We're back on the journey of Evolution Impossible; 00:00:36.60\00:00:39.23 an exciting journey where we are exploring 00:00:39.27\00:00:41.80 whether one of the biggest theories about the 00:00:42.00\00:00:43.91 origin of life is even possible. 00:00:43.94\00:00:45.91 I'm Dr. Sven string, and I'm glad you can join us once again. 00:00:46.24\00:00:49.58 Together with me today in the studio is Melvin Sandelin. 00:00:49.61\00:00:52.95 ~ Good to have you. - Pleasure. 00:00:52.98\00:00:54.32 Tim Turner. Great to have you back with us. 00:00:54.35\00:00:56.35 And of course, Blair Lemke, representing the young adults. 00:00:56.65\00:00:58.99 Good to have you with us as well. 00:00:59.02\00:01:00.36 And of course, Dr. John Ashton. 00:01:00.39\00:01:02.72 It's good to have you back in the studio. 00:01:03.26\00:01:06.03 And you know, isn't it amazing to have an expert 00:01:06.06\00:01:08.13 like Dr. Ashton with us as we go on this journey together. 00:01:08.16\00:01:12.77 You know, today we're talking about one of the most important 00:01:13.27\00:01:16.30 components of Darwin's theory of evolution: random mutations. 00:01:16.34\00:01:21.48 And I must admit that every time I hear the word, "mutations," 00:01:21.78\00:01:24.15 I immediately think, mutants, 00:01:24.18\00:01:26.25 and the picture of those turtles with headbands 00:01:26.28\00:01:28.45 who can fight with swords. 00:01:28.48\00:01:29.82 What was their name again? 00:01:29.85\00:01:31.19 - Teenage mutant ninja turtles. ~ That's it, guys. 00:01:31.22\00:01:33.29 You know, but seriously. 00:01:33.52\00:01:35.09 You know, the fact is that Darwin believed that we all 00:01:35.49\00:01:38.53 evolved through a series of genetic mutations. 00:01:38.56\00:01:41.66 We're all mutants of a common ancestor. 00:01:41.90\00:01:45.17 But tell us, John, what are genetic mutations, 00:01:45.50\00:01:48.87 and how do they come about? 00:01:48.90\00:01:50.97 Well, yes, they're where we get changes to the 00:01:51.77\00:01:55.34 genetic code, DNA, that are caused by some sort of 00:01:55.38\00:01:59.11 extraneous chemical reaction usually. 00:01:59.15\00:02:01.78 But one of the things, as I've looked at the introduction 00:02:02.18\00:02:05.55 there of those amazing creatures, 00:02:05.59\00:02:08.02 those tall forest trees, the hummingbird, and the butterfly, 00:02:08.06\00:02:13.50 all those different structures, according to the theory of 00:02:13.53\00:02:18.23 evolution, arose by chance in a code. 00:02:18.27\00:02:22.30 And one of the important things is that the code 00:02:22.34\00:02:24.77 looks nothing like the creature. 00:02:24.81\00:02:27.54 So for example, if we write the word, "apple," we write, 00:02:27.58\00:02:33.05 a- p-p-l-e, or if it's in French, maybe, p-o-m-m-e. 00:02:33.08\00:02:37.19 But that code and those letters don't look anything 00:02:37.49\00:02:40.79 like an apple. 00:02:40.82\00:02:42.16 But to us they represent an apple because our mind 00:02:42.19\00:02:45.86 reads that code and we interpret that as an apple, 00:02:45.89\00:02:48.26 and may even visualize that in our mind. 00:02:48.30\00:02:50.27 So the important thing to recognize is that the code 00:02:50.80\00:02:54.64 for all those amazing structures that we saw; 00:02:54.67\00:02:58.01 the tree, the birds, the butterfly, the flowers, 00:02:58.04\00:03:01.84 the plants, beetles, insects, all these things, 00:03:01.88\00:03:05.18 the codes to make those complete organisms 00:03:05.38\00:03:08.98 are represented by a code that looks nothing like them. 00:03:09.18\00:03:11.92 And I think one of the fallacies that people adopt 00:03:12.52\00:03:16.83 or misconceptions that people adopt is that 00:03:16.86\00:03:19.03 some sort of physical change, like there might be a drought, 00:03:19.06\00:03:22.86 and therefore a fish that was able to somehow 00:03:22.90\00:03:27.84 pull itself across to the next pond had stronger limbs and 00:03:27.87\00:03:31.54 over time evolved sort of a shoulder blade and arm system. 00:03:31.74\00:03:36.64 And that's how fish slowly evolved into amphibians. 00:03:36.68\00:03:39.78 This sort of scenario that's painted by some evolutionists. 00:03:39.81\00:03:42.75 We need to understand that the code is totally unrelated 00:03:43.15\00:03:46.82 to the physical environment 00:03:46.86\00:03:48.32 and is formed by total random mutations. 00:03:48.46\00:03:51.89 So it's sort of like if we take the word, "fin," 00:03:51.93\00:03:56.36 and we've got to now apply a mutation to it to make it 00:03:57.17\00:04:00.40 into the word, "arm." 00:04:00.44\00:04:02.14 But if look at the word, f- i-n and a-r-m, 00:04:02.70\00:04:08.21 they're totally new letters. 00:04:08.24\00:04:10.38 So those totally new letters have to arise by chance 00:04:10.65\00:04:15.38 in the code. 00:04:15.42\00:04:16.75 But the code doesn't know that it needs those new letters 00:04:16.89\00:04:21.46 because it doesn't know that that is going to 00:04:21.49\00:04:24.69 solve the problem. 00:04:24.73\00:04:26.06 And when we look at the probability of those codes 00:04:26.09\00:04:28.36 arising by chance, as we've already discussed 00:04:28.40\00:04:31.47 in previous programs, it's absolutely impossible, 00:04:31.50\00:04:34.80 you know, the chances of these random mutations. 00:04:34.90\00:04:38.24 The other important aspect is that these mutations 00:04:38.51\00:04:42.14 are pure chemical mutations. 00:04:42.18\00:04:44.61 Because some of my detractors have said at times, 00:04:44.81\00:04:48.65 "Well, yeah, Ashton is a chemist. 00:04:48.68\00:04:50.89 What would he know about this?" 00:04:50.92\00:04:52.39 But what we need to understand is that evolution 00:04:52.49\00:04:55.69 is underpinned by chemical reactions. 00:04:55.72\00:04:58.56 And these are chemical reactions that we call, mutations, 00:04:58.86\00:05:02.63 that can cause changes to the code. 00:05:02.66\00:05:05.67 Now, there are different types of mutations that may 00:05:05.70\00:05:08.94 involve, for example, replication of parts 00:05:08.97\00:05:12.07 of the code, or deletions of parts of the code, 00:05:12.11\00:05:16.14 these sort of things. 00:05:16.34\00:05:17.71 But if we're going to produce totally new information, 00:05:18.01\00:05:21.02 we have to actually produce totally new code. 00:05:21.05\00:05:24.32 And then that code has to work. 00:05:24.72\00:05:26.05 So you've got your DNA, you have got this string of letters, 00:05:26.09\00:05:29.16 A, C,T, G, and on it goes, and so the mutations 00:05:29.19\00:05:33.86 are where you kind of switch letters, 00:05:33.90\00:05:36.20 or combinations of letters, or whole words, shall I say. 00:05:36.30\00:05:40.47 Is that what is happening with mutations? 00:05:40.50\00:05:42.44 Is that correct? 00:05:42.47\00:05:43.81 Well, you can get that type of mutation that occurs. 00:05:43.84\00:05:47.28 And there are many different types of mutations. 00:05:47.31\00:05:49.64 So evolution talks about... 00:05:49.68\00:05:52.11 Well, textbooks talk about evolution occurring. 00:05:52.15\00:05:54.48 The most common examples that are listed in textbooks 00:05:54.52\00:05:59.75 on evolution are where pieces of code are being deleted. 00:05:59.79\00:06:03.96 Some become damaged, and therefore, 00:06:05.06\00:06:10.23 they're not operable in any way. 00:06:10.33\00:06:12.93 And so they no longer function within that organism. 00:06:12.97\00:06:16.24 And so, for example, Darwin's wingless beetles. 00:06:16.27\00:06:19.51 So the codes to produce perfectly the wing, 00:06:19.54\00:06:21.88 part of that code became damaged. 00:06:21.91\00:06:23.51 The wings didn't form, you know, properly. 00:06:23.55\00:06:26.45 Or it may be deletion for a pigment, or something like that. 00:06:26.48\00:06:30.09 So the mutations which are damaged, 00:06:30.19\00:06:32.45 or the DNA which is damaged, is that what the geneticists 00:06:32.49\00:06:37.46 would say is junk DNA? 00:06:37.49\00:06:39.56 - Is that where... - Oh no, no, no, no. 00:06:40.03\00:06:41.90 The junk DNA is DNA that they didn't really understand 00:06:41.93\00:06:46.00 how it played a part in producing the organism 00:06:46.40\00:06:49.94 in terms of genes. 00:06:49.97\00:06:51.31 So the so called junk DNA is really other codes 00:06:51.34\00:06:55.64 that they couldn't relate to any particular function 00:06:55.68\00:06:58.01 or structure at the time. 00:06:58.05\00:06:59.38 But we now know it's associated with switching on and off 00:06:59.41\00:07:02.42 particular genes that can be affected 00:07:02.45\00:07:06.12 by environmental pressures. 00:07:06.15\00:07:07.49 So one of the things that we have is, 00:07:07.52\00:07:09.66 we have these pieces of code, but we also have pieces of code 00:07:09.69\00:07:12.86 that switch on pieces of code. 00:07:12.89\00:07:15.10 And so, there's a lot of dormant code that is sitting 00:07:15.40\00:07:18.63 in DNA that has potential to be switched on. 00:07:18.67\00:07:22.34 And of course, this fits the biblical position of creation, 00:07:22.37\00:07:26.14 that when God originally created all the different kinds, 00:07:26.17\00:07:28.91 and the kinds are simply species that can interbreed in some way, 00:07:28.94\00:07:33.62 there was a huge amount of genetic diversity. 00:07:33.82\00:07:36.45 And part of this genetic diversity would have been 00:07:36.48\00:07:38.49 codes that weren't even switched on yet, 00:07:38.52\00:07:40.62 but later had the potential to be switched on. 00:07:40.96\00:07:43.12 And they can be switched on by simple environmental pressures, 00:07:43.16\00:07:46.70 just physical pressure or stress within the body. 00:07:46.73\00:07:50.33 Changes in blood pressure and these sort of things 00:07:51.20\00:07:53.40 can trigger the switching on and off of genes. 00:07:53.44\00:07:57.64 As can particular chemicals in the environment 00:07:57.67\00:08:00.41 and environmental pressures. 00:08:00.44\00:08:01.78 So it's a very complex system, 00:08:01.81\00:08:03.38 and the environment plays a part. 00:08:03.41\00:08:04.95 But all these systems use pre-existing code. 00:08:05.31\00:08:08.62 And that's an important point. 00:08:09.28\00:08:11.35 But certainly, gene deletion is a common mutation 00:08:11.39\00:08:16.29 generally responsible for disease. 00:08:16.32\00:08:18.39 ~ Right, right. - Yeah. 00:08:18.43\00:08:19.86 Yeah, as you said, incredibly complex. 00:08:20.03\00:08:22.40 And I just wanted to check before we go on, 00:08:22.43\00:08:24.83 did you have any questions on what John has described 00:08:25.07\00:08:29.00 in terms of genetics and mutations? 00:08:29.04\00:08:31.37 Yeah, I was curious, you mentioned that all the genetic 00:08:31.41\00:08:34.01 information is pre-existing genetic information. 00:08:34.04\00:08:37.28 Is that to say that there has not been observed 00:08:38.01\00:08:40.98 the creation of new genetic information? 00:08:41.02\00:08:43.52 ~ Exactly. 00:08:44.15\00:08:45.49 Now I guess, to get back to the mutation thing, 00:08:45.52\00:08:49.12 we can have mutations where part of the code is damaged, 00:08:49.16\00:08:52.49 and therefore doesn't work anymore. 00:08:52.53\00:08:53.86 It's very common. 00:08:53.90\00:08:55.23 We can also have duplication of little pieces of code 00:08:55.26\00:08:59.43 in another place. 00:08:59.47\00:09:00.80 And that is typical of, say, you might have people born 00:09:00.84\00:09:03.44 with an extra finger, or something like that. 00:09:03.47\00:09:05.77 And so, you can get different combinations 00:09:06.01\00:09:08.24 of pre-existing code being duplicated. 00:09:08.28\00:09:10.88 And that can have, you know, sometimes a beneficial effect 00:09:10.91\00:09:15.02 within the organism, but still the same type of organism. 00:09:15.05\00:09:17.89 Or you can have transfer of genes 00:09:18.22\00:09:20.96 from one organism to another. 00:09:20.99\00:09:22.96 So you can have genetic transfers. 00:09:23.16\00:09:24.69 So, for example, it's widely believed that the top ten 00:09:24.73\00:09:28.96 food poisoning bacteria that the food industry 00:09:29.00\00:09:32.87 has to worry about these days evolved since 1970. 00:09:32.90\00:09:36.77 And they have evolved where genes to produce a toxin 00:09:36.81\00:09:40.78 that was present in a bacteria that would not survive 00:09:40.81\00:09:43.55 in us because it didn't have acid resistant genes, 00:09:43.58\00:09:46.11 it didn't have adherence genes, 00:09:46.15\00:09:47.95 and so it couldn't survive in us, so it wasn't a problem, 00:09:47.98\00:09:50.69 was transferred to some organism, some particular 00:09:50.89\00:09:53.86 bacteria, for example, that did survive in us, 00:09:53.89\00:09:56.62 but it didn't have any toxins, so it wasn't a problem. 00:09:56.73\00:09:59.23 And so, you can have a little prior, a little piece of 00:09:59.49\00:10:02.33 genetic material that can transfer 00:10:02.43\00:10:04.53 across under conditions. 00:10:04.57\00:10:05.93 So that's pre-existing code for a toxin. 00:10:05.97\00:10:09.54 Then we need to... 00:10:09.57\00:10:11.04 A harmless bacteria now becomes toxic and it can survive in us. 00:10:11.07\00:10:14.98 And so, that's gene transfer. 00:10:15.54\00:10:17.55 But in all those cases, it's pre-existing code. 00:10:17.58\00:10:21.58 The big issue is, how does a new body part form? 00:10:22.05\00:10:26.45 That requires totally new code. 00:10:27.09\00:10:30.06 Just like the word, "arm," a- r-m, is totally different 00:10:30.26\00:10:34.93 code to f-i-n. 00:10:34.96\00:10:36.83 And it's very complex, the codes that are required. 00:10:37.13\00:10:40.74 Yeah, I just wanted to ask a question that immediately 00:10:40.77\00:10:43.20 pops up when you say that. 00:10:43.24\00:10:45.61 What does the theory then say, where does this 00:10:45.71\00:10:48.74 new information come from? 00:10:48.78\00:10:50.11 What is their reasoning of, this is where it came from? 00:10:50.15\00:10:55.98 Right. That's one of the major research questions. 00:10:56.02\00:10:59.15 That's what the government is funding. 00:10:59.52\00:11:00.99 Lots of research in this area to try and understand 00:11:01.02\00:11:04.39 how mutations can produce new code. 00:11:04.59\00:11:08.10 No one knows. There's no mechanism for that. 00:11:08.13\00:11:10.60 And this is a very, very important point to understand: 00:11:10.80\00:11:13.97 that people claim that evolution is a fact, 00:11:14.17\00:11:16.84 but there's actually no known scientific mechanism 00:11:16.87\00:11:20.68 to explain how the complex codes required to form a 00:11:20.71\00:11:25.35 new viable body part can form by chance. 00:11:25.38\00:11:28.78 No known mechanism. 00:11:29.22\00:11:30.89 And you can go on, for example, top websites like 00:11:30.92\00:11:33.39 the University of California, Berkeley, 00:11:33.66\00:11:35.72 go onto their evolution website and just google, 00:11:35.76\00:11:38.69 "big issues in evolution." 00:11:38.73\00:11:40.16 That will come up as one of them. 00:11:40.20\00:11:42.03 Scientists are trying to work out how the code 00:11:42.06\00:11:44.93 for new body parts can form. 00:11:44.97\00:11:46.80 And when we look at our biochemistry that we know today, 00:11:46.84\00:11:49.94 it's absolutely impossible, statistically, for that to form. 00:11:50.04\00:11:54.81 So this is a major stumbling block, 00:11:54.84\00:11:57.01 actually, for accepting the theory of evolution. 00:11:57.05\00:12:00.38 And they've done experiments, of course, 00:12:00.48\00:12:02.02 to try and elucidate this. 00:12:02.05\00:12:04.15 And Tim, what about yourself? 00:12:04.62\00:12:05.95 Do you have any questions for the doctor? 00:12:05.99\00:12:07.32 I was looking at Lenski's experiment with E. coli. 00:12:07.36\00:12:11.36 And you mentioned in your book that for E. coli to become a 00:12:12.33\00:12:15.40 different organism, so for example, yeast, 00:12:15.43\00:12:17.77 it's going to have to multiply a whole bunch of different genes. 00:12:17.80\00:12:20.44 And so I was wondering, well, how complex are the genes? 00:12:20.64\00:12:23.00 But also, if those genes weren't to be expressed, 00:12:23.04\00:12:26.94 could an E. coli just copy and copy genes until it 00:12:26.98\00:12:30.55 had about 6000 genes, until something got switched on and 00:12:30.58\00:12:33.98 sort of changed it? 00:12:34.02\00:12:35.35 Or is that impossible? 00:12:35.38\00:12:36.79 Yes, the issue is that they are totally different genes. 00:12:37.29\00:12:40.42 So just duplicating genes isn't going to do it. 00:12:40.66\00:12:42.72 Just duplicating genetic material. 00:12:42.76\00:12:44.39 So if we go from a bacterium to a yeast, 00:12:44.43\00:12:48.16 for example, we've got a huge amount of, 00:12:48.20\00:12:51.07 you know, increased genetic code. 00:12:51.47\00:12:53.30 Say, E. coli about 4.5 million bases 00:12:53.34\00:12:59.07 to about 7.5 million bases, no, about 12 million bases 00:12:59.31\00:13:04.31 in a yeast. 00:13:04.35\00:13:05.68 So we've got another 7.5 million bases that have got to form. 00:13:05.71\00:13:09.92 So it's 7.5 million letters of code. 00:13:09.95\00:13:12.19 That's an enormous amount of code. 00:13:12.22\00:13:14.42 And what we've got in yeast, we've got organisms that 00:13:14.46\00:13:17.06 can have, you know, sexual reproduction. 00:13:17.09\00:13:19.76 They've got a nucleus, where bacteria doesn't have a nucleus. 00:13:20.46\00:13:23.10 There's a whole lot of different biochemistry, 00:13:23.40\00:13:26.40 biochemical machines involved. 00:13:26.43\00:13:28.57 And that requires totally new code to make those machines. 00:13:28.67\00:13:31.97 You just can't duplicate existing code. 00:13:32.01\00:13:34.14 Or the probability of existing code being duplicated 00:13:34.18\00:13:37.38 in such a way that it can produce that meaningful code 00:13:37.41\00:13:40.58 is statistically impossible. 00:13:40.78\00:13:43.89 Absolutely impossible. 00:13:44.09\00:13:45.55 And I'll use that word, "absolutely," 00:13:45.59\00:13:46.92 in its absolute sense. 00:13:46.96\00:13:48.29 It's absolutely impossible. 00:13:48.32\00:13:49.66 So in your book, you talk about three different 00:13:49.69\00:13:51.86 types of evolution; 00:13:51.89\00:13:53.23 type one, type two, type three, 00:13:53.50\00:13:55.63 and how it relates to mutation. 00:13:55.73\00:13:58.47 So maybe if you could just walk through that with us 00:13:58.50\00:14:01.37 just so we get a clear picture of what those 00:14:01.40\00:14:03.07 different types are. 00:14:03.10\00:14:04.44 Yes, so type one evolution mentioned is the common 00:14:04.47\00:14:08.11 evolution referred to in the book where you have 00:14:08.14\00:14:10.65 deletion of information. 00:14:10.68\00:14:12.75 And that's very common. 00:14:12.88\00:14:14.22 ~ That's the first type, yes? - Yes, that's the first type. 00:14:14.25\00:14:15.68 So the second type is where you have, for example, 00:14:15.72\00:14:19.05 transfer of existing code to a new organism 00:14:19.09\00:14:23.59 or duplication of existing code. 00:14:23.63\00:14:25.99 That type is... 00:14:26.03\00:14:27.36 But type three evolution is where you have a completely 00:14:27.40\00:14:30.97 new type of code form that produces a new body part. 00:14:31.00\00:14:35.00 And that's never been observed. 00:14:35.04\00:14:36.94 No one has observed the evolution of a 00:14:37.04\00:14:40.31 new type of animal. 00:14:40.34\00:14:41.68 Now people argue, okay, you can have a definition 00:14:41.71\00:14:44.01 of a new type of species, but then we get into, you know, 00:14:44.05\00:14:46.25 what is a new type of species? 00:14:46.28\00:14:48.18 So I prefer to say, a new type of body part. 00:14:48.22\00:14:50.79 And it's fascinating that in some of the recent research 00:14:51.15\00:14:54.46 papers that are coming out now there in reading publications, 00:14:54.49\00:14:58.56 we find them talking about, nature somehow learned 00:14:58.59\00:15:03.30 how to make this new type of organism 00:15:03.33\00:15:06.23 or make this new type of connection. 00:15:06.27\00:15:08.74 So it's a real personification of nature in many ways. 00:15:08.77\00:15:11.81 Yes, yes, yes. 00:15:11.84\00:15:13.17 And I think the reason is that they recognize that these 00:15:13.21\00:15:16.78 codes, well they're huge codes. 00:15:16.81\00:15:20.18 And as I've said, they look nothing like the structures. 00:15:20.22\00:15:22.65 But what we're observing in nature is these, 00:15:22.75\00:15:26.39 like you saw in your hummingbird, you've got this 00:15:26.42\00:15:28.69 creature that can perform all these amazing feats that 00:15:28.72\00:15:31.89 has so many different body parts in it to achieve that. 00:15:32.19\00:15:35.56 And human biochemistry, when we look at, you know, 00:15:35.60\00:15:38.50 biochemistry textbooks are typically this think. 00:15:38.80\00:15:42.04 You know, explaining all the biochemical reactions 00:15:42.24\00:15:44.94 for the amazing biochemistry taking on in us. 00:15:44.97\00:15:48.08 But when we look at just little simple, like cells in plants and 00:15:48.11\00:15:51.75 this sort of thing, they have amazing biochemistry as well. 00:15:51.78\00:15:54.28 We've got molecular machines like photosystem two 00:15:54.32\00:15:57.72 that actually is a system that takes light photons 00:15:57.99\00:16:03.46 and concentrates it and splits water into hydrogen, 00:16:03.66\00:16:09.56 active hydrogen, and oxygen. 00:16:09.60\00:16:11.47 The oxygen is released and that active hydrogen 00:16:11.50\00:16:14.70 is combined with carbon dioxide that the plant has absorbed 00:16:14.74\00:16:17.71 to produce sugars and starches and cellulose; the food. 00:16:17.74\00:16:21.74 So we have... 00:16:21.78\00:16:23.11 And really, this structure of photosystem two that uses 00:16:23.14\00:16:26.21 unique elements like manganese, and so forth, has only 00:16:26.25\00:16:30.45 recently been structures, a little molecular machine, 00:16:30.49\00:16:33.72 and we still don't know how the water molecules are combined. 00:16:34.06\00:16:37.36 Because what happens is the machine holds two water 00:16:37.39\00:16:40.60 molecules and then zaps it with the energy from four photons 00:16:40.63\00:16:44.73 that it collected through the green chlorophyll. 00:16:44.77\00:16:50.24 ~ No, five, not three, but four. - Yeah. 00:16:50.27\00:16:52.54 And again, it has just the right energy to split the water 00:16:52.57\00:16:57.11 into hydrogen and oxygen, and the oxygen comes out. 00:16:57.21\00:17:00.78 And when we think about it, we think of a plant or leaf, 00:17:00.88\00:17:03.52 we just pick it and mow it with our lawn mower, 00:17:03.55\00:17:06.55 and this sort of thing, all this amazing biochemistry 00:17:06.59\00:17:09.09 is going on in there at that time. 00:17:09.12\00:17:11.09 And those machines are just a powerful evidence 00:17:11.66\00:17:16.56 of a unique designer. 00:17:16.60\00:17:17.93 We've got top electrical engineers in the world, 00:17:17.97\00:17:19.87 you're an electrical engineer, and we haven't designed 00:17:19.90\00:17:24.44 anything that cool. 00:17:24.47\00:17:25.81 And what's more is that it is self-reproducing as well. 00:17:25.84\00:17:29.38 We don't have self-reproducing solar panels on our roof, 00:17:29.41\00:17:33.15 you know, that we can harness the electricity from. 00:17:33.35\00:17:35.22 You know, we've got to have them made in factories and so forth. 00:17:35.25\00:17:38.05 And that's the result of lots of engineers. 00:17:38.09\00:17:40.32 And yet, we are expecting that random mutations 00:17:40.42\00:17:43.46 produced a code written using the letters, 00:17:43.66\00:17:47.16 well, the chemicals represented by the letters A, C, T, and G, 00:17:47.20\00:17:50.83 that can produce a machine like that. 00:17:50.87\00:17:52.70 Or the bacterial flagellum, you know, this little mini 00:17:52.97\00:17:56.97 projector sort of thing. 00:17:57.01\00:17:58.34 ~ You're making me feel very humble here as an engineer. 00:17:58.37\00:18:00.24 It's an amazing gene. 00:18:01.41\00:18:02.74 But you know, the question is this: 00:18:02.78\00:18:04.85 We have observed living organisms undergo mutations. 00:18:04.88\00:18:11.12 So the bacteria, E. coli, we have observed it. 00:18:11.65\00:18:18.13 So my question is, as we've seen them mutating, 00:18:18.16\00:18:21.76 what has happened? 00:18:21.86\00:18:23.20 I mean, how many mutations have we gone through? 00:18:23.23\00:18:25.53 What has happened to those bacteria? 00:18:25.57\00:18:28.04 Right, yes, well earlier on you mentioned the Richard Lenski 00:18:28.80\00:18:32.17 experiment, and Dr. Richard Lenski is a researcher at 00:18:32.21\00:18:35.98 I think it's at Michigan State University, from memory. 00:18:37.05\00:18:40.22 And essentially, his experiment involved taking 00:18:40.25\00:18:43.35 twelve groups of E. coli bacteria, twelve populations 00:18:43.55\00:18:47.96 of E. coli bacteria, and breeding them through 00:18:47.99\00:18:50.46 lots and lots of cycles. 00:18:50.49\00:18:52.49 And the idea was to attempt to observe 00:18:53.06\00:18:56.46 what types of evolution took place. 00:18:56.97\00:18:59.37 And nothing much happened for a while, but I think 00:18:59.93\00:19:01.90 up around about 30,000 generations a couple of 00:19:01.94\00:19:06.14 the groups began to flourish 00:19:06.17\00:19:08.68 and reproduce more quickly than the other groups. 00:19:09.64\00:19:11.78 And they found that those groups could use the chemical citrate, 00:19:11.81\00:19:16.45 which was being used as a buffer in the selection. 00:19:16.65\00:19:19.59 Now what happened was, in the wild E. coli can use citrate, 00:19:19.62\00:19:23.56 but they had selected four E. coli that could not use 00:19:23.59\00:19:27.13 citrate so they could use the citrate buffer system 00:19:27.16\00:19:29.40 in their experiment. 00:19:29.43\00:19:30.77 And so, Richard Dawkins, I think in his book, Evolution; 00:19:31.47\00:19:35.14 The Greatest Show On Earth, uses this example of, 00:19:35.17\00:19:37.67 "Ah, the example of new code forming." 00:19:37.71\00:19:40.14 Matter of fact, I think as I read the book, that was the 00:19:40.41\00:19:42.58 only example that he could give of new code being observed. 00:19:42.61\00:19:47.15 But when they researched this down, what had simply happened 00:19:47.38\00:19:51.02 was that a promoter gene had been duplicated to be 00:19:51.05\00:19:56.76 next to a dormant citrate transfer gene. 00:19:56.79\00:20:00.73 And this was a gene that produced the right proteins 00:20:01.20\00:20:03.83 that allowed citrate to be transferred through the 00:20:03.87\00:20:07.87 cell wall, and therefore the bacterium to use citrate 00:20:07.90\00:20:11.21 as a food. 00:20:11.24\00:20:12.57 And so, that code was already there, but it was dormant. 00:20:12.71\00:20:16.24 And there was a mutation that allowed the promoter gene 00:20:16.98\00:20:21.05 that was a switch on gene, so it now switched it on, 00:20:21.08\00:20:24.05 so they can now use the code. 00:20:24.09\00:20:25.52 Now they've bred those through to 60,000 generations now, 00:20:25.55\00:20:30.13 and the rate of mutation is that essentially 00:20:30.26\00:20:33.23 the probability of a mutation in every part of the code 00:20:33.33\00:20:36.63 was possible during that time. 00:20:36.67\00:20:38.37 ~ And of course, Darwin... - But no new species occurred. 00:20:38.47\00:20:41.10 So Darwin was thinking after 1000 generations, 00:20:41.14\00:20:43.87 or maybe 10,000, we'd start to branch and we'd get new 00:20:43.91\00:20:47.18 species, new living organisms. 00:20:47.38\00:20:48.71 - We've had 60,000. - 60,000 with E. coli. 00:20:48.74\00:20:51.45 And in the lab they reproduce about every 00:20:51.48\00:20:54.28 30 minutes, from memory. 00:20:54.48\00:20:55.95 And so, we've had this massive opportunity. 00:20:56.22\00:20:59.42 And at the end of that time, they were still E. coli. 00:20:59.45\00:21:01.52 They hadn't even evolved into a different type of bacteria. 00:21:01.56\00:21:04.86 ~ Incredible. 00:21:04.89\00:21:06.23 And of course, one of the questions is, 00:21:06.26\00:21:07.63 does nature, does our genetic system actually, 00:21:07.66\00:21:10.73 are they prepared for these mutations? 00:21:10.93\00:21:12.53 Is there any anti-evolutionist kind of mechanisms? 00:21:12.57\00:21:15.87 And Blair, did you have any comments or 00:21:15.90\00:21:18.57 thoughts on that topic? 00:21:18.61\00:21:19.94 Yeah, I was reading in your book in chapter 4, 00:21:19.97\00:21:22.61 you talk about, I guess, anti-evolution mechanisms 00:21:22.64\00:21:26.65 that are built into or observable in nature. 00:21:26.68\00:21:29.65 And you gave some examples of these sorts of things 00:21:29.68\00:21:31.72 that are kind of there to preserve the integrity of the 00:21:31.75\00:21:34.16 species and to minimize the possibility of mutations. 00:21:34.19\00:21:37.83 I guess my question is, how do proponents of evolution 00:21:38.19\00:21:44.00 explain these sorts of mechanisms? 00:21:44.03\00:21:46.40 Well, there are the methods of repair 00:21:46.43\00:21:48.90 mechanisms that are there. 00:21:48.94\00:21:50.31 And often in some reproduction systems 00:21:50.51\00:21:53.98 if the mutation goes through and is a really bad mutation, 00:21:54.01\00:21:59.61 then the creature doesn't reproduce; it dies. 00:21:59.65\00:22:01.88 But what they're counting on is that some mutations do survive, 00:22:02.42\00:22:05.62 some mutations do get through the system. 00:22:05.65\00:22:07.96 But what we've observed in all experiments is that 00:22:08.36\00:22:11.29 these mutations generally result in disease. 00:22:11.33\00:22:14.86 Or they may offer a protection in some areas. 00:22:14.90\00:22:20.44 For example, they may give us a protection against 00:22:20.47\00:22:23.27 a certain disease. 00:22:23.30\00:22:24.67 But the down side is, we become more vulnerable 00:22:24.71\00:22:27.21 to something else in just about every case. 00:22:27.24\00:22:29.78 And most mutations end up in disease. 00:22:29.81\00:22:31.85 In case of human diseases, for example, I think the 00:22:31.88\00:22:34.08 John Hopkins library there of possible human mutations 00:22:34.12\00:22:40.42 caused by genetic mutations is over 10,000 00:22:40.46\00:22:43.73 different types of diseases caused by genetic mutations. 00:22:43.83\00:22:47.63 So we don't have improved humans being produced by 00:22:47.66\00:22:51.27 genetic mutations. 00:22:51.30\00:22:53.34 Sorry, go ahead. 00:22:53.44\00:22:55.14 So does that mean that we're coming to some 00:22:55.17\00:22:57.14 sort of extinction, genetically; like us human beings? 00:22:57.17\00:22:59.77 And what would the mutation rate be for people? 00:22:59.81\00:23:02.08 ~ Well, that's right. 00:23:02.48\00:23:03.81 Mitochondrial DNA is accumulating mutations. 00:23:03.85\00:23:06.48 And that is, of course, responsible 00:23:06.51\00:23:07.92 for our energy systems. 00:23:07.95\00:23:09.28 So once that gets really bad, we're going to be closed down. 00:23:09.32\00:23:11.65 But every living organism on this planet, 00:23:11.69\00:23:14.76 mitochondrial DNA is part of the energy system, 00:23:16.02\00:23:18.89 and it's slowly accumulating mutations. 00:23:19.19\00:23:23.93 And when we look at this, this is one of the reasons why 00:23:24.13\00:23:26.67 we know that life on earth can not be millions of years old. 00:23:26.70\00:23:29.50 Because we've measured the rate in which we're accumulating 00:23:29.54\00:23:32.27 mutations, and if we extrapolate backwards, then life on earth 00:23:32.31\00:23:37.11 cannot be more than about 10,000 years, or 100,000 years 00:23:37.15\00:23:40.25 absolute max, mostly likely can not be more than 10,000 years 00:23:40.28\00:23:44.35 because of the rate at which we're accumulating mutations. 00:23:44.39\00:23:47.92 And if it was any older, there would be so many mutations 00:23:47.96\00:23:51.43 that life wouldn't be working. 00:23:51.46\00:23:52.79 Mitochondrial DNA wouldn't be functioning any more. 00:23:52.83\00:23:55.70 So this is powerful absolute evidence 00:23:55.73\00:23:58.53 for the biblical position for a young earth. 00:23:58.83\00:24:01.50 Powerful evidence. 00:24:01.54\00:24:02.87 And that's called, genetic entropy, is that right? 00:24:02.90\00:24:04.57 Yes, a book has been written by John Sanford 00:24:04.61\00:24:06.84 on genetic entropy. 00:24:06.88\00:24:08.48 And so, he's a geneticist that worked at Stanford University 00:24:08.51\00:24:12.75 and did a lot of work in this area. 00:24:12.78\00:24:14.68 But the research in this area is published in the major journals, 00:24:14.72\00:24:17.69 like, Nature, and so forth. 00:24:17.72\00:24:19.15 Yeah, this is not... 00:24:19.19\00:24:20.86 But again, people aren't really being told that. 00:24:20.89\00:24:22.82 So we overall have more mutations in us 00:24:22.86\00:24:26.39 than our parents, and our children will have more 00:24:26.43\00:24:29.03 mutations than we have. 00:24:29.06\00:24:30.77 - So everything is running down. ~ Melvin, you have a question? 00:24:30.80\00:24:32.67 I'm just trying to wrap my head around this, 00:24:32.70\00:24:35.17 what we've been talking about. 00:24:35.20\00:24:36.60 What I get so far is that the theory of evolution 00:24:36.71\00:24:39.67 does not give any explanation for where new 00:24:39.71\00:24:42.71 information would come from. 00:24:42.74\00:24:44.48 Is has never been observed. 00:24:44.85\00:24:46.65 What we do observe is what Blair referenced to, 00:24:46.75\00:24:50.15 like anti-evolution mechanisms that prevent 00:24:50.19\00:24:53.66 or that keep the integrity, as you said it good, 00:24:53.76\00:24:56.26 integrity of the species. 00:24:56.29\00:24:57.96 That has been observed. 00:24:58.19\00:24:59.63 How does that not defy, you know, just science itself? 00:25:00.43\00:25:04.63 Like, the whole theory. 00:25:04.67\00:25:06.37 Why is it still... It's so upside down. 00:25:06.40\00:25:09.30 For my understanding it's upside down. 00:25:09.34\00:25:11.04 I think that's why at last, as I said, a thousand scientists 00:25:11.07\00:25:15.64 have come out and signed this, DissentFromDarwin.org 00:25:15.68\00:25:22.58 website and put their names up. 00:25:23.28\00:25:25.59 The evidence is overwhelming, it's impossible. 00:25:26.86\00:25:28.99 But one of the things is, a number of scientists that 00:25:29.22\00:25:31.09 think, "Well, we do see evolution," 00:25:31.13\00:25:32.86 what they're not recognizing is that it's evolution 00:25:32.89\00:25:35.40 that involves pre-existing genetic code, or the deletion 00:25:35.43\00:25:39.43 of pre-existing genetic code. 00:25:39.47\00:25:41.24 What they're not getting across to the students is, 00:25:41.60\00:25:44.31 hang on, we're not actually seeing the type of evolution 00:25:44.34\00:25:47.54 that produces new code. 00:25:47.58\00:25:49.31 And that's the evolution, type of evolution that 00:25:49.34\00:25:51.98 Darwin was talking about. 00:25:52.01\00:25:53.48 So Darwinian evolution hasn't been observed. 00:25:53.78\00:25:56.58 But it's this confusion, it's this semantics 00:25:56.69\00:25:58.89 that's used to confuse students. 00:25:58.92\00:26:01.02 And they just keep on pushing it and making these assertions. 00:26:01.06\00:26:04.36 But no, we have no scientific evidence 00:26:04.66\00:26:08.13 for Darwinian evolution occurring. 00:26:08.40\00:26:11.67 It hasn't been observed. 00:26:11.70\00:26:13.30 There's no know molecular mechanism 00:26:13.34\00:26:15.40 for it to have occurred or produce the evolution 00:26:15.44\00:26:17.47 for a new body part. 00:26:17.51\00:26:18.84 I think what you say is what I notice too. 00:26:18.87\00:26:20.64 And when people ask me if I believe in evolution, 00:26:20.68\00:26:23.38 as a Christian, and I say, "Well, that depends on 00:26:23.58\00:26:27.05 how you define evolution." 00:26:27.08\00:26:28.42 I agree, and as we can observe it, that within a species 00:26:28.55\00:26:31.92 we see things happening, like you describe in the book with... 00:26:31.95\00:26:35.16 What animal was it you referred to with the fur, the black fur? 00:26:36.16\00:26:39.19 Ah yes, yes, it's the mice. 00:26:39.23\00:26:41.06 ~ Yeah, the mice. Yeah. So we see that. 00:26:41.10\00:26:43.20 It's hard to say that that doesn't exist. 00:26:43.23\00:26:46.03 But when you go to something that has never been observed, 00:26:46.07\00:26:48.87 we can't repeat it, all of these things, and they're like, 00:26:48.90\00:26:52.07 "No, I don't believe that." 00:26:52.11\00:26:53.51 ~ That's right. 00:26:53.58\00:26:54.91 And it's amazing too, to think of all of these topics in terms 00:26:54.94\00:26:58.55 of evolution, and one of the most fundamental pillars. 00:26:58.58\00:27:01.88 The fact is, you may be wanting to dig deeper into this topic. 00:27:02.12\00:27:05.15 And if you are, I'd like to invite you to go to one of the 00:27:05.42\00:27:07.96 many online bookstores around the world 00:27:07.99\00:27:10.06 and you can actually order and get Dr. John Ashton's book, 00:27:10.26\00:27:14.36 Evolution Impossible. 00:27:14.40\00:27:15.96 It's a great, great book. 00:27:16.00\00:27:17.60 And you can just dig more into this topic. 00:27:17.63\00:27:20.14 It's quite sobering to think that one of the main 00:27:20.50\00:27:22.84 components of evolution: random mutations, 00:27:22.87\00:27:26.31 cannot generate new types of organisms. 00:27:26.47\00:27:29.14 The question is, where does that leave evolution? 00:27:29.28\00:27:32.41 Is evolution impossible? 00:27:32.45\00:27:33.78 That's the question we're asking. 00:27:34.12\00:27:35.55 And we are looking forward to having you join us again 00:27:35.58\00:27:38.65 on this journey as we go underground 00:27:38.69\00:27:40.46 and start digging for fossils. 00:27:40.56\00:27:42.29 And of course, if you've missed any of our past programs, 00:27:42.49\00:27:45.13 you can watch them on our website... 00:27:45.16\00:27:46.73 Till next time, we look forward to seeing you. 00:27:49.36\00:27:51.37