by the above dilemma, evolutionists began to invent unrealistic
scenarios based on this "water problem" that so definitively
refuted their theories. Sydney Fox was one of the best known
of these researchers. Fox advanced the following theory to
solve the problem. According to him, the first amino acids
must have been transported to some cliffs near a volcano right
after their formation in the primordial ocean. The water contained
in this mixture that included the amino acids must have evaporated
when the temperature increased above boiling point on the
cliffs. The amino acids which were "dried out" in this way,
could then have combined to form proteins.
However this "complicated" way out was not accepted
by many people in the field, because the amino acids could
not have endured such high temperatures. Research confirmed
that amino acids are immediately destroyed at very high temperatures.
But Fox did not give up. He combined purified
amino acids in the laboratory, "under very special conditions,"
by heating them in a dry environment. The amino acids combined,
but still no proteins were obtained. What he actually ended
up with was simple and disordered loops of amino acids, arbitrarily
combined with each other, and these loops were far from resembling
any living protein. Furthermore, if Fox had kept the amino
acids at a steady temperature, then these useless loops would
also have disintegrated.
Sydney Fox, who was influenced by Miller's scenario,
formed the above molecules, which he called "proteinoids,"
by joining amino acids together. However, these chains
of nonfunctioning amino acids had no resemblance to
the real proteins that make up the bodies of living
things. Actually, all these efforts showed not only
that life did not come about by chance, but also that
it could not be reproduced in laboratory conditions.
Another point that nullified the experiment was
that Fox did not use the useless end products obtained in
Miller's experiment; rather, he used pure amino acids from
living organisms. This experiment, however, which was intended
to be a continuation of Miller's experiment, should have started
out from the results obtained by Miller. Yet neither Fox,
nor any other researcher, used the useless amino acids Miller
Fox's experiment was not even welcomed in evolutionist
circles, because it was clear that the meaningless amino acid
chains that he obtained (which he termed "proteinoids") could
not have formed under natural conditions. Moreover, proteins,
the basic units of life, still could not be produced. The
problem of the origin of proteins remained unsolved. In an
article in the popular science magazine, Chemical Engineering
News, which appeared in the 1970s, Fox's experiment was
mentioned as follows:
Sydney Fox and the other
researchers managed to unite the amino acids in the shape
of "proteinoids" by using very special heating techniques
under conditions which in fact did not exist at all in the
primordial stages of Earth. Also, they are not at all similar
to the very regular proteins present in living things. They
are nothing but useless, irregular chemical stains. It was
explained that even if such molecules had formed in the
early ages, they would definitely be destroyed.263
Indeed, the proteinoids Fox obtained were totally
different from real proteins, both in structure and function.
The difference between proteins and these proteinoids was
as huge as the difference between a piece of high-tech equipment
and a heap of unprocessed iron.
Furthermore, there was no chance that even these
irregular amino acid chains could have survived in the primordial
atmosphere. Harmful and destructive physical and chemical
effects caused by heavy exposure to ultraviolet light and
other unstable natural conditions would have caused these
proteinoids to disintegrate. Because of the Le Ch‚telier principle,
it was also impossible for the amino acids to combine underwater,
where ultraviolet rays would not reach them. In view of this,
the idea that the proteinoids were the basis of life eventually
lost support among scientists.
263 S. W. Fox,
K. Harada, G. Kramptiz, G. Mueller, "Chemical Origin of Cells,"
Chemical Engineering News, June 22, 1970, p. 80.