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To: tpanther

“The probability of a protein forming by chance would be 1064 [10 with 64 zeros after it] to 1!”

This is not a good argument, because both a lot of chance is involved, and the patterns that they form are mathematically derived. A good comparison is to say that it would be very unlikely that carbon atoms would form a molecule in the shape of a soccer ball. But they do, because they can readily assemble into that kind of shape, and when they do, it is very stable. So once it happens, 64 carbon atoms tend to stay that way.

Amino acids also tend to form patterns like that. And once they do, they tend to form patterns that can be duplicated by other, independent amino acids, that affix themselves to the first pattern and form a mirror image.

The zinger is a huge amount of time for this to take place. From the time they can do this, to the time they actually pull it off and make a complex protein, may be a couple of billion years or more.

Eventually you end up with a complex protein, best described as looking like a steel wool pad, made up of a great number of compression and tension springs. It can be stretched out into a single wire, but when you let go, it consistently reassembles into the exact same pad of steel wool.

The odds of it coming together spontaneously are tiny, this is true. But over a vast length of time, and a lot of trial and error, less so.


8 posted on 12/14/2008 9:16:15 AM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

Not enough time.


95 posted on 12/15/2008 12:42:44 AM PST by Bellflower (A Brand New Day Is Coming!)
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