THE MARVELS OF LIFE

Marcos Eberlin has been called “one of the best chemists in the world today.” About the engineering wonders of the cell membrane, he concludes:

• If we are guided only by the evidence, this complex and multifaceted engineering marvel appears well out of reach of the random variation/ natural selection mechanism. Another type of cause appears necessary, one that can foresee and engineer a cell membrane in all its marvelous sophistication, for just-in-time delivery. And indeed, multi-faceted solutions of this sort, ones that anticipate problems that otherwise would stop any potential evolutionary development in its tracks, are evident throughout life.

The more scientists learn about life, the more they question whether natural selection can bear the burden of accounting for any of its structures, each representing a major engineering feat.

Some are just beginning to question their faith in neo-Darwinism. Others have already begun to survey the diminishing landscape of other possible naturalistic explanations. Meanwhile, others like Eberlin are looking towards the only “one that can foresee and engineer” such marvels.