An article called “Transitions from Nonliving to Living Matter” was published in the 13 February 2004 edition of Science magazine. 1 Written by Steen Rasmussen of the Los Alamos National Laboratory and his colleagues, the article dealt with theses regarding studies of artificial life forms discussed at two international workshops. It stated that a life form capable of synthesis in the laboratory would perhaps be smaller than the smallest bacterium and would be quite different from any extant or extinct form of life, and provided information about studies being carried out to that end and the methods employed.
It should be known that studies of this kind provide no support for the claim that life began by chance. On the contrary, such studies constitute support for the creationist view that life emerged not by chance, but by intelligent design. These words by William D. Stansfield, former professor of biological sciences at California Polytechnic State University make the situation clear:
Creationists have looked forward to the day when science may actually create a “living” thing from simple chemicals.
They claim, and rightly so, that even if such a man-made life form could be created, this would not prove that natural life forms were developed by a similar chemical evolutionary process.
The scientist understands this and plods on testing theories. 2
In studies to synthesise cell in laboratories it is not chance, but a specially designed experimental environment, experts working to that end, and technological equipment enabling suitable conditions to be maintained that contribute to an intelligently planned and maintained process. For that reason, if these studies are eventually successful the predictions to be confirmed will be those of intelligent design, not of the theory of evolution which claims that life emerged by chance and developed due to natural causes. This most important point must be borne in mind in the evaluation of efforts to synthesise life-forms.
1. Steen Rasmussen et. al, “Transitions from Nonliving to Living Matter,” Science, vol. 303, Issue 5660, 13 February 2004, pp. 963-965
2. William D. Stansfield, The Science of Evolution, , New York: Macmillan, 1983, Eighth Printing, pp. 10-11