Page 30 - Atlas of Creation Volume 4

The glorious characteristics of cyanobacteria that refute evolution

Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are the oldest known prokaryotes, single-celled or-

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ganisms, obtaining their energy through photosynthesis. These life forms can manufacture the carbon
they use for processes within the cell from the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. At the same time, they
are able to fix nitrogen gas in molecular form. The fact that these processes take place in the same place
requires careful reflection and totally refutes the evolutionists idea that these life forms are “primitive.”

The enzyme nitrogenase, which is responsible for nitrogen fixation, is exceedingly sensitive to oxy-
gen. For that reason, nitrogen fixation and the process of photosynthesis, which requires oxygen, should
not be able to take place at the same time in cyanobacteria cells. In order to overcome this difficulty, the
filaments in some cyanobacteria restrict the nitrogen fixation process with a special kind of cell known as

heterocysts.
With their unique structure, heterocyst cells enable these two incompatible processes to be performed
by the cyanobacteria.
In order to restrict the entry of oxygen, heterocyst cells are covered with a special sheath containing

glycolipid and polysaccharide, a protective homogeneous envelope. A layer four nanometers thick deve-
lops through the interaction of waterproof chains, and this restricts the permeability of dissolved subs-
tances. Heterocysts have four separate membranes consisting of double-layer lipids, and these have dif-
ferent structures and functions.

In this way, carbon dioxide fixing through photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation in an oxygen-free en-
vironment, which cannot happen at the same time, are separated from one another, and cyanobacteria are
able to discharge their functions.

Cyanobacteria fossils: an insoluble dilemma for evolutionists

Rock strata in the Apex Chert region of Australia contain cyanobacteria fossils, or stromatolites (stro-
matoliths), dating back 3.9 billion years.

Stromatolites form in shallow water with the accumulation and freezing of the sediment of micro-or-
ganisms such as cyanobacteria. Stromatolites began forming in the Precambrian Period and are formed
by calcium carbonate particles (limestone) carried by the sea adhering to the filaments formed by blue-
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green algae. These structures are rich in chlorophyll. Over the geological ages they formed in globes or
domes of various sized immediately beneath the surface of the sea.
Some of the characteristics of cyanobacteria, those mar-
velous micro-organisms, that refute the claim of the theory
of evolution that life forms came into beings by chance, may

be summarized as follows:

Fossil remains of the world’s ol-
dest micro-organism, dating
back 3.9 billion years, have be-
en found in Australia’s Apex
Chert region. The cyanobacteria

fossils at the top and left were
discovered in Apex Chert and
are 3.5 billion years old.

28 Atlas of Creation Vol. 4