Science is in a frenzied search for the mysteries of life. Can SCIENCE create life in the test tube? Can human heredity be chemically controlled to produce a kind of science-fiction immortality? Where is it all leading? A FEELING of suspense haunts modern researchers and biochemists. "We must know more!" young scientists exclaim.
"This is going to be the biggest science story of the century," declared Dr. Vincent Allfrey of the Rockefeller Institute — "bigger than nuclear fission."
The Challenge of Science Science now supposedly teeters on the verge of CREATING LIFE! Scientists now feel they are very close to learning the secret of life! And not only that — researchers are now dazzled by the prospect of controlling human heredity and increasing the life span of man to TWO CENTURIES!
A famous biochemist recently asserted, with confidence: "This century will go down in history as the century when life ceased to be a mystery." He added, "It is complicated, yes. But we no longer have any reason to believe it is beyond human understanding."
Thrilled by the fascination — and vanity — of research, countless scientists all across the face of the earth are experimenting, pondering, searching — trying to find the answer to the riddle of life. Any day, many feel, may bring a fantastic BREAKTHROUGH!
It is one of the most expensive, challenging scientific investigations ever undertaken!
But where is it leading?
Will science really explain the secret of life? Will scientists CREATE life? How much does science really know about life? How FAR are scientists and researchers from bringing the living into existence from the not living?
One British scientist commented, in analyzing the present trend, "It seems pretty certain to me that life resulted from purely random chemical events. What's more, I feel certain that in another decade or two we ourselves will be able to CREATE life. I no longer find it necessary to believe in God" (emphasis mine, throughout article).
Science is now challenging the authority, the POWER, and the very existence of GOD! Scientists, too often, want to be God!
But what is the TRUTH? How far are scientists away from really backing up their tremendous boasts? How far are they from "creating LIFE"?
The Mad Search The uproar began about twenty years ago. It was in the crucial year of 1944 that Dr. Oswald T. Avery and his colleagues at the Rockefeller Institute experimented with pneumonia germs. They accidentally stumbled on the discovery that DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) was the controller of heredity. Long threads of pure DNA were taken from a culture of ordinary pneumococci and added to a culture of germs which had failed to inherit the ability to make gelatinous coats, as most pneumococci do. The coatless germs began making coats, as did their progeny.
This pivotal discovery opened the floodgates for the present mad search for the secret of life! After performing many more experiments, scientists now believe DNA is the controller of heredity. Along with RNA (ribonucleic acid), it not only controls life, and is found in the nuclei of all living things, but determines the development of living things, from conception to maturity. It is, say scientists, the key to the genetic code which determines heredity!
In a later experiment, scientists put artificial RNA in a "broth" containing amino acids and substances a cell uses to make protein. The synthetic RNA acted like a genetic blueprint. A very crude, simple protein was formed from the amino acid phenylalanine. This discovery was hailed widely as the first concrete step toward "cracking the genetic code."
These, and similar experiments, are the basis of science's new hope — the fond dream of conquering all disease, controlling human heredity, and PROLONGING human life! Science is pressing its attack on the foundation of life from all sides!
But, again — how far are scientists from doing what is so loudly proclaimed — from really CREATING LIFE? When the excitement dies, and the furor subsides, WHAT do the real FACTS show? What is the TRUTH?
What Science Has Done The truth is not as "glamorous" and dazzling as you might be led to believe! In fact, the search to create life has barely gotten started. Actually, scientists now are NO CLOSER to creating life than before they started!
According to Dr. John H. Heller, executive director of the New England Institute for Medical Research, "The whole field of molecular biology is in a state of flux. It's a young field. Theories rise and FALL daily."
Old theories are blown up and exploded every day. New theories arise to take their place daily. Does THIS sound as if science is "close" to unlocking the mystery of life? Not at all!
Rather than being dose to a fantastic "breakthrough," scientists have in reality barely begun to scratch the surface of research! They have barely STARTED! There is a VAST DIFFERENCE between synthetically forming a very simple type of amino acid "protein" — which is NOT living — and creating a LIVING CELL!
This is a very long way from fulfilling the ambition of science — to CONTROL LIFE — to foreordain the intellect and the physical characteristics of human beings — to achieve, via the test tube, a kind of immortality!
The Great Assumption Why do scientists begin to think they can perhaps create life and control heredity? The answer is simply that they assume mankind evolved, through the ages of time, from primordial, primitive life. They assume that to create life, all they must do is learn to duplicate the steps of nature.
Since life naturally EVOLVED, they reason, there should be no logical reason WHY man cannot discover HOW it all happened. And by following similar guidelines, duplicate the process — perhaps even improve upon it!
Scientists also usually ASSUME that there is NO GOD!
If there were no God, and if life did evolve from not-living matter, due to random accidents and circumstances — then, very possibly some day man would uncover nature's deepest secrets and learn the riddle of life!
But that is a "big if." There is a God! Life did not evolve from the non-living.
Life was supernaturally CREATED by a process which NO MAN can duplicate.
Science itself proves, if willing to admit it, that God Exists! Creation is the PROOF of God! Read our fascinating, free booklet Does God Exist? and Seven Proofs of God. They will open your eyes to the TRUTH. They conclusively, thoroughly PROVE the existence of the Almighty Creator GOD!
There is no need for doubt!
GOD is the One Who created LIFE!
He and He alone, is LIFE-GIVER! No mere mortal man has the power or intelligence to duplicate GOD!
Primeval Earth and Sky Since scientists have already rejected God, they have concocted a method — and a theory — by which they think life upon the earth came into existence. Evolution, they say, was the process.
The theory of evolution states that billions of years ago the planet earth was formed. Perhaps at one time, they say, it was a "chunk" of flaming gases cast off by the sun. Then these gases began to cool. Slowly, a hardened crust of volcanic rock was formed, and masses of silicon, according to this theory, combined with other elements to form the foundations of the continents.
Volcanoes belched steam, methane, ammonia. Other gases gushed to the surface, forming the earth's primitive atmosphere. Still, there was no life. But this dream of evolutionary science isn't over.
Gradually, with the passage of eons of time, atoms began to form themselves together, combining slowly, evolving toward complex forms. The rains came; tremendous squalls drenched the earth. Molecular structures accumulated in warm ocean waters, forming a hot, dilute soup. Still, no life.
Other millions of years crept by. Lightning flashed, cosmic rays from outer space struck the warm ocean "soup." Somehow, this produced amino acids, necessary to life. But Still — NO LIFE! Nowadays, lightning always destroys life; X-rays and cosmic rays are known to shorten life; but apparently, according to scientists, the opposite was true eons ago!
What next? Scientists wracked their brains. Somehow, in order to have LIFE, the amino acids must combine to form complex, gigantic protein molecules with THOUSANDS of atoms! This was a real puzzler! Somehow, they say, it occurred!
How could primitive proteins, even if they had been formed, ever become a living cell? There was another brain-numbing, head-scratching problem! One scientist estimates that molecular particles must have evolved for TWO BILLION YEARS before the first living cell appeared on the scene!
The process was now started. Or so the theory demands. Gradually, plant life and animal life evolved. Fish developed legs and lungs and left the sea — or was it the reverse? Some animals developed wings, flexed them, and learned to FLY!
Finally, in one of the most amazing evolutionary leaps, some ancient type of monkey swinging through the recently evolved trees, got tired of trees and decided to use its head instead of its tail. Consequently, his brain grew bigger than his tail and he began manufacturing stone weapons to defend himself. In this manner, primeval apes became primitive cave-men. Then, even "man" evolved until modern man came along.
Sound fantastic? Hard to believe? Of course — but what exciting reading it makes! What a spine-tingling science-fiction thriller!
But it is patently impossible!
Read this age-consuming scientific account again. Notice all the fantastic gaps, gulfs, "amazing leaps" and MIRACLES which must have taken place! The truth is, by science's own discoveries life could not have EVOLVED.
Scientists too often refuse to face the FACT of the existence of a Creator GOD!
Evolutionary scientists always begin their theories with one gigantic ASSUMPTION: their schemes and speculations, dreams and theories always begin with an already-existing planet EARTH and a gigantic UNIVERSE! Where did all THESE come from?
If evolution be true, where did the earth, the complex solar system, the sun, other stars and galaxies evolve from? And, where did the LAWS of chemistry and physics that govern and guide the behavior of matter and energy come from? Where did those amazing LAWS of science textbooks evolve from?
Did some unthinking force suddenly decide that matter should have an attraction for other matter — an attraction called the law of gravity?
Where did LAW come from?
These are among the unanswerable enigmas of science! These problems still plague the minds of evolutionists! They have NO ANSWER!
But, unwilling to admit their theory is shot full of huge holes, evolutionists come up with the same old swan-song: "More study is needed"; "Give us more time"; "The answers are just around the corner."
The fact is, the more scientists discover, the more fascinating QUESTIONS they uncover! Rather than becoming simpler, the more COMPLEX life is shown to be!
When will God-rejecting man ever learn? With the overwhelming FACT of Creation staring them right in the face, most men turn away, ignore the PROOF of God, and idle away their time with the study of the absurd fantasies of evolution. What a paradox! What a tragic waste of precious ability and time!
The Stalemate Science has NOT been able to "create life." Scientists have succeeded in the laboratory in combining certain elements to manufacture amino acids, which produce various substances resembling organic proteins. But these combinations of elements are NOT LIVING.
Create LIFE? — they have NOT! Their bubbling broths and mysterious "witches' brews" have never produced a single LIVING CELL! That is a FACT! Let's not become "bug-eyed" about fantastic claims!
Researchers have NOT found the key to life — nor have they even come close to finding it! They have been looking in the WRONG PLACE!
Each new scientific discovery, rather than pointing the way to the key of life, has led scientists FURTHER AWAY from the real key to LIFE! The plain truth is that the "key of life" CANNOT be found in the test tube or scientific laboratory. It is NOT there!
Science is on the WRONG TRACK!
The Life-Giver Revealed As long as man seeks to find his OWN way to obtain immortal life, by changing and controlling human heredity, he is bound to fail! Only the Almighty GOD can impart LIFE.
God declares, without reservation, "See now that I, even I, am He, and there IS NO GOD WITH ME: I kill, and I make ALIVE; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand" (Deut. 32:39).
The Almighty God of the Bible is LIFE GIVER! And He reserves this divine prerogative for Himself.
In Genesis 1:1 we read that GOD created the heavens and the earth. He is the all-powerful CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE! All things were not created by the process of evolution. All things were created by the hand of GOD! "In the beginning GOD created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). God is CREATOR! Science cannot duplicate the creation of God!
When will men learn? When will they come to understand?
When will they recognize that God alone reserves the right to CREATE life — He alone gives life — He alone is LIFE GIVER!
As long as men ignore the God of Creation, who alone possesses the "key of life," they will continue to stumble and grope in ignorance!
We also find in Genesis one that God created LIFE upon the earth — both plant life (vs. 11) and animal life (vs. 20-25), and then, the greatest MYSTERY of all — human life! (Gen. 1:26-28) How plain! YOUR marvelously intricate, fantastic body — with its billions of living cells, each specialized to perform certain necessary functions, all working TOGETHER in a wonderfully complex way — was created by GOD. It did not "evolve"!
Genesis reveals that each plant reproduces "after its kind." Each animal also reproduces "after its own kind" (Gen. 1:24, etc). Animals did not later give rise to man! From the time of creation the great LAW of BIOGENESIS has been in effect. Each kind reproduces after its OWN kind, just as it does today. Each kind has its many lesser varieties, but all the varieties reproduce after their one kind. They do not become some other kind.
God set these laws in motion. They never fail! Never, for example, do catfish give birth to other than catfish. Cattle give birth only to cattle. Amoeba never to something other than amoeba. The testimony of nature shows that, always, without alteration, without fail, each Genesis KIND reproduces after its OWN created KIND! Variations and mutations may sometimes occur within a Genesis kind — but NEVER can Genesis kinds "cross" or jump gaps to give rise to totally NEW kinds!
Truly, as David was inspired to write: "O Lord, how manifold are THY WORKS! In wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is FULL of thy riches" (Ps. 104:24).
Science Gone Amuck! Long ago the forebears of modern science, the "wise" men and "learned ancients" of yesteryear, jumped the tracks of sound reasoning. The amazing story is found in your Bible, chapter one of Romans.
Notice! The apostle Paul wrote, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold [i.e., suppress] the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be KNOWN of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the CREATION OF THE WORLD are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal POWER and Godhead; so that they are without EXCUSE" (Rom. 1:18-20).
"Without excuse"! But why? Read on: "Because that, when they knew God" — yes, at one time those ancients KNEW of God — "they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became VAIN in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was DARKENED" (vs. 21).
The ancient philosophers had the testimony of Creation as a PROOF of God. They could look at the Creation around them and know there had to be a Creator. But, in their own esteemed intellect, they rejected the proof, and, as a tragic result, they became VAIN, their understanding was darkened, and they went ASTRAY from the truth! "Professing themselves to be wise, they became FOOLS"! (vs. 22)
And today, evolutionary scientists are following the SAME WRECKAGE-STREWN PATH, accepting the same old evolutionary theories, burying them-selves in the fruitless, futile search for an evolutionary "key" of life! What does the Word of God say about this fantastic search?
Again, the answer is in YOUR BIBLE!
Speaking of these end-times, the apostle Paul wrote, "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and WORSE, deceiving, and being deceived" (II Tim. 3:13). Men engaged today in a futile quest for the key of life are just as DECEIVED! The lure of immortality has blinded their minds to the plain TRUTH! Their attempts to create LIFE as destined to end in catastrophe.
Speaking of such "men of science," the apostle Paul declared: they would be "EVER LEARNING, and NEVER able to come to the knowledge of the TRUTH" (II Tim. 3:7). They are simply headed in the WRONG DIRECTION! The real key of life CANNOT be found lurking in a boiling, bubbling, soupy broth under the inquisitive eye of a microscope!
Man's Futile Ambition The real meaning behind today's fantastic quest for the "key of life" is simply this. Mankind has REJECTED the revealed knowledge of God's Word. Scientists have IGNORED the revelations of the Word of God. The Bible is ridiculed in today's classrooms.
Man has REJECTED God's Way and is striving to find his OWN way to achieve IMMORTALITY! Scientists hope that present investigation will lead them to control of human heredity, control of human characteristics and the aging process so that this knowledge can be used to control the LIFE OF MAN — and lead to HUMAN IMMORTALITY!
Already one biologist has pronounced it "not really fantastic" to think in terms of a human life span stretching across TWO CENTURIES! Research, they dreamily hope, will lead to new weapons in the battle against genetically caused diseases which today baffle mankind. Hemophilia, birth defects, cancer — these are a few of the scourges which further research is promised to eliminate.
Research in medicine and biology is to lead to man's replacing failing organs of the body, even as worn-out automobile parts can be replaced! Scientific hopes and aspirations are AWESOME! But it is all a perverted dream.
Research in fetal development may someday enable scientists — so is the claim — to improve the physique, mentality and talents of children — before they are even born! "Super-babies" are the dream! That was also Hitler's demented dream! And the result, if God does not intervene to stop it, will be a race deformed, demented and plunging to utter extinction. Remember thalidomide?
The scheme will NOT work! Science has IGNORED God!
Today's frantic search, in reality, is merely man's latest feeble attempt to devise his own IMMORTALITY — to out-promise God! It is man's newest attempt to find the mystical "fountain of youth" — the fabled "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow. But the secret of ETERNAL LIFE is not to be found in the test tube!
Science has gone amok in a wild-goose chase leading nowhere!
The truth is — God freely offers YOU the GIFT of eternal LIFE — if you are willing to believe Him — surrender to Him, keep His commandments, and OBEY Him!
The REAL Key of Life Jesus Christ declared, "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of LIVING WATER. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given..." (John 7:38-39).
Jesus said, "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into EVERLASTING LIFE" (John 4:14).
Did you notice it? What is the REAL "key of life"? It is the HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD! The Eternal God Himself will impart eternal LIFE to those who surrender to Him, repent of sin (Acts 2:38) — acknowledge that Christ died to pay for their sins and who now keep His commandments (Acts 5:32; I John 3:4) — through the Holy Spirit!
God's free gift — ETERNAL LIFE in the God Family — is available to you! Science, snooping among test tubes, has gone berserk. But, if you turn to God, the Creator of the Universe, and surrender to Him, He will GIVE you the gift of everlasting life — divine IMMORTALITY!
Research, of course, goes on. Every tiny, minute new discovery — lingering in the offing — gives scientists further encouragement. Hope springs eternal in the human breast. Tomorrow, they dream, may bring the final fantastic biological breakthrough!
But "tomorrow" will never come. That "final discovery" will never be made. God will cut short these mad experiments that could lead to a race of degenerate babies — not super-babies! Scientists will be forced to concede that they have not found the answer.
They have not "ALMOST" succeeded.