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Beyond Evolution: Unraveling the Origins of Life with Stephen Meyer and James Tour | Uncommon Knowledge | Peter Robinson | Hoover Institution

Uncommon Knowledge

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Complexity Outstrips Capability

The process of creating functional life from basic components is fraught with myriad challenges far beyond initial expectations. Even with the collaboration of top scientists and access to the best resources, assembling a living system remains an insurmountable task, highlighting the complexities involved in synthetic biology. The stark contrast between theoretical capability and practical execution reveals that issues extend well beyond a few identifiable problems, with potentially thousands of obstacles to overcome. The notion that time could resolve these challenges is fundamentally misguided, as it underscores a deeper misunderstanding of the intricacies necessary for life’s assembly.

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Speaker 3
I mean, this is
Speaker 2
what they're going to... You took the carburetor out of one car and put a carburetor from another car in and said, hey, look,
Speaker 1
we made a car.
Speaker 3
Because they're not going to know where to begin. There's so many problems. It's not just five problems. I talk about five problems because these are five you're going to have to solve, but that's five of 5,000 that are facing you that just to begin, none of these do we know how to make the polymers. None of these do we know how to assemble them. We're just lost on every, every phase. It is a, it is a big scam. One
Speaker 1
more question. Jim, I'm going to quote you again. I'm quoting your article. Imagine that the world's best synthetic chemists, biochemists and evolutionary biologists have got combined forces to form a team, a dream team. Money is no object. They have at their disposal the most advanced analytical facilities, the complete scientific literature, synthetic and natural coupling agents, and all the reagents their hearts might desire. They have a lot of things I don't even understand, but they have it all. Carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids, and nucleic acids are stored in their laboratories in a state of 100% purity. With the Dream Team, I'm continuing to quote Dr. Tour, with the Dream Team, please assemble a living system, take your time folks, take a few billion years. Nothing? Well, well, well. Okay, Jim. This expresses your frustration. I get that. If there's one piece of this that still puzzles me, you say take a few billion years. Isn't that still the argument? That if you give it enough time, somehow or other, it's an immensely

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