Engineered Complexity in the Microbial World

adaptations, bacteria, biology, Carolyn Hovde, Conference on Engineering in Living Systems, Dustin Van Hofwegen, E. coli, engineered complexity, Engineering, Evolution, evolutionary leap, genetic mechanisms, ID The Future, innovation, Intelligent Design, Jonathan Witt, Journal of Bacteriology, microbes, Podcast, Scott Minnich, University of Idaho
On a classic episode of ID the Future, host Jonathan Witt speaks with molecular biologist and professor Dustin Van Hofwegen about his research into the engineered complexity in microbial life. The two sat down at the yearly Conference on Engineering in Living Systems to discuss the event, which brings together biologists and engineers to study how engineering principles can be applied to living things, as well as Hofwegen’s article in the Journal of Bacteriology, co-authored with Carolyn Hovde and Scott Minnich, based on research conducted at the University of Idaho.  Hofwegen shares his research on the famous decades-long E. coli evolution experiment conducted by Richard Lenski, which showed the sudden appearance of an ability to utilize citrate after many generations. However, Van Hofwegen’s own Read More › Source
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Earth Left “A Path of Tools” to Scientific Discovery

Anthropic Principle, biology, cell's, devolution, earth, Evolution, Fire-Maker, fossil record, Guillermo Gonzalez, Intelligent Design, Irreducible Complexity, Jonathan Witt, Michael Denton, physics, Physics, Earth & Space, scientific discovery, The Farm at the Center of the Universe, The Privileged Planet
The fine-tunings for scientific discovery and technological progress are very interesting to me and not just because they defeat the anthropic principle. Source
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To Address the Problem of Evil, Intelligent Design Is Better Situated than Darwinism

atoms, C.S. Lewis, cancer, Center for Science and Culture, Darwinists, David Klinghoffer, Edward O. Wilson, evil, Evolution, Faith & Science, Ferrari, Frans de Waal, Guillermo Gonzalez, https://returnofthegodhypothesis.com, Intelligent Design, John West, Jonathan Witt, laws of nature, Lord of the Flies, molecules, morality, natural evil, Nicholas Wade, Return of the God Hypothesis, Richard Hill, Stephen Meyer, Tacoma Narrows bridge, The C. S. Lewis Readers’ Encyclopedia, The Farm at the Center of the Universe, The Problem of Pain, trade-offs, William Golding
The questions I see coming into the Center for Science and Culture from our readers, friends, and supporters are thought-provoking. Source
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Understanding Design Arguments: An Introduction for Catholics

Aristotle, atomists, Benjamin Wiker, biology, Church Fathers, Democritus, Douglas Axe, Epicurus, Evolution, Faith & Science, God's Grandeur, Gregory of Nazianzen, Intelligent Design, James Sinclair, Jonathan Witt, Leucippus, Michael Behe, Michael Denton, New Atheists, philosophy, physics, Plato, Robin Collins, Roman Catholics, Scopes Monkey Trial, scripture, Socrates, Stephen Meyer, stereotypes, Vatican I, william lane craig, Xenophon, zero-sum game
What ID denies is that every feature of nature is the product of natural forces all the way down. This commitment is necessarily shared by Catholics. Source
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The Tragedy of Francis Collins’s Model for Science-Faith Integration 

abortion, Bible, Casey Luskin, China, Christianity, Christianity Today, Culture & Ethics, Darwin Day in America, Darwinian evolution, Downs syndrome, Ed Stetzer, ENCODE, Evangelical Christians, Francis Collins, gain-of-function research, George W. Bush, Intelligent Design, Jonathan Witt, Junk DNA, Karl Giberson, Kenneth Miller, Mark Galli, Medicine, Michael Behe, Michael Carome, National Institutes of Health, Obama Administration, pastores, premature babies, professors, pundists, Science (journal), The Language of God, The New England Journal of Medicine, University of Alabama-Birmingham, vaccination
The depiction of Francis Collins as someone who has developed a good model for integrating faith and science is in many respects a tragic myth. Source
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Answering an Objection: “You Can’t Measure Intelligent Design”

Charles Lyell, cosmology, Darwinian evolution, Douglas Axe, Eugenie Scott, evolutionary biology, geologists, Geology, historical sciences, intelligent agency, Intelligent Design, Intelligent Design Uncensored, Jonathan Witt, National Center for Science Education, Planck time, probability bound, specified complexity, specified information, Stephen Jay Gould, theo-meter, William Dembski
We test intelligent design in the same way that we test all historical scientific theories. Source
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Michael Behe on the Design Idea That Won’t Go Away (and Shouldn’t)

Charles Darwin, Darwin's Black Box, Del Ratzsch, Evolution, evolutionary mechanism, Intelligent Design, Irreducible Complexity, Jonathan Witt, Michael Behe, molecular machines, Podcast
On a new episode of ID the Future, Jonathan Witt catches up with Darwin’s Black Box author and biochemist Michael Behe at the 2020 Dallas Conference on Science & Faith, where the two discuss an idea that many wish would just go away, but hasn’t. Download the podcast or listen to it here. Charles Darwin himself told us how his evolutionary theory could be overturned: identify a biological system that couldn’t possibly have evolved by “numerous success successive slight modifications.” It’s to Darwin’s credit that he put his theory in “empirical harm’s way,” to quote philosopher Del Ratzsch. But as Witt and Behe note, Darwin also cleverly placed the burden of proof on his opponents, an arguably dubious maneuver given that his proposed evolutionary mechanism has never once been observed…
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