Sydney, Sep 15 (Inditop.com) An international team of researchers has come by molecular evidence to support a key tenet of Darwin’s theory of evolution.
Trevor Lithgow, Monash University’s professor, said the breakthrough provides a blueprint for a general understanding of the evolution of the “machinery” of our cells. The study has been funded by the Australian Research Council.
“Our cells, and the cells of all organisms, are composed of molecular machines. These machines are built of component parts, each of which contributes a partial function or structural element to the machine.”
How such sophisticated, multi-component machines could evolve has been somewhat mysterious, and highly controversial,” Lithgow said.
A non-Darwinian explanation, from believers of Intelligent Design, proposed these complex machines to be “irreducibly complex”.
In other words they are so neatly complex and complete that they couldn’t have evolved but rather must have been designed by an intelligent entity.
“Our research shows that these machines although complete and complex, were a result of evolution,” said Lithgow, according to a Monash University release.
“Simple ‘core’ machines were established in the first eukaryotes by drawing on pre-existing proteins that had previously provided distinct, simplistic functions,” he added.
“A eukaryote is an organism whose cells are organised into complex structures enclosed within membranes. They therefore stand as proof that Darwin’s theory of evolution breaks down at the molecular level,” Lithgow said.
These findings were published recently in PNAS.
