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Life. Abiogenesis. Scientific hypotheses about the origins of life can be divided into a number of categories. Many approaches investigate how self-replicating molecules or their components came into existence. On the assumption that life originated spontaneously on Earth, the Miller–Urey experiment and similar experiments demonstrated that most amino acids, often called "the building blocks of life", can be racemically synthesized in conditions which were intended to be similar to those of the early Earth. Several mechanisms have been investigated, including lightning and radiation. Other approaches ("metabolism first" hypotheses) focus on understanding how catalysis in chemical systems in the early Earth might have provided the precursor molecules necessary for self-replication. Early conditions[edit] The Hadean Earth is thought to have had a secondary atmosphere, formed through degassing of the rocks that accumulated from planetesimal impactors.

The earliest life on Earth[edit] Current models[edit] A Tempting Science. In middle school, we learned that scientists accept conclusions when they are supported by evidence. Were it only so simple. Take Richard Hoover. Working at NASA in Alabama, Hoover sliced up a piece of a Murchison “carbonaceous chondrites”, a meteorite rich in tarry, carbon-rich material. Looking at the slices with an electron microscope, he saw features in the carbon-rich material that looked like bacteria and fungi. These pictures were certainly evidence. Compare for yourself the images from the chondrites with electron micrographs of Earth bacteria and fungi. Which is the Earthling? Both have filaments. Let that sink in for a moment. Hoover rejected the hypothesis that he was seeing bacteria from Earth that infected the rock after it had landed on Earth.

This is Star Trek stuff. But his conclusion was not accepted by many in the community of people who call themselves “astrobiologists”. Everyone would agree that this reasoning is not acceptable in science. No. Awwww. Jesus in a pizza? What is Synthetic Biology? « A Tempting Science. Many languages have words and phrases, called contranyms, that have two nearly opposite meanings. For example, a “citation” from Harvard University is good, but a “citation” from the Harvard University police is bad.

If you run “fast”, you are moving at great speed; if you hold “fast”, you are not moving at all. “Synthetic biology” is a contranym. In a version popular today in some engineering communities, “synthetic biology” seeks to use natural parts of biological systems (like DNA fragments or protein “biobricks”) to create assemblies that do things that are not done by natural biology (such as digital computation or specialty chemical manufacture). Here, engineers hope that the performance of the molecular parts drawn from living systems can be standardized, allowing them to be mixed and matched to give predictable outcomes, just as an electrical engineer can assemble standardized transistors to give integrated circuits with predictable performance.

Ulmer’s 1983 vision failed.

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Worms on special diet make fluorescent silk. Seil Collins, reporter (Image: Dr Natalia C. Tansil) A special diet is all it takes to make a silkworms produce fluorescent silk of a particular hue. After feasting on a mixture of mulberries and fluorescent dye, the worm pictured above produced threads of bright pink silk. According to researchers at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) in Singapore, the process is "simple and cheap enough to be translated to an industrial scale". Aside from environmental advantages, the technique could also have medical applications. Genetics. Baraminology—Classification of Created Organisms.

Copyright © 2000 by Creation Research Society. All rights reserved. Wayne Frair, Ph.D CRSQ Vol 37 No 2 pp82-91 September 2000 Invited Paper Abstract For decades creationists have been using the word “kind,” “type,” or “group” for their envisioned categories of genetically unrelated organisms including all those formed by the Creator during Creation Week. Introduction Basic human attributes include classification and identification. Interestingly, the Bible includes an account of God’s bringing to Adam all the terrestrial animals and birds (Genesis 2:19) so that Adam could observe and name them.

In addition, Adam would learn something about God—the Designer. Taxonomy and Systematics Pondering these matters makes it easier for us to realize the basic importance of classification in biological studies of extinct and extant forms of life. However, there are different approaches used by scientists for studying patterns of life and for classification. Discontinuity Systematics and Baraminology.