DI has just released a video on the ATP Synthase in action (HT: ENV): [youtube XI8m6o0gXDY] The blurb at Youtube reads: ATP Synthase is a molecular machine found in all living organisms. It serves as a miniature power-generator, producing an energy-carrying molecule, adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. The ATP synthase machine has many parts we recognize from human-designed technology, including a rotor, a stator, a camshaft or driveshaft, and other basic components of a rotary engine. This machine is just the final step in a long and complex metabolic pathway involving numerous enzymes and other molecules—all so the cell can produce ATP to power biochemical reactions, and provide energy for other molecular machines in the cell. {Added, courtesy commenters below, here Read More ›

One of the most common tests evolutionists use, when studying how genes are supposed to have evolved, is to compare the non-synonymous and synonymous genetic differences. That is, if a gene that codes for a particular protein is found in several species, then evolutionists interpret differences in the gene, across those species, as the result of mutations in the evolutionary process. And while most mutations cause a change in the resulting protein amino acid sequence, some mutations do not affect the amino acid that is coded for. These two kinds of mutations are referred to as non-synonymous and synonymous, respectively, and their relative proportions are important to evolutionists. They believe that the while the non-synonymous mutations are important, because they Read More ›

An infographic lists a few of what its author considers to be “2012’s biggest moments in science.” These are: Higgs boson discovered. Curiosity lands on Mars. Fetal genome sequencing. Quantum teleportation distance record broken. The discovery of an earth-sized exoplanet “orbiting Alpha Centauri B, one of the stars in the stellar system nearest to our own” (This is listed despite the fact that, as the infographic itself informs us, “Because the planet orbits much closer to its star than Earth, it likely does not host life.”). Superstorm Sandy as a consequence of climate change. Notice number 3 in particular. The text states, Researchers in June announced the successful sequencing of a fetus’ genome using snippets of DNA in the mother’s Read More ›

A new paper has just been published in Nature, reporting on the successful use of DNA to store data including Shakespearean sonnets and an MP3 file. Reports the abstract, Digital production, transmission and storage have revolutionized how we access and use information but have also made archiving an increasingly complex task that requires active, continuing maintenance of digital media. This challenge has focused some interest on DNA as an attractive target for information storage because of its capacity for high-density information encoding, longevity under easily achieved conditions and proven track record as an information bearer. Previous DNA-based information storage approaches have encoded only trivial amounts of information or were not amenable to scaling-up, and used no robust error-correction and lacked examination of their cost-efficiency Read More ›

This is the 10,000th post at UD.  We would like to thank all of our loyal readers, lurkers, commenters, writers, webmaster, contributors and all the others who have made this a wonderful run so far!

New Scientist carries an interesting article on the subject of ORFan genes (i.e. genes which possess no known homologue): NOT having any family is tough. Often unappreciated and uncomfortably different, orphans have to fight to fit in and battle against the odds to realise their potential. Those who succeed, from Aristotle to Steve Jobs, sometimes change the world. Who would have thought that our DNA plays host to a similar cast of foundlings? When biologists began sequencing genomes, they discovered that up to a third of genes in each species seemed to have no parents or family of any kind. Nevertheless, some of these “orphan genes” are high achievers, and a few even seem have played a part in the Read More ›

Dear readers, We hope you have noticed that UD is loading now faster than ever just in time for our 10,000th post.  We have just today completed a major server upgrade.  Thank you for your continued support. BTW, that little “Donate” button you see on your right is how we keep our virtual doors open.  If this site has been useful to you, please consider a contribution today.

Off topic, but important as a service to UD’s readers. HERE. Pardon, I took some days before commenting, until I found some useful info beyond the media panic headlines. Notice the clip from Oracle’s advisory, the link to the FAQ and the further link on gory technical details. The bottomline is that over the past year Java has apparently been the vector used for 50% of hacking attacks, and Adobe reader has been used for 28%. Internet Explorer and Windows — the “traditional” targets of hobbyist hackers and those who hack for money from organised crime or spy agencies —  by contrast, have gone way down. At least, as percentages. Hacking is not going away, and we need to take Read More ›

Your internet line carries multiple signals simultaneously and likewise a gene carries multiple biological signals. A gene does not merely code for a protein. As difficult as it would be to randomly find a protein-coding gene sequence, it would be much more difficult to find a real gene because they carry so many more signals. For instance, the gene’s DNA sequence determines the important stability of the DNA copy—the so-called mRNA strand, and the mRNA interactions with proteins such as editing machinery.  Read more

Over at the Biologic Institute’s blog, Douglas Axe has a new blog post on a recent paper in PLoS Biology: Under the heading “Reconstruction of prehistoric DNA refutes criticism on theory of evolution,” an article from Ghent University in Belgium claims a recent scientific paper has rescued evolutionary theory by solving the problem of evolutionary innovation. Considering that innovation is the appearance of new things, it would be hard to exaggerate the importance of that problem, or of the rescue (if true). The article gives the first hint that it might not be true by following the familiar pattern of conceding a problem with Darwinism only to announce that it has now been solved, and then wagging the finger of orthodoxy at those who keep raising Read More ›

‘Quadruple helix’ DNA seen in human cells Balasubramanian’s group has been pursuing a four-stranded version of the molecule (DNA) that scientists have produced in the test tube now for a number of years. It is called the G-quadruplex. The “G” refers to guanine, one of the four chemical groups, or “bases”, that hold DNA together and which encode our genetic information (the others being adenine, cytosine, and thymine). The G-quadruplex seems to form in DNA where guanine exists in substantial quantities. . . . This revealed the four-stranded DNA arose most frequently during the so-called “s-phase” when a cell copies its DNA just prior to dividing. . . . If the G-quadruplex could be implicated in the development of some Read More ›

When I come across a new idea, I like to see if there are any relatively simple and obvious arguments that can be levied for or against it.  When I first came across ID, this is the simple argument I used that validated it – IMO – as a real phenomenon and a valid scientific concept. Simply put, I know intelligent design exists – humans (at least, if not other animals) employ it.  I use it directly.   I know that intelligent design as humans employ it can (but not always) generate phenomena that are easily discernible as products of intelligent design.  Anyone who argues that a battleship’s combination of directed specificity and/or complexity is not discernible from the complexity found in Read More ›

Algae do not merely grow onrocks, they also grow in the cracks and crevices of rocks making the seaweed organisms a difficult meal for consumers such as Cryptochiton stelleri, otherwise known as gumboot chiton, a marine mollusk off the coast of California. This tenacious chiton solves the problem by grinding down rocks with an amazing set of teeth which contain the hardest known biomineral, magnetite. The outer shell of the chiton’s teeth, as professor David Kisailus explains in his latest paper, develop in four distinct stages:  Read more

Why is there no debate over evolution? Why does everyone believe in the Epicurean vision that the world arose spontaneously? Just ask David Coppedge, the IT guy at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who dared question evolution. Coppedge was an excellent employee who enjoyed his job, but when he openly questioned … Read more