Tag: RNA World hypothesis

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post

Author
Stephen C. Meyer

Date
September 18, 2024

Tagged
, abiogenesis, Ben Shapiro, Charles Darwin, Daily Wire, Darwin's Doubt, Darwinism, Evolution, fine-tuning, Intelligent Design, Materialism, methodological naturalism, multiverse, Natural Selection, Neo-Darwinism, origin of life, RNA world, RNA World hypothesis, Stephen Meyer}

Stephen Meyer & Ben Shapiro Discuss the Origin of Information

_{Stephen C. Meyer

September 18, 2024

Uncategorized}

On this episode of ID The Future, we’re bringing you the concluding half of a 2019 interview between Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro and philosopher of science Dr. Stephen C. Meyer. The conversation is now five years old, so it's a good time to dust it off and share it with those who may have missed it or forgotten about it. In Part 2, Shapiro and Meyer discuss the origin of life and the origin of information. They also touch on the evidence for fine-tuning in the universe and the problems with the multiverse. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. Read More ›

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Author
Rob Stadler

Date
April 22, 2024

Tagged
, abiogenesis, Charles Darwin, Darwinism, early Earth, Eric Anderson, Evolution, Materialism, Natural Selection, origin of life, Origin of Life Research, RNA, RNA world, RNA World hypothesis, Rob Stadler}

Top Ten Cheats in “Monumental” Origin of Life Research

_{Rob Stadler

April 22, 2024

Uncategorized}

A Washington Post headline recently declared that a "monumental experiment suggests how life on earth may have started." The reality, however, is far more sobering. In this episode of ID the Future, host Eric Anderson sits down with accomplished medical engineer and origin of life author, Robert Stadler, to discuss what this new research actually shows and the relevance to abiogenesis. More episodes and show notes at idthefuture.com. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Stephen C. Meyer

Date
April 8, 2024

Tagged
, Assembly Theory, biology, Darwinism, Denis Noble, developmental gene regulatory network, epigenetic information, epigenetic revolution, Evolution, James Tour, Joana Xavier, Lee Cronin, Natural Selection, Nature (Journal), Neo-Darwinism, Nick Lane, origin of life, RNA world, RNA World hypothesis, Stephen Meyer}

Meyer & Tour on New Critiques of Origin of Life Research

_{Stephen C. Meyer

April 8, 2024

Uncategorized}

On this ID The Future, we're pleased to share a new discussion between Dr. James Tour and Dr. Stephen Meyer about recent critiques of origin of life research published in the prestigious science journal Nature. The interview originally aired on The Science and Faith Podcast, hosted by Dr. Tour. We are grateful to Dr. Tour for permission to share this interview on ID The Future. Read More ›

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post

Author
Jonathan McLatchie

Date
September 27, 2023

Tagged
, biology, chemical evolution, chemical soup, Darwin, Darwinism, DNA, early Earth, early earth atmosphere, error catastrophe, error rate, Evolution, Evolutionary Biology, Intelligent Design, Jonathan McLatchie, Materialism, Natural Selection, origin of life, replication, RNA, RNA replication, RNA world, RNA World hypothesis, self-replication}

Minimal Replication Fidelity: Another Problem for the RNA World Hypothesis

_{Jonathan McLatchie

September 27, 2023

Uncategorized}

The RNA world is proposed by some to explain how early life began before DNA. But is RNA capable of maintaining a life-friendly self-replication rate? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes back Dr. Jonathan McLatchie to discuss another headache for the RNA world scenario. Before a trial and error process like natural selection can even get started, self-replicating molecules must have a minimal accuracy rate to copy genetic material effectively. The required fidelity rate is estimated to be 2%. Any error rate higher than that results in error catastrophe for organisms. The average error rate in RNA copying is estimated to be around 17%, vastly higher than the estimated maximum error threshold for survival. McLatchie explains the implications of this for chemical evolutionary theories like the RNA world hypothesis. He also explains how a Bayesian approach to this evidence can provide us with the likeliest explanation for the origin of biological life. "The sorts of features that we observe in life are not particularly surprising if we suppose that a mind is involved," says McLatchie. But things like minimal self-replication fidelity are wildly surprising on a naturalistic hypothesis. Read More ›

science laboratory test tubes , lab equipment for research new medical

^{Type
post

Author
James Tour

Date
July 26, 2023

Tagged
, abiogenesis, chemistry, Darwinism, Dave Farina, Evolution, Intelligent Design, James Tour, Lee Cronin, origin of life, origins, Professor Dave, Rice University, RNA world, RNA World hypothesis, Science, synthetic organic chemistry}

Extravagant Claims: James Tour & Stephen Meyer Critique Origin of Life Research

_{James Tour

July 26, 2023

Uncategorized}

On this ID The Future, we continue a four-part conversation series between philosopher of science Dr. Stephen Meyer, author of Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design, and Dr. James Tour, a world-leading synthetic organic chemist at Rice University. Dr. Tour has recently been engaged in a series of back-and-forth responses to attacks on his work from YouTube science communicator Dave Farina. This has given Tour a new opportunity to critique experts in the field of abiogenesis and allows an interested public to better evaluate both sides of the argument. In Part 2, Meyer and Tour discuss the work and claims of origin of life researcher Lee Cronin. They begin with a review of the four classes of molecules before critiquing Cronin’s foremose reaction experiments and his claims to have found a process that’s analogous to cell division. Tour also discusses the importance of chirality, as well as how amino acids behave in aqueous solutions. Turns out that “warm little pond” story we’ve been told for many years is chemically implausible. The discussion rounds out with a reminder of the information problem, something Meyer writes about at length in Signature in the Cell. Have prebiotic chemists made any progress on the sequence specificity problem? None whatsoever, says Dr. Tour. This is Part 2 of a four-part series of conversations. Watch the video versions of these at Dr. Meyer’s YouTube channel: @DrStephenMeyer Read More ›

A close up of a chemical petri dish with organic bacteria on a desk in a scientific lab is used to evaluate a material sample. prepared glass plate containing a bright liquid for biochemical developme

^{Type
post

Author
James Tour

Date
July 19, 2023

Tagged
, abiogenesis, chemistry, Darwinism, Dave Farina, Evolution, Intelligent Design, James Tour, origin of life, origins, Professor Dave, Rice University, RNA World hypothesis, Science, Steve Benner, synthetic organic chemistry}

James Tour and Stephen Meyer Bring Clarity to Origin of Life Debate

_{James Tour

July 19, 2023

Uncategorized}

On this ID The Future, we kick off a series of conversations between Dr. Stephen Meyer and Dr. James Tour on the many challenges faced by origin of life researchers. Dr. Tour, a world-leading synthetic organic chemist at Rice University, has recently been engaged in a series of back-and-forth responses to attacks on his work from YouTube science communicator Dave Farina. This has given Tour a new opportunity to critique experts in the field of abiogenesis and allows an interested public to evaluate both sides of the argument. Philosopher of science Dr. Stephen Meyer hosts these engaging conversations. Meyer is author of the 2009 book Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design, which explores theories attempting to explain the origin of the first life. So Meyer is the perfect candidate to unpack Tour's expertise and draw out key insights. In Part 1, Meyer and Tour critique the work of origin of life researcher Steve Benner. Along the way, they discuss the basic definition of life, the RNA world hypothesis, the problem with hands-on chemistry, and why the challenges facing origin of life research increase every year as our understanding of the cell grows. "What is being simulated is the need for intelligent agency to move simple chemicals in a life-friendly direction," says Meyer, and researchers "seem utterly blind to the role of their own hand, their own mind, in achieving the results that they get, such as they are." This is Part 1 of a four-part series of conversations. Watch the video versions of these at Dr. Meyer's YouTube channel: @DrStephenMeyer Learn more about Dr. Tour's work via his YouTube channel: @DrJamesTour Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
David Berlinski

Date
June 14, 2023

Tagged
, ancient Greece, ancient Greek mathematics, ancient Greek technology, Andrew McDiarmid, Charles Darwin, chemical evolution, chicken and egg problem, chimpanzees, Constantinople, Darwin’s warm little pond, David Berlinski, DNA, enzymatic function, enzymes, Higgs boson, human evolution, human exceptionalism, infinite regress, Istanbul, Jack Szostak, James Tour, John Sutherland, Joseph Needham, macromolecules, Medieval Chinese technology, Medieval Islamic astronomy, Miller-Urey experiment, Mongol invasion, Muhammad Taragai Ulugh Beg, Muslim-Arab Medieval Empire, Noam Chomsky, observatory of Taqi ad-Din, origin of life, pre-biotic conditions, protein, ribozyme, RNA World hypothesis, Robert Shapiro, Science After Babel, Stephen Jay Gould, synthetic organic chemistry}

David Berlinski on Chickens, Eggs, Human Exceptionalism, and a Revolution

_{David Berlinski

June 14, 2023

Uncategorized}

On today’s ID the Future, Science After Babel author David Berlinski continues discussing his newly released book from Discovery Institute Press. In this conversation with host Andrew McDiarmid, Berlinski explores a chicken-and-egg problem facing origin-of-life research, a blindness afflicting some evolutionists focused on human origins, and the mystery of why science almost flowered in ancient Greece, early Medieval China, and in the Muslim-Arab Medieval Empire, but did not, having to await the scientific revolution that swept through Europe beginning in the sixteenth century. Check out the endorsements and get your copy, paperback or e-book, at scienceafterbabel.com. Read More ›

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Author
James Tour

Date
April 3, 2023

Tagged
, bilayer membrane, cellular complexity, chemical evolution, chirality, dehydration synthesis problem, interactome, John Sutherland, lipid bilayer, nano-vehicles, nanocars, organic reactions, origin of life, origin-of-life experiments, oxidizing atmosphere, prebiotic synthesis experiments, purification, reducing atmosphere, RNA half-life, RNA World hypothesis, Science and Faith in Dialogue, synthetic organic chemistry}

James Tour Talks Origin-of-Life Dealbreakers

_{James Tour

April 3, 2023

Uncategorized}

On today’s ID the Future, distinguished synthetic organic chemist James Tour of Rice University explains why the goal of synthesizing life from non-life in conditions similar to those of the early Earth appears further away than ever. It’s not an illusion, he explains. The illusion was how close OOL researchers thought they were 50-70 years ago. They were never close, and the more we learn about how mind-bogglingly sophisticated even the simplest cells are, and how the complexity is essential for biological life, the more we realize just how far we are from constructing a plausible scenario for the mindless origin of the first life. Tour points out that even granting a great deal of intelligent design in the form Read More ›

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Author
Stephen C. Meyer

Date
September 13, 2021

Tagged
, Allen Sandage, Altenberg 16, Atheism, beginning of the universe, Big Bang, BioLogos, Brian Keating, confirmation bias, Darrel Falk, Eugene Koonin, exotic naturalism, fine tuning, fine tuning of the universe, Francis Crick, God and the Astronomers, Günter Bechly, imaginary time, James Tour, Materialism, metaphysical hypotheses, methodological naturalism, Michael Shermer, multiverse, Neo-Darwinism, origin of life, oscillating universe model, panspermia, Return of the God Hypothesis, Richard Dawkins, RNA World hypothesis, Robert Jastrow, skepticism, steady state theory, Stephen C. Meyer, Stephen Hawking, Theism, theistic evolution}

Stephen Meyer and Skeptic Michael Shermer, Pt. 1

_{Stephen C. Meyer

September 13, 2021

Uncategorized}

Today’s ID the Future spotlights the first part of a lively and cordial conversation between host and atheist Michael Shermer and Stephen Meyer, author of Return of the God Hypothesis: Three Scientific Discoveries That Reveal the Mind Behind the Universe. In this first of the four-part series, the two touch on everything from Meyer’s three key lines of evidence for theism to a quick flyover of less well-known materialistic origins theories, including the oscillating universe model, panspermia as an explanation for the origin of the first life on earth, and Stephen Hawking’s idea of imaginary time. Meyer lumps many of these ideas under what he terms exotic naturalism and suggests that the atheists who defend these explanations are multiplying exotic Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Brian Miller

Date
July 19, 2021

Tagged
, appearance of design, Biological Information, cells, emergence, Every Life is on Fire, Intelligent Design, Jeremy England, minimal cell, nano-technology, origin of life, RNA World hypothesis, self-organization, self-organized systems, self-reproduction, systems biology, top-down engineering}

The Origin of Life was the Origin of an Engineering Marvel

_{Brian Miller

July 19, 2021

Uncategorized}

On today’s ID the Future, physicist Brian Miller touches on various challenges facing the origin of the first life. He and host Eric Anderson discuss Jeremy England’s origin-of-life ideas and the RNA World Hypothesis, and offer multiple reasons why they are convinced that various proposed mindless processes do not explain the origin of the first self-reproducing cell. Miller urges another approach, one that draws on engineering principles and embraces the evidence in even the simplest cell of highly intelligent engineering.