Shapiro: Bacteria are the Smartest Cell Biologists on the Planet

Ahoy science geeks!  Shapiro strikes again with another article that is a feast for weird minds like mine!  In an article he wrote in January of this year, Shapiro says

Truly, bacteria are the smartest cell biologists on the planet because they control events in cells of higher organisms in a way that mere human scientists can only dream of imitating.

And I love the final question he poses …

(II) How did the bacteria come to be such sophisticated cell biologists and evolve the capacity to produce molecules that subvert the cell control regimes of higher organisms to their own (i.e. the bacteria’s) benefit? To my mind, this is a far deeper and, ultimately, far more rewarding question to pose. 

Let us conclude this blog in the head-scratching mode, which is the right place for scientists to be. I am in the habit of telling students, “If you’re not confused, you’re not doing science” — by which I mean: if we already know the answer, there is nothing new to learn from asking the question. Even when we think we know the answer, as in the case of bacteria evolving antibiotic resistance, nature may well have another solution we never considered. It is salutary to remember that this last point proves more often to be the rule than the exception. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-a-shapiro/bacterial-antibiotic-resistance_b_1192507.html

I have an answer for Dr. Shapiro … “In the beginning God created … ” But Dr. Shapiro does not seem quite ready to embrace that answer although he seems closer than some. Way back in 1997 he wrote …

The point of this discussion is that our current knowledge of genetic change is fundamentally at variance with neo-Darwinist postulates. http://shapiro.bsd.uchicago.edu/Shapiro.1997.BostonReview1997.ThirdWay.pdf

Yes, Dr. Shapiro, it is indeed. I would highly recommend Shapiro’s “Third Way” paper to anyone who likes discussing science and the Bible with people. The Bible is the accurate, infallible Word of the Creator to Mankind … but many Christians today have trouble answering tough questions. Hope this helps!

2 Responses to “Shapiro: Bacteria are the Smartest Cell Biologists on the Planet”

  1. An outstanding share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a friend who has been conducting a little homework on this. And he in fact bought me lunch because I found it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending time to talk about this topic here on your site.

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