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Synthesizing Life in the Laboratory: Why is it not Happening?

Laboratory abiogenesis is one of the ultimate goals of experimental biology. The most formidable barrier to create living matter in the laboratory is not the complexity of the cell, rather the absolute requirement for non-equilibrium steady state for all chemical reactions. Current synthetic biology technologies cannot yet produce cells, which harbor chemical systems in non-equilibrium steady-states.

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A Chemist's Perspective of the Yellowstone Petrified “Forests"

The Yellowstone "fossil forest" has many layers of volcanic ash. Trace element analysis of these layers reveals they derive from about four volcanic sources, and the layers from different sources are interlaced, implying contemporaneous eruptions of the different sources. Published in Origins n. 65.

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Stability of Organic Molecules: Lessons from Vitamin C

The stability of organic (carbon-based) molecules is an interesting and challenging topic as there are many different types of functional groups, molecular configurations, and molecular collisions to consider. Research on the stability of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) and other vitamins demonstrates which factors to consider when it comes to the preservation of carbon-based molecules. Ascorbic acid…

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The Exceptional Properties of Water

There is one small molecule that makes our world unique and special. What is it? Water! Sure, other planets and moons in our solar system may have (or had) water and even more than Earth, but it is rare to find liquid water on the surface of a planet.

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Where Did Life Come From?

Among those who reject the Biblical record of God’s action in creating everything, including all living things, the process of chemical evolution from atoms to the first cell is usually explained something like this: elements reacted with each other spontaneously forming simple molecules. These simple molecules continued to react forming larger and more complex molecules such as the nucleotide building…

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The Wonder of Water: A Challenge to Evolution?

Truly, in our planet, life is everywhere. And without water, this profusion of life would not be possible. In the battle over origins, Darwinism cannot offer a convincing explanation when advocating for the random emergence of life and matter, including water.

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Irreducible Interdependence: An IC-Like Ecological Property Potentially Illustrated by the Nitrogen Cycle

Reactions comprising the nitrogen cycle are catalyzed by complex protein machines, some of which may be Irreducibly Complex (IC). Published in Origins n. 60.

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Integrating Science and Scripture: The Case of Robert Boyle

Science and Scripture are built, according to Boyle, on the same epistemological features of revelation, reason, and experience but with different relative contributions from each.

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Habitat Responsibility: Teaching Stewardship through Chemistry

It must be emphasized that Chemistry, like any other area of scientific knowledge, is neither good nor bad, but like everything else that was marred by the entrance of sin, man's ability to manipulate his environment has led to misuse. Instead of giving in to technicism, where technology sets the agenda for life on planet Earth, the ethics of the Bible should be the basis on which we make decisions on the value of life and on the conduct of life.

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