Page 278 - Darwinism Refuted

DARWINISM REFUTED

organ is embedded in the cell membrane, and enables the bacterium to
move in a chosen direction at a particular speed.
Scientists have known about the flagellum for some time. However,
its structural details, which have only emerged over the last decade or so,
have come as a great surprise to them. It has been discovered that the
flagellum moves by means of a very complicated "organic motor," and not
by a simple vibratory mechanism as was earlier believed. This propeller-
like engine is constructed on the same mechanical principles as an electric
motor. There are two main parts to it: a moving part (the "rotor") and a
stationary one (the "stator").
The bacterial flagellum is different from all other organic systems
that produce mechanical motion. The cell does not utilize available energy
stored as ATP molecules. Instead, it has a special energy source: Bacteria
use energy from the flow of ions across their outer cell membranes. The
inner structure of the motor is extremely complex. Approximately 240
distinct proteins go into constructing the flagellum. Each one of these is
carefully positioned. Scientists have determined that these proteins carry
the signals to turn the motor on or off, form joints to facilitate movements
at the atomic scale, and activate other proteins that connect the flagellum
to the cell membrane. The models constructed to summarize the working
of the system are enough to depict the complicated nature of the system.
The complicated structure of the bacterial flagellum is sufficient all
by itself to demolish the theory of evolution, since the flagellum has an
irreducibly complex structure. If one single molecule in this fabulously
complex structure were to disappear, or become defective, the flagellum
would neither work nor be of any use to the bacterium. The flagellum
must have been working perfectly from the first moment of its existence.
This fact again reveals the nonsense in the theory of evolution's assertion
of "step by step development." In fact, not one evolutionary biologist has
so far succeeded in explaining the origin of the bacterial flagellum
although a few tried to do so.
The bacterial flagellum is clear evidence that even in supposedly
"primitive" creatures there are extraordinary features. As humanity learns
more about the details, it becomes increasingly obvious that the
organisms considered to be the simplest by the scientists of nineteenth
century, including Darwin, are in fact just as complex as any others.

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