The ID Report

Synopsis Of The Second Chapter Of Signature In The Cell by Stephen Meyer

ISBN: 978-0-06-147278-7 Imprint: HarperOne

When the 19th century chemist Friedrich Wohler synthesized urea in the lab using simple chemistry, he set in motion the ball that would ultimately knock down the then-pervasive 'Vitalistic' view of biology. Life's chemistry, rather than being bound by immaterial 'vital forces' could indeed by artificially made. While Charles Darwin offered little insight on how life originated, several key scientists would later jump on Wohler's 'Eureka'-style discovery through public proclamations of their own 'origin of life' theories. The ensuing materialist view was espoused by the likes of Ernst Haeckel and Rudolf Virchow who built their own theoretical suppositions on Wohler's triumph. Meyer summed up the logic of the day

"If organic matter could be formed in the laboratory by combining two inorganic chemical compounds then perhaps organic matter could have formed the same way in nature in the distant past" (p.40)

Darwin's theory generated the much-needed fodder to 'extend evolution backward' to the origin of life. It was believed that "chemicals could "morph" into cells, just as one species could "morph" into another" (p.43). Appealing to the apparent simplicity of the cell, late 19th century biologists assured the scientific establishment that they had a firm grasp of the 'facts'- cells were, in their eyes, nothing more than balls of protoplasmic soup. Haeckel and British scientist Thomas Huxley were the ones who set the protoplasmic theory in full swing. While the details expounded by each man differed somewhat, the underlying tone was the same- the essence of life was simple and thereby easily attainable through a basic set of chemical reactions.

Things changed in the 1890s. With the discovery of cellular enzymes the complexity of the cell's inner workings became all too apparent and a new theory that no longer relied on an overly simplistic protoplasm-style foundation, albeit one still bound by materialism, had to be devised. Several decades later, finding himself in the throws of a Marxist socio-political upheaval within his own country, Russian biologist Aleksandr Oparin became the man for the task.

Oparin developed a neat scheme of inter-related processes involving the extrusion of heavy metals from the earth's core and the accumulation of atmospheric reactive gases all of which, he claimed, could eventually lead to the making of life's building blocks- the amino acids. He extended his scenario further, appealing to Darwinian natural selection as a way through which functional proteins could progressively come into existence. But the 'tour de force' in Oparin's outline came in the shape of coacervates- small, fat-containing spheroids which, Oparin proposed, might model the formation of the first 'protocell'.

Oparin's neat scheme would in the 1940s and 1950s provide the impetus for a host of prebiotic synthesis experiments, most famous of which was that of Harold Urey and Stanley Miller who used a spark discharge apparatus to make the three amino acids- glycine, alpha-alanine and beta-alanine. With little more than a few gases (ammonia, methane and hydrogen), water, a closed container and an electrical spark Urey and Miller had seemingly provided the missing link for an evolutionary chain of events that now extended as far back as the dawn of life. And yet as Meyer concludes, the information revolution that followed the elucidation of the structure of DNA would eventually shake the underlying materialistic bedrock.

Meyer's historical overview of the key events that shaped origin-of-life biology is extremely readable and well illustrated. Both the style and the content of his discourse keep the reader focused on the ID thread of reasoning that he gradually develops throughout his book.

Synopsis Of The First Chapter Of Signature In The Cell by Stephen Meyer

ISBN: 9780061894206; ISBN10: 0061894206; Imprint: HarperOne

In August of 2004, philosopher Stephen Meyer published an article in the Proceedings Of The Biological Society Of Washington. The article raised media interest and outrage because it was the first to "advance the theory of intelligent design" in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The editor Richard Sternberg lost his position as a result of the ensuing debacle.

Just a few months later, renowned British philosopher Antony Flew shocked the world by reversing his life-long atheistic commitment and announcing his support for an idea reminiscent of that proposed by the modern intelligent design movement. That same month the ACLU declared it would be filing charges against the Dover, Pennsylvania school board for approving the teaching of Intelligent Design in its science classes.

Much of the controversy in all the above cases stems from a misunderstanding over what the intelligent design movement does and does not purport to explain. As many in the movement have re-iterated throughout the years, intelligent design is not in any way synonymous with biblical creationism. In the words of Stephen Meyer "intelligent design is an inference from scientific evidence, not a deduction from religious authority" (p.8).

In his recent book Signature In The Cell, Meyer presents a fresh outlook on one of the most compeling facets of the Intelligent Design case- that of biological information in DNA. When Watson and Crick published their famous paper in 1958, they not only solved the mystery of the structure of DNA but also unearthed the computer program-like nature of the information that it carried. While experience tells us that such information has its origins in the activity of conscious beings, evolutionary biologists have dismissed such a connection in biology. As an alternative, they have as we all know placed their belief in the blind activity of natural selection.

It would seem ironic therefore that these same scientists would then employ design-evoking metaphors such as 'code' and 'language' to describe DNA. They of course qualify this by stating that the apparent design of DNA is merely illusionary. Still as Meyer hammers home, the mystery of the origins of DNA and life itself remains one that modern day biology is finding difficult to unravel.

Meyer provides a lucid and personal account of his own experiences as a scientist and philosopher revealing to the reader the watershed events that led to his move towards the intelligent design alternative. Foremost in his initial exposee are the meetings he conducted with Charles Thaxton who, in his co-authorship of the book The Mystery Of Life's Origin, rejuvenated the idea of intelligent causation in biology.