molecular machines

Discover the amazing world of micro-machines inside our cells — and learn about biochemist Michael Behe’s personal quest to understand what brought them about. Further Exploration Use the links below to explore more about the issues raised in this episode. More about Michael Behe Michael Behe biography Michael Behe books and articles VIDEO: Michael Behe: Up Close and Personal VIDEO: Read More ›

Now, learn the story of the beginning of the intelligent design movement and the ongoing debate between Darwin’s theory and design in the documentary Revolutionary: Michael Behe and the Mystery of Molecular Machines – available for free online! Find it at revolutionarybehe.com. As we know, random changes and undirected natural processes routinely succeed in assembling functional equipment for a range of uses. Do you need, say, a new outboard motor? Just dump some of the necessary components in a field or something, give it a little time, and presto. Hook this baby up to your favorite recreational watercraft, and away you go! Wait…it doesn’t work that way? Why didn’t you tell us sooner? We were all set to go fishing this weekend. If that’s the Read More ›

Masterpieces of microengineering, kinesins are motorized transport machines that move cellular materials to their correct locations in the cell so they can perform their functions. Kinesins have two feet, or “globular heads,” that literally walk, one foot over another. Known as the “workhorses of the cell,” kinesins can carry cargo many times their own size.

Intelligent design or theistic evolution? In this video, filmed at the 2013 European Leaders’ Forum in Wisla, Poland, Dr. Meyer debates physicist Dr. Ard Louis on the origin of biological systems. Meyer presents the evidence for intelligent design, while Louis maintains that neo-Darwinian processes played a key role in the development of complex life. Part 1 is Dr. Meyer’s opening Read More ›

Modern biology has discovered that cells are like miniaturized factories that function using micromolecular machines. In Darwin’s Black Box (1996), Lehigh University biochemist Michael Behe proposed that many of these molecular machines exhibit irreducible complexity and therefore could not have been produced by an undirected Darwinian process. Instead, they appear to be the product of intelligent design. Behe’s book initiated a firestorm of controversy both inside and outside of the scientific community, and the debate continues to rage. As the responses below demonstrate, Behe’s arguments have not been refuted. Indeed, the case for the irreducible complexity of the bacterial flagellum and other molecular machines has continued to grow.

As it struggles to comprehend nature, science sometimes has to completely re-think how the world works. For example, Newton’s laws apply to everyday objects but can’t handle nature’s tiny building blocks. Propelled by this discovery, quantum mechanics overthrew Newton’s theory. Revolutions in biology have included the cell theory of life in the 19th century, as well as the slow realization Read More ›