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Index to Creationist Claims,  edited by Mark Isaak,    Copyright © 2005
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Claim CB200.3:

The biochemistry of protein transport within a cell is irreducibly complex, indicating that it must have been designed.

Source:

Behe, Michael J. 1996. Darwin's Black Box, New York: The Free Press, pp. 98-116.

Response:

  1. Despite the complexity of the system that Behe describes, protein transport need not be that complex. Some proteins direct their own secretion so that no transport mechanism is necessary (see references in Ussery 1999). Certainly, other simple systems that could serve as precursors to vesicular transport should be possible.

  2. Many of the proteins involved in transport in eukaryote cells have molecular "ancestors" in bacteria. These molecules, the ABC transporters, serve in a much simpler system. If Behe is interested in the simplest system that accomplishes a function, why does he not even mention them?

  3. Irreducible complexity is not an obstacle to evolution and doesn't imply design.

References:

  1. Ussery, David. 1999. A biochemist's response to "The biochemical challenge to evolution". Bios 70: 40-45. http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/staff/dave/Behe.html

Further Reading:

Ussery, D. 1999. (see above)
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created 2001-2-17, modified 2003-9-3