Hormone Research Unwittingly Corroborates Biblical Kinds | The Institute for Creation Research

Hormone Research Unwittingly Corroborates Biblical Kinds

Hormones are small chemical switches that turn on or off different cellular systems. They are tissue-specific, most often produced by the tissue of one organ, distributed in mammals via the bloodstream, then received by precise protein receptors found elsewhere in the body. They are like keys made at the hardware store, distributed via street traffic, then received by precise locks elsewhere in the city. Each specific hormone’s meaning is interpreted by the cell, which responds appropriately. Thus, hormones are essential to the regulation of body processes such as digestion, reproduction, temperature and hydration levels, and a fight-or-flight metabolism.

While studying the causes and effects associated with hormones in the wild, San Francisco State Biology Professor Jan Randall found that different kinds of animals have unique solutions to the technical issues regarding body process regulation. To understand how social animals regulate one of these processes—the stresses from overcrowding—she collected and analyzed feces from the Uzbekistan great gerbil and the California kangaroo rat for six years.

In an SF State news release, Randall said that “we must rethink our evolutionary models of hormones” because “we see species specific adaptation of control systems.”1 Darwinian evolution would predict that once a hormone control system evolved in a common ancestor, that system should be retained in its descendants—the creatures that are alive today. But this is not what scientists have observed. The same hormone does not produce the same effect in similar tissues of different species, or kinds.

What would the survival advantage be for an organism to spend its precious energy inventing new solutions to technical problems that are already solved by the functional hormonal control systems it currently possesses? And yet, if evolution is true, that must have happened multiple times.

Randall found distinct hormone control systems within distinct kinds, just as the creation model would predict. Each hormone switches on or off a certain cellular process, and that process only makes sense in the context of that animal kind’s overall physiology. Like other foundational concepts provided by God in His Word, the principle of kinds reproducing according to their basic forms has never been invalidated by scientific observation.2

References

  1. Findings raise new questions about evolution of hormones in mammals. San Francisco State University press release, February 13, 2009.
  2. Genesis 1:24-25.

* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer.

Article posted on March 5, 2009.

The Latest
NEWS
Dino Footprints Down Under
Dinosaur trackways1 are once again making the news. Australia is the setting of a remarkable series of dinosaur tracks attributed to ornithischian...

NEWS
April 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things...

NEWS
Human Evolution and the Inner Ear
The vain attempt by evolutionists to make an evolutionary connection between people and ape-like ancestors continues. This time, it is in regard to...

CREATION PODCAST
Defending the Faith with a Rocket Scientist | Creation.Live Podcast:...
How do engineering principles, biological complexity, and a solid understanding of apologetics work together to further the cause of Christ? Why...

NEWS
Aerobic and Anaerobic Hot Spring Bacteria
God designed a domain of prokaryotes called Archaea that thrive in harsh and extreme environments. In 1969, two microbiologists, Thomas Brock and Hudson...

CREATION PODCAST
The Soulless Hominid Theory: A Fatal Flaw in Old Earth Creationism...
Welcome to the second episode in a series called “The Failures of Old Earth Creationism.” Many Christians attempt to fit...

NEWS
Humpback Whale Calls Echo Creation
There is nothing simple about the system of communication called language, whether animal or human.1 Human language is a very sophisticated...

NEWS
Mary Parker, Creation Ministry Partner of Dr. Gary Parker, Is...
Mary Parker, the wife and co-laborer of Dr. Gary Parker, went home to be with her Lord on March 20, 2025. Dr. Parker was a popular and effective...

NEWS
Plants Rely on Quantum Mechanics
Scientists will probably never fully understand photosynthesis as additional research uncovers even more fascinating mysteries.1,2 ICR’s...

NEWS
Martian Polar Ice Cap ''Surprisingly Young''?
A team of German planetary scientists has concluded that a three-kilometer-thick northern polar ice cap on Mars has a “surprisingly young”...