Father Space—Did Amino Acids Seed Earth?

NASA scientists report extraterrestrial amino acids in meteorites showing evidence of exposure to extremely high temperatures. “Although we've found amino acids in carbon-rich meteorites before, we weren't expecting to find them in these specific groups, since the high temperatures they experienced tend to destroy amino acids,” says Dr. Aaron Burton, lead author on the paper announcing the discovery in Meteoritics and Planetary Science. “However,” he adds, “the kind of amino acids we discovered in these meteorites indicates that they were produced by a different, high-temperature process as their parent asteroids gradually cooled down.”

Previously found meteoric amino acids appear to have been produced by a spontaneous chemical reaction between water, cyanide, ammonia, and some simple organic compounds called aldehydes and ketones. Most of the amino acids found in these 14 Antarctic meteorites however are straight-chain amino acids that could have been produced spontaneously in a chemical reaction between hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen at high temperatures. Temperatures of 200 to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit are required to promote this reaction, and no water is required. The random mixture of simple amino acids was not limited to the amino acids found in proteins, so the researchers do not think they were contaminants.

You can begin making some prebiotic components of life very early, before you have asteroids or planets with liquid water.

Why the excitement? The researchers write, “Carbonaceous meteorites are known to contain a wealth of indigenous organic molecules, including amino acids, which suggests that these meteorites could have been an important source of prebiotic organic material during the origins of life on Earth and possibly elsewhere.”1 Since no water is required for this mode of high temperature amino acid synthesis, Burton says, “You can begin making some prebiotic components of life very early, before you have asteroids or planets with liquid water,” possibly “on dust grains in the solar nebula” that evolutionists believe condensed to form the solar system. Thus, though evolutionary scientists believe liquid water is necessary for life to evolve, these reactions could have gotten molecules-to-man evolution off to a good start by providing ready-made raw materials.

The notion that such prebiotic preparation could have eased the way for the evolution of life is based on a number of unverifiable assumptions. First of all, the nebular hypothesis explanation of the origin of the solar system suffers from flawed physics, such as the non-conservation of angular momentum and the notion that colliding stardust would stick together well enough to form planets instead of just shattering into evermore debris. More importantly, nothing observed in science suggests random collections of non-living “prebiotic” chemicals could randomly assemble themselves into living cells.

The Bible tells us God spoke the earth into existence about 6,000 years ago. On the third, fifth, and sixth days of Creation week, He created the living components of His creation. He made the sun, moon, and stars on the fourth day. Genesis specifies God made Adam from the dust of the ground.

There are many chemical reactions that can produce the chemicals we see in living things, but God created ex nihilo—from nothing. God did not require a space nebula to supply His raw materials.

Biological observations tell us life only comes from life. And information must be provided by a source of information. The living Creator God made all physical matter and all living things in the beginning, about 6,000 years ago.