Bacterial motors carefully studied: Addendum (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, April 13, 2016, 18:39 (2928 days ago) @ David Turell

Tour's incredulity comes from more than his problems with protein synthesis. A living cell, whether by itself or part of a body is constantly active in production of proteins or it dies. Either as a necessary product required at the moment, a replacement part, or the production of necessary energy from food sources, it cannot stop or it dies. Since it is unstoppable, it has built-in processes for death at the right moment, if multicellular (apoptosis); if single-celled splitting in two, a very complex process all its own. The human body is about 65% water, as bacteria are, so all of this occurs in a watery environment. However, water is very detrimental to protein synthesis and attempts at polymerization and other protein forms won't occur without very large, highly complex enzymes present to hold everything together and to speed the process to milliseconds so that the fully formed product can resist water. Protein molecules actually have both hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts to them. These processes throw off gooey, gunky byproducts, so there must be a garbage reduction system, also acting in milliseconds to keep the cell environment clean at all times. -It is this picture which creates Tour's wonderment. Did the first life start with all of this onboard? How could it be developed without the full arrangement? And with evolution after life started, how did new forms set themselves up, while continuously keeping every process going under the old system while trying out the new one. When thinking about sponges pooping out simple waste, to Cambrian kidneys controlling several levels of several items at once, and no in-between precursors, the enormity of the gap becomes very apparent.-I'm with Tour. His problems in the lab make the case: life in improbably complex, and could not have started by chance.