Self-Sustaining RNA Enzymes And Intelligent Design

          "RNA enzymes have been made to undergo self-sustained replication in the absence of proteins, providing the basis for an artificial genetic system." (Lincoln, T., & Joyce, G. F. (2009). Self-sustained replication of an RNA enzyme. Science, 326(5955), 1269-1272. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1167856)

          RNA enzymes, also known as ribozymes, have been synthesized to undergo self-sustained replication without the need for proteins. This research provides a basis for an artificial genetic system. Some atheists claim that the creation of self-replicating RNA enzymes vindicates the notion of abiogenesis, which posits that life originated from inorganic substances through natural processes.

          Using this process as a way to give credence to the possibility of life coming from non-living matter does not hold water. These enzymes did not actually create themselves out of nothing. They did not mysteriously appear out of nowhere and start evolving on their own. This experiment is far removed from the vast and uncontrolled conditions of early Earth.

          If this scenario proves anything, then it only means that all created things require an intelligent designer. After all, these RNA enzymes were created by scientists, who have intelligence. They were developed in laboratory conditions, which are artificial, controlled, and customized by intelligent beings. So, rather than serving as a disproof of intelligent design, this development is consistent with that idea.

          The leap from simple self-replicating molecules to fully functioning cellular life involves numerous intermediate steps, which require specific conditions and unlikely coincidences. The modern theories of abiogenesis cannot account for the extraordinary complexity and design of living organisms. There is no known explanatory mechanism for how such an unguided process could work.