The analysis undertaken in chapters 4
and 5 could be repeated for all of these enzymes, but this would take several weeks to
analyze the data and then another week to format it in a presentable fashion. It would
then add many pages to this work that most would not want to sort through.
Is there a simpler way? In chapter 5, the
analysis revealed that the B chain of insulin contains 280 bits of information and 211
bits of knowledge. Since this chain contains 30 amino acids, the average information per
amino acid is 280.5/30 = 9.35 bits per amino acid and 211/30 = 7 bits of knowledge per
amino acid.
To find an answer quickly without any long
drawn out mathematical analysis, the molecular knowledge required for life to synthesize
adenine is given by: 7 bits per amino acid x 4527 amino acids = 31,689 bits.
Notice that the above calculation uses
molecular knowledge instead of information. Nevertheless, the above calculation assumes
that the average knowledge of a small highly conserved protein like insulin is
representative of a much larger enzyme. This assumption is incorrect, and so the number of
bits calculated above is too large.
In a large enzyme, patches of amino acids that
are located near each other on the three-dimensional structure of the protein tend to
either be highly conserved or highly variable. The highly conserved patches will likely
show a conservation pattern similar to insulin. Thus, the average knowledge per amino acid
(based on the analysis of insulin) can only be safely applied to these highly conserved
patches.
next: 3-D Structure
of Key Enzymes
home: Intelligent Design and the origin of life
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