The Evolutionist Deceptions in the Documentary the Shape of Life

The first in the series of documentaries called The Shape of Life, jointly produced by the PBS and the National Geographic Society, was about the origin of animals (metazoans). The scientific deceptions contained in that documentary, which attempted to describe how the first multicellular organisms came into being, are set out below.

The Organization Within the Sponge Cannot be Explained by Evolution

At the beginning of the documentary there is an account of how one day, in some way, sponge cells living independently of one another took a decision among themselves to live together. In fact, in line with the familiar evolutionist scenario, the program even said that " Somehow, cells developed a language that allowed  them to work together." Yet, the fact is that this imaginary account—the product of the evolutionists' own fantasy world—is a complete violation of the facts.

The origin of the organization in living things is one of the fundamental questions for which the theory of evolution can never offer a logical explanation. There is absolutely no reason for cells that can function independently of one another to begin to act together. Yet, the different cells in all multicellular organisms do work together towards a common purpose in an extremely organized manner. The sponge is one example of this flawless organization among cells.

Despite its very simple appearance, the sponge, an animal from the phylum Porifera, actually consists of exceedingly complex cells. These cells, organized in two layers, set up a continuous flow of water inside the sponge. On the one hand, the plankton in the water are filtered and digested; on the other, waste material is deposited into the flow and carried away. In this way, the sponge functions like a funnel in a specially established current.

The cells cannot have adopted the principle of working together by themselves. That is because they come into being already in possession of the special connecting nodules that bind them together. When sponge cells approach one another, these connecting nodules grip one another and an organized, multicellular appearance emerges. In short, sponge cells were designed to work together. When they are all together, they immediately acquire a nature of their own and assume the duties regarding the particular layer they are in. With the enzymes they produce and their chemical digestion methods, sponge cells are actually very complex.

This organization does not come about with their knowledge. Cells have no brain, nervous system, or consciousness. That is why there can be no question of "cells' inventing a language of communication amongst themselves." The statement in the film that "the cells somehow invented a language by which they could work together" is as nonsensical and unrealistic as saying, "the paints somehow found a language between themselves and produced the Mona Lisa." Like all other paintings in the world, the Mona Lisa was created by a conscious artist. Life was created in the same conscious manner.

The sponge cells take their shape, characteristics, and function from the design described in the DNA sequence placed within them. It is impossible for them to invent anything new or to write any information in that DNA to allow them to acquire a new function. Thus, not even the existence of the sponge, described as "the simplest animal organization" by evolutionists, can be accounted for by a process of evolution. Like all living things, sponges are evidence of the fact of creation.

Sponges, which are regarded as having the simplest animal organization, are actually very complex. They attract scientists' attention because of their unusual cellular organization (the cells do not form tissues such as those found in other animals), their ability to regenerate lost parts, and their biochemical features (they have many compounds not known in other animals). This intricate design and perfect organization in such a simple-seeming organism as the sponge is evidence for God's incomparable creation.

The Contradictions in DNA Comparisons Refute the Theory of Evolution

In the final part of the documentary, it is claimed that the sponge is the ancestor of all animals. This claim rests on a comparison of certain fundamental areas in the DNA sequences in living species with the same areas in the sponge DNA chain. In this way, the finding of similar DNA sequences is regarded as evidence of ancestral relationship by evolutionists.

The fact is, however, that this logic is invalid. DNA is a common language by which life is described. If we think of DNA as sentences which describe how a cell works, DNA consists of different sentences in which different words are used. The fact that the same words are encountered is the inevitable result of the fact that this coded language employs only four letters. To put it another way, the finding of similarities in DNA does not in any way show that living things had a common ancestor. This similarity is proof not of a "common ancestor," but of "common design." Every similarity we encounter proves the common aspect of the design in living things.

On the other hand, just the length of the DNA in the sponge is sufficient to invalidate the evolutionists' expectations. The DNA of the sponge, put forward as the "primal animal ancestor," consists of 1.8 billion base pairs (1.80pg.) According to the evolutionary family tree, the DNA of the tench (species Tinca tinca) should be a great deal longer than this, whereas in fact it is only half the length of sponge DNA, consisting of a mere 810 million base pairs (0.81pg.) The chicken, described as a much more advanced species than the sponge in the evolutionary family tree, also has DNA that is shorter, at 1.25 billion base pairs (1.25pg.)

As we have seen, the genetic facts are at total variance with the assumptions of the theory of evolution. As the scientific findings have shown, living species did not evolve from one another, but were created separately. (For further details regarding genetic comparisons and the theory of evolution, see http://harunyahya.com/en/works/592/.)

Conclusion

The flawless design in living species invalidates the idea of the evolutionary process. Evolutionists are unable to account for even the emergence of a single cell by means of evolution, so it is meaningless for them to try to use evolution to explain the organization between those cells. Chance and unconscious atoms cannot produce superior design.

The DNA in cells is a description written in the same language in all the millions of different living species. The fact that the information is written in the same language does not support the claim that these species came about by chance and evolved from one another. On the contrary, it shows that they were created according to a common design. This is a scientific expression of the fact that God created all living things.