We read in the first chapter of Romans that God loves us so much that He has given us a general revelation of what He has created. Verse 19 states, “what may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has shown it to them.” This is certainly true in the field of biological systems.
ICR’s Randy Guliuzza stated,
God did not leave humanity clueless or needing an additional “key” to unlock biological secrets. God is free to design biological systems that operate through principles that totally contrast those of man-made designs—but He didn’t. Research confirms He did just the opposite. Thus, a Christian can claim that creatures were undeniably engineered. How? By pointing to features of living things that 1) correlate to undeniably human-engineered things and 2) function by known engineering principles.1
Perhaps one of the top evidences for creation are the subcellular and incredibly efficient molecular protein machines that clearly function by known engineering principles.2,3 They are hardly simple. Determining just a part of their function requires the best science has in twenty-first-century technology: “While belonging to the nanoscale, protein machines are so complex that tracing even a small fraction of their cycle requires weeks of calculations on supercomputers.”4
By viewing these amazingly engineered nanomachines, we can see God’s creation is indeed clearly seen, “for since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”5
Recently, scientists at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have made a discovery regarding molecular machines called SMC (structural maintenance of chromosomes) protein complexes. Six years ago, they found these tiny machines produce long loops in our DNA. This latest discovery involves these same protein motors putting substantial twists in the coils they form.6
Not surprisingly, SMC “protein complexes are an evolutionarily conserved family of motor proteins.”7 This means the SMC complexes have—according to biologists—remained unchanged over deep evolutionary time. They seem unevolved. But such a description is expected on the basis of young-earth creation. All life was created by God just thousands of years ago.
Christ the Creator has designed our DNA with a plethora of enzymes such as SMC to efficiently pack the genetic material into the nucleus (or the nuclear region in prokaryotes). As scientists stated in the Annual Review of Biochemistry,
All cells require their DNA to be compacted at least 1,000 fold in order to fit within the finite space of a micrometer-sized nucleus (or cell volume for bacteria). Additionally, information encoded in the genome continuously needs to be accessed and processed. Accordingly, the genome is constantly and actively reshaped to sustain all cellular functions.7
The biologists at Delft University unknowingly described how the Creator designed the DNA to be twisted (spoiler alert: “Nature” had nothing to do with ingenious packing strategies).
Imagine trying to fit two meters of rope into a space much smaller than the tip of a needle—that’s the challenge every cell in your body faces when packing its DNA into its tiny nucleus. To achieve this, nature employs ingenious strategies, like twisting the DNA into coils of coils, so-called "supercoils" and wrapping it around special proteins for compact storage.6
Work continues in this fascinating field, with Janissen et al. stating in Science, “SMCs modulate DNA supercoiling but remains incompletely understood how this is achieved.”8
Creationists suggest that once this incredible process of supercoiling is finally understood, it will not be due to chance, deep time, and random mutations.9 These blind naturalistic processes could never produce such precision, especially since the DNA “continuously needs to be accessed and processed”7 for specific and orderly cellular function.
We once again have been given the opportunity to see the hand of the Creator active in molecular biology.
References
- Guliuzza, R. 2023. Billions of Biological Nanomachines Point to Christ’s Workmanship. Acts & Facts. 52 (7): 4–6.
- Sherwin, F. God’s Protein Pump. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org April 3, 2023.
- Sherwin, F. Photosynthetic Proteins Power Plants. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org May 16, 2024.
- Flechsig, H. and A. S. Mikhailov. 2019. Simple Mechanics of Protein Machines. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 16 (155): 20190244.
- Romans 1:20.
- Delft University of Technology. A New Twist: The Molecular Machines That Loop Chromosomes Also Twist DNA. Phys.org. Posted on phys.org December 13, 2024.
- Kim, E. et al. 2023. Looping the Genome with SMC Complexes. Annual Review of Biochemistry. 92: 15–41.
- Janissen, R. et al. 2024. All Eukaryotic SMC Proteins Induce a Twist of −0.6 at Each DNA Loop Extrusion Step. Science. 10 (50).
- Thomas, B. Mutation Study Contradicts Evolution. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org November 22, 2010.
* Dr. Sherwin is a news writer at the Institute for Creation Research. He earned an M.A. in invertebrate zoology from the University of Northern Colorado and received an honorary doctorate of science from Pensacola Christian College.
