Page 136 - The Cambrian Evidence that Darwin Failed to Comprehend

The Cambrian Evidence That Darwin Failed to Comprehend

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tissues, each of which is made up of a specialized cell type. Based
on the present-day specimens of some species that first appeared in
the Cambrian phyla, we can conclude that they typically contain be-
tween 40 and 60 different cell types.
New cell types require the existence of several new, specialized
proteins. For example, a cell on the inner surface of the intestine that
secretes a digestive enzyme needs—at a bare minimum—structural
proteins that modify its shape, regulatory enzymes that control di-
gestive enzyme secretion, and the digestive enzyme itself. 96
New proteins require new genetic information encoded in the
DNA. Therefore, any increase in the number of cell types means a
significant increase in specialized genetic information. It is impossi-
ble for an organism to acquire by chance a gene that will produce a
needed protein.
Frank Salisbury, an evolutionist biologist, says the following
about this impossibility:
A medium protein might include about 300 amino acids. The DNA
gene controlling this would have about 1,000 nucleotides in its chain.
Since there are four kinds of nucleotides in a DNA chain, one consist-
ing of 1,000 links could exist in 4 1000 forms. Using a little algebra (log-
arithms) we can see that 4 1000 = 10 . Ten multiplied by itself 600 times
600
gives the figure 1 followed by 600 zeros! This number is completely
beyond our comprehension. 97
Molecular biologists estimate that a cell of only minimal com-
plexity would require between 318 to 562 kilobase pairs of DNA
(kilobase: 1,000 bases, in expressing the lengths of nucleic acid mol-
ecules) to produce the proteins necessary to maintain life. More
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complex single-celled organisms require 1 million base pairs.
However, any complex animal requires thousands of times
more coded instructions. In the genome of the fruit fly Drosophila
melanogaster, for example, there are up to 120 million base pairs.

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