Artistry,' 'Who Was Adam?: A Creation Model Approach to the Origin of Man,' 'Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off,' 'What Darwin Didn't Know,' etc.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 2011 book, "The very real prospect of scientists' creating life in the lab... raises all sorts of theological and ethical questions... one can't help but ask, 'Is it right for human beings to play God?'... 'How should we balance the potential benefits of this emerging biotechnology with the real possibility of danger?'
"For many Christian theists, the genesis of novel life-forms by human hands raises other troubling questions... These questions, concerns, and implications have not been lost on atheists and agnostics... These mysteries have motivated my research as a biochemist. They've also motivated me to write this book... I'm convinced ... [that] the successful attempts to modify and even make new life in the lab will compellingly demonstrate that life's origin and transformation could not have happened apart from the work of an intelligent agent." (Pg. 20-21)
He provides a very thorough survey of modern origin-of-life researches. He also admits, "This is not to say that researchers haven't produced self-replicating molecules. They have---just not molecules with any realistic relevance to the origin of life." (Pg. 18) He adds, "it looks as if scientists are genuinely on the verge of creating artificial and synthetic life-forms from both the bottom up and the top down. And the timetable suggested by Borenstein seems realistic." (Pg. 20) Later, he adds, "So it appears that limited evolution of the genetic code CAN take place, but only in special circumstances. These deviant codes represent merely another instance of microevolutionary change at a biochemical level." (Pg. 68)
However, he states his own belief frankly: "Creationists and intelligent design proponents remain skeptical of evolution at this level [macroevolution]. I include myself among those skeptics. My view is that while organisms can adapt to changing environments and other selective pressures, they cannot evolve in dramatic ways. In other words, a Creator must be responsible for life's origin and history, and biological and biochemical systems show every indication of having been intelligently designed." (Pg. 30)
He points out, "the amount of intellectual effort put forth by Venter's team has been astounding. Each part of the process required careful planning and expert execution of laboratory procedures by highly trained chemists and molecular biologists." (Pg. 45)
Later, he adds, "I find these top-down efforts to modify life and create nonnatural life-forms intriguing. This work provides empirical demonstration that unless intelligent agents are directly involved, life cannot undergo any significant transformation at the biochemical level." (Pg. 63) He reiterates, "only by deliberate effort, inordinate ingenuity, and astonishing skill can synthetic biologists even begin the process of making artificial life... even the simplest life-form cannot arise without the involvement of an intelligent agent." (Pg. 90-91)
He also notes, "While origin-of-life researchers have shown, in principle, that under the right conditions and chemical compositions, atmospheric chemistry can generate biologically interesting compounds... they have failed to demonstrate the geochemical relevance of their findings. Experiments said to model conditions of early Earth actually do not. When more realistic conditions are employed in simulations, experiments fail to provide validation. It appears as if the atmosphere of the early Earth could not have supported the chemistry needed to form prebiotic compounds." (Pg. 129) He summarizes, "if researchers hadn't carefully selected the appropriate chemicals, carefully adjusted the experimental conditions and the concentration of reactants, and precisely stopped the experiment before degradation began, then it is debatable that physiochemical processes could have produced any supply of homochiral building blocks." (Pg. 156)
Not exactly "light summer reading," this book will be extremely for Christians (and others as well, of course) looking for a critical summation of current origin-of-life research.
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