Page 144 - The Evolution Impasse 1

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In the journal Science, D.S. Woodroff possible for a reaction that gives off wa-
of California University sets out this gra- ter (a so-called condensation reaction) to
ve disappointment suffered by evolutio- take place in an environment containing
nists: water. (See Le Chatelier’s Principle,
the.) Therefore, the oceans—where evo-
But fossil species remain unchanged thro-
lutionists say that life began—are defini-
ughout most of their history and the re-
tely unlikely, unsuitable places for amino
cord fails to contain a single example of a
significant transition. 182 acids to combine and produce proteins.
Given this “water problem” that so
demolished all their theories, evolutio-
Fox Experiment, the nists began to construct new scenarios.
Sydney Fox, the best-known of these re-
Amino acids release water molecules searchers, came up with an interesting
as they combine chemically to form pro- theory to resolve the difficulty. He theori-
teins. According to this behavior, known zed that immediately after the first amino
as the Le Chatelier’s principle, it is not acids had formed in the primitive ocean,

FOX’S “PROTEINOIDS”
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c confirmed that life cannot be created in the laboratory, let alone come into being by chance. .
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THE EVOLUTION IMPASSE I