Michael J. Behe : Irreducible complexity and ID.

Summary :

According to William Dembski, Intelligence in creation leaves behind a trademark, what he calls "Specified Complexity". He exhibits in his books, that Darwinian mechanisms are incapable of generating this specified complexity, existing in biological organisms. Thus, William Dembski concludes that science needs to adopt intelligent design's theories.

Résumé :   

Selon W.Dembski, l’”intelligence” dans la création laisse une « marque de fabrique »derrière elle, ce qu’il appelle : la  “ complexité spécifiée ». Il démontre dans ses ouvrages, que les mécanismes darwiniens sont incapables de produire la complexité spécifiée existant dans les organismes biologiques. Ainsi, W.Dembski estime que la science a besoin d’adopter les théories du « dessein intelligent ».

Source :

This article is extracted from the Natural History Magazine. This scientific magazine gives close up and simple views on natural, scientific and cultural phenomenon. It is affiliated with American museums and science centers, such as the American Museum of natural history. Contributors to the Natural History Magazine are top scientists or specialists on the issues discussed. The Natural History Magazine published a special report on Intelligent Design, presenting the pros and cons of ID, making each position clear to understand.

This text, untitled “The challenge of irreducible complexity: every living cell contains many ultraspohisticated molecular machines” is extracted from the special report on ID.

It is from Michael J.Behe, one of the leading exponents of ID. He's Professor of biological sciences at Pennsylvania’s Lehigh University and he gives scientific arguments in favour of ID.

Text :

Scientists use the term “black box” for a system whose inner workings are unknown. To Charles Darwin and his contemporaries, the living cell was a black box because its fundamental mechanisms were completely obscure. We now know that, far from being formed from a kind of simple, uniform protoplasm (as many nineteenth-century scientists believed), every living cell contains many ultrasophisticated molecular machines.
How can we decide whether Darwinian natural selection can account for the amazing complexity that exists at the molecular level? Darwin himself set the standard when he acknowledged, “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.”
Some systems seem very difficult to form by such successive modifications—I call them irreducibly complex. An everyday example of an irreducibly complex system is the humble mousetrap. It consists of (1) a flat wooden platform or base; (2) a metal hammer, which crushes the mouse; (3) a spring with extended ends to power the hammer; (4) a catch that releases the spring; and (5) a metal bar that connects to the catch and holds the hammer back. You can’t catch a mouse with just a platform, then add a spring and catch a few more mice, then add a holding bar and catch a few more. All the pieces have to be in place before you catch any mice.
Irreducibly complex systems appear very unlikely to be produced by numerous, successive, slight modifications of prior systems, because any precursor that was missing a crucial part could not function. Natural selection can only choose among systems that are already working, so the existence in nature of irreducibly complex biological systems poses a powerful challenge to Darwinian theory. We frequently observe such systems in cell organelles, in which the removal of one element would cause the whole system to cease functioning. The flagella of bacteria are a good example. They are outboard motors that bacterial cells can use for self-propulsion. They have a long, whiplike propeller that is rotated by a molecular motor. The propeller is attached to the motor by a universal joint. The motor is held in place by proteins that act as a stator. Other proteins act as bushing material to allow the driveshaft to penetrate the bacterial membrane. Dozens of different kinds of proteins are necessary for a working flagellum. In the absence of almost any of them, the flagellum does not work or cannot even be built by the cell.
Another example of irreducible complexity is the system that allows proteins to reach the appropriate subcellular compartments. In the eukaryotic cell there are a number of places where specialized tasks, such as digestion of nutrients and excretion of wastes, take place. Proteins are synthesized outside these compartments and can reach their proper destinations only with the help of “signal” chemicals that turn other reactions on and off at the appropriate times. This constant, regulated traffic flow in the cell comprises another remarkably complex, irreducible system. All parts must function in synchrony or the system breaks down. Still another example is the exquisitely coordinated mechanism that causes blood to clot.
Biochemistry textbooks and journal articles describe the workings of some of the many living molecular machines within our cells, but they offer very little information about how these systems supposedly evolved by natural selection. Many scientists frankly admit their bewilderment about how they may have originated, but refuse to entertain the obvious hypothesis: that perhaps molecular machines appear to look designed because they really are designed.
I am hopeful that the scientific community will eventually admit the possibility of intelligent design, even if that acceptance is discreet and muted. My reason for optimism is the advance of science itself, which almost every day uncovers new intricacies in nature, fresh reasons for recognizing the design inherent in life and the universe.

Michael J. Behe, who received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978, is a professor of biological sciences at Pennsylvania’s Lehigh University. His current research involves the roles of design and natural selection in building protein structure. His book Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution is available in paperback (Touchstone Books, 1998).

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