Peter wrote:
>But can you specify any feasible scientific tests for the following
>propositions? (If not, why not?)
>
>(1) Life can emerge spontaneously by purely natural means.
>
>(2) Novel enzymatic activities (not slight modifications or new
>combinations of pre-existing ones) can emerge spontaneously by purely
>natural means.
Firstly, I am assuming that by "purely natural" you mean that matter has
the properties capable of organizing into living things without any breaks
or "gaps" in the continuity of casue-and-effect processes. However, if you
mean "without divine action or participation" then the answer in of course
no - as this is a not question that can conceivably be addressed by
scientific means. The existence or action of God is non amenable to
scientific test.
Both of the questions your list are areas of extensive current research.
These are clearly scientific questions, even if we do not currently have a
solid handle on the most likely answers. I am excited by the current
discoveries being made - which show slow but continued progress in
addressing these questions. Much progress has been made in our
understanding of primordial Earth conditions, on the environments and
biology of extremophile archeobacteria, on both terrestrial and space
environments conducive to the synthesis of organic molecules, on the
autocatalysis of RNA, on the random generation of functional proteins, and
on factors that can generate excesses of L- or D- amino acids. (With regard
to the latter I just recently ran onto a book called "Advances in
Biochirality" edited by G. Palyi, C. Zucchi, and L. Caglioti and published
by Elsevier (1999).)
If such research continues to prove to be fruitful then our confidence that
the scientific hypothesis that matter does indeed have the requisite
capabilities to bring forth living things is in fact true would be
supported. That is how any scientific model works. It is never proven,
but either eventually abandoned for lack of fruitfull progress, modified to
accomodate novel discoveries, or increasing supported by new data.
Keith
Keith B. Miller
Department of Geology
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506
kbmill@ksu.edu
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~kbmill/
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