support the carbon-14 ages of only thousands of
years for the fossils.
The Cell
Finally, current evidence indicates it is
impossible for life to start by itself. Textbooks
sometimes refer to this as abiogenesis or the
chemical evolution of life. The first living cell
would require hundreds of different types of
very large molecules, including the genetic
code compounds (RNA and/or DNA) to form by
themselves. These molecules are difficult if not
impossible to synthesize in the laboratory let alone
form naturally—and most are relatively unstable,
readily breaking down into smaller inactive
compounds. Moreover, millions of copies of some
of these molecules would be necessary to provide
concentrations sufficient to make hundreds of
biochemical reactions go in just the right direction
at just the right rate—in order to have life.
Mathematical modeling indicates this is
absolutely impossible to happen by chance alone.
In fact, if we take a live single-cell E. coli bacteria
and make a small hole in its outer membrane, its
chemical reactions are so disrupted that the cell will
die. Furthermore, no human can make it come back