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91 of 104 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comprehensive examination of how cells work, June 1, 2008
This review is from: The Cell's Design: How Chemistry Reveals the Creator's Artistry (Paperback)
Dr. Fuz Rana attempts to show that cellular biochemistry points to the existence of the Creator who designed it. Whereas most intelligent design books attempt to show the existence of design by demonstrating the existence of irreducible complexity, Dr. Rana examines the cell's biochemistry with broad strokes of how everything works together with such marvelous fidelity. So, even if a single piece or line of evidence might be dismissed as a statistical outlier, the weight of evidence makes a powerful case for design by a Creator. Each chapter begins with an analogy from the art world that relates to the topic at hand. Apparently, Dr. Rana is quite an art enthusiast.
One of my favorite sections was the discussion of how proteins are made within a cell. A large amount of the cell's molecular systems are involved in the process by which DNA is transcribed into RNA then translated into proteins. The process is like a beautifully choreographed symphony in which all the instruments come together to produce a sound that seems to be more than just the addition of the individual pieces. The protein manufacturing process is amazing in its own right. However, the quality control systems that operate at each step of the process ensure that the fidelity of the copies remain high without slowing down the process. Even so, just manufacturing proteins is not the end of the process. Many of these proteins undergo post-translational modifications, such as formation of disulfide bonds (one aspect of the protein folding process), folding of proteins into specific three-dimensional structures, addition of carbohydrate moieties, cleavage of the protein chain, and assembly into protein complexes. For most proteins, the linear structure of the protein does not define its three dimensional structure sufficiently so that it will fold properly on its own. Accessory molecules are required to ensure that the protein folds properly so that it will function as designed. How these systems co-evolved along with the proteins themselves is quite a mystery for evolutionists.
Until the last century, we humans were blissfully unaware of amazing processes operating within each cell of our bodies. Even now, recent research continues to reveal such things as epigenetic control of transcription that goes beyond the mere genetic sequences upon which it operates. With such refinements "identical" cells operate differentially within discrete microenvironments. This not a discussion of your father's biochemistry, but an up-to-date examination of the latest evidence pointing toward the design hypothesis operating within our cells. Get the book, and be awe-struck with the incredible systems operating within your body.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Worth having, but don't get too excited, May 28, 2009
This review is from: The Cell's Design: How Chemistry Reveals the Creator's Artistry (Paperback)
Fazale Rana's The Cell's Design is absolutely worth having, especially if you are an ID proponent. It certainly is the most comprehensive book to date (of which I'm aware) that gives a popular level overview of the cell's structure and how that relates to the ID argument. Much of the arguments put forward by Behe, Wells, Meyer, and others benefit from this book's support precisely because of that.
Unfortunately, that also turns out to be its biggest weakness on two fronts. First, in my view, Rana's book as a whole hardly constitutes an argument in and of itself, regardless of his opening statements. He believes that he is putting forward a positive case for ID based on what science does know rather than what it does not. Yet his entire approach of analogical pattern finding only works if naturalistic science turns out not to be able to find naturalistic causes for each of the issues he describes. On that count, the book doesn't make any major advances over others as he hopes.
In the second place, due to its very nature, The Cell's Design is a cumbersome read. The majority of the book reads like a college biology textbook with a concluding paragraph for each chapter offering thoughts toward design. Those without a background in biology will find the material itself difficult to follow.
So I give the book three stars. The very nature of the material doesn't lend itself well to popular argument and explanation (that is, the internal working of a cell), but it is material that every person who wants to truly grasp what ID is about needs to understand. It's no page turner, but if you want a great background to better understand other major ID proponents (and you don't already have a biology degree), I can't really think of a better investment.
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22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well argued, content-rich, and effective in making its point, January 13, 2009
This review is from: The Cell's Design: How Chemistry Reveals the Creator's Artistry (Paperback)
Rana's chief argument, i.e., that the microbiological features of cells' designs are analogous to man-made machines and systems, succeeds because it is completely detailed and the comparisons fully developed. The nature of biochemistry is detail, long exotic names, and complexity. When you read this book as a layman, some of the complexity is daunting--even overwhelming at times. If you're a biochemist or even a microbiologist, you will be in comfortable territory. Because I had to struggle through much of the book's technical detail, it took me a long time to read. Yet when I was done I recognized that I had just been exposed to secrets of cellular components and systems that few laymen ever know.
The effort was surely worth the work: no one who reads this book open-mindedly could ever believe that the cell is the product of randomized evolution. The cellular machines and systems are so convincingly revealed AS machines and systems that the argument from analogy is clearly validated, each point of relevant comparison explicated and affirmed by peer-reviewed evidence.
While I was enthralled with the beauty and intricate perfection of the astounding number and complexity of just-right relations among parts, functions, timing, feedback, self-correction, and many other features of cells, I focused on the legitimacy of the argument from analogy when I was all done. Those who wish to deny that living things are analogous to man-made machines can only do so effectively when their audience is ignorant of the facts. Rana's book elucidates the facts. Yet the facts are only meaningful if they show the points of relevant comparison between man-made machines and the machines/systems within the cells. Rana here uses a leitmotif of an art mystery through the book to help us understand those points of relevance. Although I'm not sure creating this extra literary layer made it easier to read the book, it did help the layman understand the connections that make the analogy work. It may even be better to say there are many analogies, and Rana did a great job explaining them, complicated as some may be.
In the end, this book contributes greatly to the general argument for the existence of God by defeating Paley's opponents with rich evidence for keen mechanical, chemical, and system-engineering designs throughout cells. More complex than any watch Paley (or Hume!) could have imagined, the designs of cells are obviously intelligently designed.
Rana is clear Who the Designer is, and he therefore goes beyond the timidity of the "Intelligent Design" movement. As such, this book is clearly a Christian apologetic. But whether atheist, skeptic, Christian, or otherwise, anyone will find the book worth reading for its novel approach to the argument from analogy, its candor, its expertly detailed descriptions, and its revelations of cellular systems and machines that astonish and awe.
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