What Is Happening in AiG’s Research Department?

What do blood cells in a fossilized insect, Noah’s sons, dinosaur soft tissue, the Grand Canyon, and stars all have in common?

They are all topics of AiG research projects. Our research department, with our several PhD scientists, is involved with all of them to one degree or another. Our scientists are currently waiting for funding to commence their research or to continue projects. Let me fill you in on some of the fascinating details.

To me, research can be both boring and exciting at the same time! Boring—because sometimes it seems to take millions of years for our researchers to meticulously carry out their investigations! Exciting—because after years of research, our speakers and writers (and you, our supporter) can use the results to show people how observational science confirms the Bible’s account in Genesis and devastates evolutionary ideas.

Take the research of Dr. Gabriela Haynes. She’s our new PhD paleontologist who came to work in AiG’s research department from Brazil. She is chomping at the bit to conduct more detailed research on a very exciting project and build on some preliminary work she has already conducted. Here is Dr. Haynes’s proposal:

Soft tissue in fossils was always something interesting for me as a paleontologist. Then, during my PhD research on Hymenoptera (wasps, ants, and bees) while I was looking for pollens, I found something that looked like blood cells in an insect fossil. As a creationist, that brought me a lot of excitement!

At first my secular colleagues were excited to do some research, but then they concluded that those blood cells could not belong to the wasp since it is dated to supposedly 120 million years. They told me, “It is contamination. Don’t bother.” I just thought that their answer was not very scientific, and, as a creationist, I believed that there was a chance those blood cells were not the result of contamination. I tried to make them study the material, but it was in vain. They had already settled the case in their minds. . . 

I did some research by myself, and all the results I had were pointing to soft tissue material and blood cells. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the support from my secular colleagues to use the laboratory and run more tests. So new funds would allow me to support this research that has important implications for the biblical account of Creation and the Genesis flood.

There are now many examples of soft tissue found in fossils supposed to be millions of years old.

In fact, there are now many examples of soft tissue found in fossils supposed to be millions of years old. Much more research needs to be done in this vital area.

Then there’s our Harvard-trained PhD scientist, Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson. We recently published his monumental book, Replacing Darwin. His ground-breaking book details his genetics research to clearly show that speciation, adaptation, and natural selection, when properly understood, devastate Darwinian evolution.

Dr. Jeanson has also been conducting research into human genetics. He’s looking into whether there’s evidence from human populations to confirm the biblical account of history beginning about 6,000 years ago. Dr. Jeanson’s research also has important things to say about the event of the Flood (i.e., all humans today are descendants of Noah’s sons) and the account of the Tower of Babel.

His research to date is blowing the evolutionary time scale out the window. But we need to do more detailed research before his results can be published. Here is his proposal.

In our culture, few things provoke more ridicule than the idea that the earth is just 6,000 years old. As a biologist, I’ve witnessed my anti-evolutionary colleagues critique evolution—and deftly avoid the contentious and embarrassing age question—for decades. With the advent of modern genetics, this avoidance is no longer possible.

For example, within each of our bodies, we have genetic “clocks” that have marked the passage of time since the dawn of humanity. If anyone wants to explain the origin of mankind, they must deal with these genetic clocks. My published research has found evidence that these clocks have ticked for only 6,000 years.

I’m now exploring an even more powerful implication of this finding: if the global genetic differences among humans reflect 6,000 years, then they should also bear the stamp of the known history of civilization. If evolution were true, this stamp would be very difficult to detect. Instead, my initial results are showing that 6,000 years are indeed the hero of the plot. New funds would allow me to pursue this research further by obtaining new DNA sequences from other ethnic groups, further confirming this stamp of civilization—and underscoring the Bible’s accuracy on the age of the earth.

Known major events in human history actually show up in his genetics research!

Dr. Jeanson’s research also has some other interesting aspects. Known major events in human history actually show up in his genetics research! Incredible stuff!

As you know, evolutionists often use astronomy in an attempt to prove their billions of years/evolutionary history of the universe. There is so much more research needed in astronomy, and we praise the Lord that our PhD astronomer, Dr. Danny Faulkner, is involved in all sorts of such fascinating research. Here is his proposal for one particular project:

I have been working and publishing in the field of eclipsing binary stars for four decades. Two other creation astronomers who are close associates of mine also have studied eclipsing binary stars for years. We often have wondered why all three of us ended up in this field, and we may now know the answer to that question. Due to magnetic interactions of close binary stars, their orbital periods change. We are seeing evidence that these systems are changing far faster than previously thought.

These orbital changes place constraints upon the maximum possible ages of such systems, and it appears that their maximum ages must be far younger than the billions of years typically thought. This is very difficult to resolve with the evolutionary paradigm, but it is quite consistent with recent creation. Therefore, it is important that we continue to study this very interesting possibility.

You may have been wondering what has been happening with the research of Dr. Andrew Snelling, who is involved in researching the massive folding of sedimentary strata in the Grand Canyon. This is the project that the Grand Canyon National Park and secular scientists tried to stop. But a legal challenge was lodged on our behalf by the religious freedom group, Alliance Defending Freedom. Because of clear and obvious violations of our First Amendment rights (discrimination, because we were Christians) by the federal government, Grand Canyon officials were forced to settle, and all the necessary specimens were collected.

Dr. Snelling’s ongoing research at the Canyon will eventually be published.

AiG is also producing a powerful documentary about the religious discrimination faced by Dr. Snelling, his legal battle, and the results of his powerful Flood-affirming research. The research is ongoing and will take a number of months to conclude.

Here is an update from Dr. Snelling, our PhD geologist who heads up the AiG research department and the editor of our Answers Research Journal:

Evolutionary geologists claim the flat-lying sedimentary layers exposed like a stack of pancakes in the walls of the Grand Canyon were deposited grain by grain over 300 million years. Then some 150 million years later those layers were bent as the area was pushed up by earth movements to form a plateau. By that time, those layers were hard and brittle, so when they were bent, the rocks should have cracked and shattered. Or, because of the burial of these layers under a two-mile thickness of other layers above them, the pressure and heat may have made the rocks plastic enough to bend them smoothly as well.

What we find is the layers are bent smoothly without any major cracking or shattering. So the layers had to have been bent while still soft. Thus, I have collected samples from these layers where they are bent and from well away from the bent layers for comparison. The laboratory and microscope examination results so far show no differences in either the minerals or the textures present in these sedimentary layers.

What this research shows is that those layers could not be millions of years old—they couldn’t have been bent millions of years after they were laid down.

What this research shows is that those layers could not be millions of years old—they couldn’t have been bent millions of years after they were laid down. The evolutionary story doesn’t fit at all. Dr. Snelling has found a lot of intriguing evidence he will reveal when he publishes the results. But he wants to cross every t and dot every i first—secularists will place his research under intense scrutiny. Funds were successfully raised for Dr. Snelling’s initial research, but there’s much more that he could accomplish.

Now, it only took you a few minutes to read this letter. But the research I’ve outlined for you can take many months—or even a few years—to complete. And yet, such research is vital for AiG. We need to ensure that AiG maintains the highest integrity in all we write and say. We also need to show people (including the skeptics) that we have conducted careful research—and the results cannot be ignored.

Each research project can cost many tens of thousands of dollars. And because it can take quite a while to obtain the results and communicate the findings to the world, it’s sometimes harder to get people to fund research. But it’s a vital component of what we do.

I sometimes smile in my public talks as I share a particular piece of powerful evidence, but I take just a minute to do it! I know it may have taken two years of painfully meticulous work for a researcher to complete the work.

Yes, I am passionate about our research team and their work. The exceptional efforts of AiG’s research department (our research publications, lab testing, staff, etc.) are a key part of AiG’s core ministry.

The ongoing research by our PhD scientists is so important in today’s anti-Christian culture.

The ongoing research by our PhD scientists is so important in today’s anti-Christian culture. With teens and young adults going back to school soon and often bombarded with evolution and millions of years, it’s crucial that students have the tools and the information they need to help refute the many attacks on the Bible.

Your prayers and support are vital to AiG as we continue our important research and produce the resources that are so needed today. More than ever, we must combat the false evolutionary views that permeate the world (and often the church) and share the good news of salvation.

Thank you in advance for your prayers and ongoing partnership with us!