Evolution
Intelligent Design
Could Blind Forces Build a Self-Replicating Molecule?
On a new episode of ID the Future, scientist and Stairway to Life co-author Rob Stadler and host Eric Anderson examine a recent PNAS paper on the origin of life, “An RNA Polymerase Ribozyme that Synthesizes Its Own Ancestor.” A superficial look at the paper — and its title in particular — might give the impression that the laboratory findings here render the blind evolution of the first self-replicating biological system appreciably more plausible. Not so fast, says Stadler. He and Anderson highlight various ways the laboratory work in question is wildly unrealistic. Download the podcast or listen to it here. And for a video exploring the many problems involved in blindly evolving the first self-replicator, check out a new Long Story Short animated YouTube video, created with input from Stadler, “Debunking RNA World: Replication and Chemical Evolution.”