Living things in competition with chemical engineers

The field of engineering is divided into many different branches, but its main objective is to make our daily lives more comfortable, easier and safer. A great many details we hardly think about are the products of engineering—designs and technology that have emerged after years of research, experience, and hard work by well-trained individuals.

For example, the refrigerator that keeps your food from spoiling was designed by engineers, as were your television, music set, elevator, watch, car and computer. All industrial machinery, satellites, spacecraft, and military technology are the product of engineering, representing the work and brainpower of a great many people.

Just like these designs that make our lives easier, there are countless designs in the bodies of living things that make their lives possible at all: perfectly functioning wings, cells that work like miniaturized chemical laboratories, infra-red-sensitive eyes that let their owners see in the dark, thick skin that can withstand heavy blows and harsh climatic conditions, and suckers that make it possible to walk on smooth surfaces— to name but a few.

When we compare such perfect designs in living things to the artificial designs that they often inspired, a striking parallel emerges: almost all the products of man's technology are no more than imitations of those in nature; and usually, they fail to match the superior design in living things.

In this article, we shall be examining one of the proofs of this evident truth; the chemical knowledge of bezoar goats.
   
When you want information about medicines, you go to a pharmacist who has been trained in that field. He will have considerable professional experience, know all about what various medicines contain, their purposes and side effects. Yet not even an expert on chemical compounds can tell what beneficial substances a plant may contain, by simply looking at it. How, for example, can anyone look at a foxglove and say, "There is a substance in this, digitalis, that can be used as an antidote to the heart problems"? One must either ask others who possess the requisite knowledge and experience, or else one must carry out research and experiments by oneself.

Mere guessing could be exceedingly dangerous. For example, anyone bitten by a poisonous snake needs to be treated at once. In such serious situations, when a moment's delay may result in death, one clearly, cannot resort to guesswork or trial and error.

Humans cannot carry out this difficult procedure without conducting experiments, but a great many living things have been doing this "naturally" for millions of years. For example, the Bezoar goats can neutralize snake venom. For a creature devoid of reason to know instantly what substance a plant contains, to correctly decide what purpose it serves, to know under what circumstances it should be used —and, furthermore, for all members of the species to share that knowledge— proves one single truth:

There is a power which governs that creature, inspires the necessary knowledge in it, and rules its behavior. This power belongs to Almighty Allah.

The Bezoar goat can climb up sheer rock faces. The bottoms of its hooves are rough, and the soft pads under its feet let it move with great agility. The name Bezoar actually stems from a Farsi word meaning medicine, and these goats are experts at treating themselves— thanks to this species' astonishing knowledge of chemistry.

When a Bezoar goat is bitten by a snake, immediately it begins eating one of the species of Euphorbia which grow around.

This is a most astonishing behavior, because these plants contain euphorbon, a substance that neutralizes the venom in the goat's blood system.¹

What allows these goats, who do not even touch Euphorbia in their day-to-day grazing, to use these plants as a medicinal treatment? How do they know that they need this plant because the chemicals in the plant are an effective antidote against snake venom?

It's impossible for them to find the one plant effective against snake venom by trial and error. A goat starting to test all the hundreds of kinds of plants growing around will have no time to try more than a few. Even if it is successful once, the goat will still have to make the same correct decision in the future, every time it is bitten. For the moment, let's assume that a single goat does manage to do this. Yet all its members need to display this behavior in order for the entire species not to become extinct.

Therefore, the first successful goat has to pass on its experience to others. But it is not possible for a living thing to pass on the acquired traits to succeeding generations. To use an analogy; imagine someone who graduates from university with honors. None of the knowledge he's gained or efforts he's put in will be of any use to his children or grandchildren. Any knowledge or behavior that the individual acquires will die with that individual. It's not possible for "know-how" to be injected into the genes of a living thing so that it may pass on its experience to subsequent generations. Every generation has to re-acquire the same information, directly right from scratch.

Deep consideration of examples like these is enough to show that living things' behavior cannot come about by chance. Through being inspired and taught by Allah, living things acquire all the knowledge they need. Allah leaves no living thing unguided and at the mercy of so-called chance. In one verse of the Qur'an, Allah reveals that He has complete control of and dominion over living things:

I have put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature He does not hold by the forelock. My Lord is on a straight path. (Surah Hud: 56)

1-    Iste Doga" (This is Nature), Bilim ve Teknik (Science and Technology Magazine), TUBITAK, January 1992, no. 25, vol.290, p. 49