Examples of structures that have been proposed as irreducibly complex

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Examples of structures that have been proposed as
irreducibly complex
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Bacterial flagellum

• See Illustration on next slide . . .

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Matzke, N. J. (2003). Evolution in (Brownian)
Space a model for the origin of the bacterial
flagellum. Retrieved December 8, 2008, from
http//www.talkdesign.org/faqs/flagellum.html
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The eukaryotic cilium

• Whip like structure found in most eukaryotes
• Very complex
• 92 microtubule arrangement
• Many additional protein parts
• Used for movement and locomotion

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The eukaryotic cilium

• Evolutionary simpler forms found in many
  different organisms
• Simpler can easily be functional.

Figures from Finding Darwins God,Kenneth R.
Miller, 1999, New York, Perennial
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Blood Clotting
none of the cascade proteins are used for
anything except controlling the formation of a
clot. Yet in the absence of any of the
components, blood does not clot, and the system
fails. (DARWINS BLACK BOX, Behe p. 86).
Whales dolphins lack Factor XII - and their
blood still clots.
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Blood Clotting
none of the cascade proteins are used for
anything except controlling the formation of a
clot. Yet in the absence of any of the
components, blood does not clot, and the system
fails. (DARWINS BLACK BOX, Behe p. 86).
Whales dolphins lack Factor XII - and their
blood still clots.
Puffer fish lack the entire contact system - and
their blood still clots.
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Immune System Evolution
Between 1996 and 2005 each element of the
transposon hypothesis of immune system VDJ
evolution was scientifically confirmed.
Kapitonov Jurka (2005) RAG1 Core and V(D)J
Recombination Signal Sequences Were Derived from
Transib Transposons. Public Library of Science,
Biol. 3 e181..
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Emotional Investment

• Professor Behe was presented with
• fifty- eight peer-reviewed publications
• nine books
• several immunology textbook chapters about the
  evolution of the immune system
• he simply insisted that this was still not
  sufficient evidence of evolution, and that it was
  not good enough. (2319 (Behe)).

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Is Body Design Intelligent?

• Recurrent laryngeal nerve
• Goes from the brain through a tube near the
  heart to the larynx.
• One of the cranial nerves
• Direct route in fish.
• Detour of 1-2 feet in humans.
• 10-15 feet of extra nerve in giraffes.
• Why?
• Because evolution and natural selection operate
  in the short term, with each step taking place as
  a modification of what is already present.

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Grateful Acknowledgements

• Ms. Cynthia Curtis IB Biology Teacher GHS
• Pia Vogel PhD Associate Professor in Biology
  SMU
• John Wise PhD - Lecturer in Biology SMU
• Randall Scalise PhD Senior Lecturer in Physics
  at SMU
• Mark Pallen PhD - Professor of Microbial
  Genomics, Centre for Systems Biology Biosciences
  at the University of Birmingham
• Kenneth Miller PhD Professor of Biology, Royce
  Family Professor for Teaching Excellence, Brown
  University

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Mollusk Eye Evolution

• Five different eye forms found in mollusks
• Gradations from complex to very imperfect and
  simple.
• Lens material is house-keeping enzyme.
• Pathway from a simple light absorbing pigment to
  a complex camera-like eye is well worked out.

From - Evolutionary Analysis, 4th ed. Scott
Freeman and Jon Herron
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