John Clayton
Doug Lowrie of Austin, Texas, sent me a letter in the fall of
1996 urging me to explore the difference between hemoglobin and
chlorophyll, and telling about his own experience. Hemoglobin
is the molecule in the blood which accomplishes the transport
of oxygen in the human body. That makes it of paramount importance
to us as living beings. Chlorophyll is the molecule responsible
for converting sunlight into useable energy in plants.
One of the questions that arises in any discussion of molecular
structure is what the origin of that structure is. Whether one
looks at the structure of the water molecule, of the carbon atom,
or of complicated molecules like DNA, the incredible complexities
of design seem to suggest an intelligence did the planning, not
chance.
In the case of chlorophyll and hemoglobin we have two molecules
that are amazingly similar in make up, but which are very different
in function. As you look at the two schematic drawings, it is
obvious that there is only one major difference in the make up
of the molecules and that is that hemoglobin has iron as the central
atom in the matrix and chlorophyll has magnesium. In all other
respects the molecules are the same.
It is the remarkable chemical characteristics of iron and magnesium
which cause the radically different function of these two molecules.
The rest of the molecule has an arrangement tailor made to allow
the iron and magnesium to express their unique chemistry. Tailoring
and arranging molecules and atoms for such specific roles is not
something chance can accomplish. At a molecular level it is especially
easy to "Know there is a God through the things He has made"
(Romans 1:19-21).
This article taken from: Does God Exist?, Sept/Oct 1997.
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