Doctor James TourA well-known synthetic organic chemist, he began to question the theoretical foundations of evolutionary theory and, more fundamentally, the origin of life. His personal and positive response to serious scientific questions piqued his interest and motivated him to explore further.
His extensive research experience has given him unique insight into the difficulties of creating precise organic molecules that actually function. From this starting point, he has questioned the official explanation for the emergence of life on pre-biotic Earth: that a pool of mineral-rich mucus or soup beneath a rock somehow gave rise to life, he concludes, is far from a scientifically valid explanation. all Existing research into the origin of life is completely meaningless.
Added to these insights from organic chemistry are the astronomically unlikely probabilities of the events postulated in the claim that random events give rise to life. Some of the structures involved have a number of possible combinations equal to 10 to the power of 79. Given that there are thought to be 10 to the power of 90 elementary particles in the entire universe, choosing or finding a structure from such a vast selection is well beyond impossible.
Dr. Toole is using his experience building nanomachines to explore the practical difficulties of even making the basic building blocks of cells, not to mention the enormous complexity of the cells themselves. As Dr. Toole points out, “there is no such thing as a simple cell.”
To further explain the current lack of knowledge, Dr. Toole emphasizes that if a cell has just died (apoptosis) and all the compounds and structures it contains are still intact, we don't know how to revive it. What's worse, we can't even define what it is that we've lost. That's how fundamental the problem is.
The (well-educated) public is being misled by both origin-of-life researchers and the scientific press. As David Scott often points out: Most scientific papers are wrongMost people believe that science has been able to create single-celled organisms in the laboratory. However, science now realizes that it is further from this achievement than was believed in the 1950s. The progress made in discovering the amazing complexity of life has far exceeded any idea of how that complexity arose.
Despite the personal attacks, James is determined to correct the errors and fallacies in the science of the origin of life. He's “ready” to take the fight on social media. He turns to the masses to communicate directly with them, into their living rooms. And when he does, he's as entertaining as he is scientifically rigorous.
