Proteins are the machinery of living tissue that builds the structures and carries out the chemical reactions necessary for life.
Thus it seemed to Haeckel that such simple life could easily be produced from inanimate material.
It is a shock to us in the twentieth century to discover, from observations science has made, that the fundamental mechanisms of life cannot be ascribed to natural selection, and therefore were designed. But we must deal with our shock as best we can and go on.
It is often said that science must avoid any conclusions which smack of the supernatural.
Science is not a game in which arbitrary rules are used to decide what explanations are to be permitted.
As can be seen even by this limited number of examples proteins carry out amazingly diverse functions.
In many biological structures proteins are simply components of larger molecular machines.
In order to say that some function is understood, every relevant step in the process must be elucidated.
It was only about sixty years ago that the expansion of the universe was first observed.
The point here is that physics followed the data where it seemed to lead, even though some thought the model gave aid and comfort to religion.
The theory of undirected evolution is already dead, but the work of science continues.
The basic structure of proteins is quite simple they are formed by hooking together in a chain discrete subunits called amino acids.
We are not inferring design to account for a black box, but to account for an open box.
It was a shock to people of the nineteenth century when they discovered, from observations science had made, that many features of the biological world could be ascribed to the elegant principle of natural selection.
It is often said that science must avoid any conclusions which smack of the supernatural.