Dinosaur Soft Tissue—Have Evolutionists Solved the Problem?

Well, a recent popular science article asks, “How are dinosaur tissues preserved in deep time?” To answer this question, the authors appeal to older research from Dr. Mary Schweitzer regarding iron, and they summarize new research on “crosslinking.” So what does all this mean—and has it solved the problem of soft tissue for the evolutionist? AiG’s Dr. Georgia Purdom explains,

The big question that evolutionists must answer is how soft tissue in dinosaur bones could be preserved for millions of years. Biomolecules like proteins are not estimated to last more than one million years, and in my opinion as a geneticist who has worked with proteins in the lab, this length is highly unlikely. However, soft tissue is found in dinosaurs ranging from supposedly 65 million years to more than 125 million years old!

Dr. Mary Schweitzer’s research group has postulated that iron is the key. The iron, likely from hemoglobin in red blood cells, reacts with oxygen, resulting in proteins forming crosslinks. The crosslinks stabilize the protein. Dr. Jasmina Wiemann’s research group has postulated that carbonyl groups from fats and sugars also react in ways to form crosslinks in proteins. Iron reacting with oxygen can also form carbonyl groups, so the two processes may overlap and lead to crosslinking proteins.

The problem is the amount of iron required to preserve soft tissue just isn’t available. In experiments done by Schweitzer’s group, they used levels of iron many times higher than would be found in hemoglobin from red blood cells. Fats and sugars degrade quickly, so the idea that they could contribute to crosslinking seems far-fetched as well.

Evolutionists are desperate to find a way to make the evidence of soft tissue “fit” with millions of years. But there’s a much simpler and better explanation! Dinosaurs were buried quickly and deeply as a result of Noah’s flood just over 4,000 years ago. The tissue was well-preserved and is relatively young, which is why we find it today. We don’t need to “fit” the evidence into the Bible. Instead, starting with the Bible makes perfect sense of the evidence!

The question still remains, “How could soft tissue last for millions of years?” The answer? It can’t!

No, evolutionists haven’t solved their problem. The question still remains, “How could soft tissue last for millions of years?” The answer? It can’t! But that’s not a problem, because fossils aren’t millions of years old—most of them were buried during the global flood of Noah’s day just a few thousand years ago.

Get More Answers on Answers News

This item was discussed Monday on Answers News with cohosts Dr. Georgia Purdom, Patricia Engler, and Jessica Jaworski. Answers News is our weekly news program filmed live before a studio audience here at the Creation Museum and broadcast on our Answers in Genesis YouTube channel and posted to Answers TV. We also covered the following topics:

• Life peaked billions of years ago?
• Is AI a “weapon” against faith?
• Is skipping church bad for your health?
• And more!

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Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.