Can Life Be Formed by Random Chance?
by Dr. Caleb Yu, Irvine, CA & Dr. James Ma, Kelsey Bay, B.C., Canada
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 20 No. 3, September 1994
The smallest living cell in the human body is a virus [containing] 239 protein molecules. On average, a protein has 445 amino acids. The average molecular weight of the 19 essential amino acids for the human body is 137... By random chance, the odds of forming the first cell of a virus from an unlimited supply of pure essential amino acids are one in 2 x 10-239 x 445 = 2 x 10-237,915.
The synthesis can hardly be completed on dry land because the semi-products are easily oxidized by air or destroyed by ultraviolet light. The best place to carry on the reactions is under water... the oceans hold 97% of our water. The total volume of ocean water is 1.3 x 1024 liters, and the salt content is 3.9 x 1025 grams. Suppose all the salts in our oceans could be converted into amino acids, then the total number of amino acid molecules in the oceans can only provide 7.8 x 1046. We need 2 x 10237,915 molecules. Our Earth is not large enough to provide the required amount of material.
[Thus we must] find another way to decompose...structures into amino acids...Suppose we used all the available amino acids in the oceans (7.8 x 1046 molecules) to conduct the synthesis and degradation at a rate of 6 x 1018 times per second (the frequency of light). Every 3.8 x 10106,325 years, there is one chance of success to form a virus cell by random chance. But the age of our Earth is only 6.4 x 109 years old, and the age of our Milky Way is 1.7 x 1013 years old. [Using the ages typically given by evolutionists.] Our Universe is not old enough to have synthesized the first cell by random chance.
Even if a virus were... formed within the age of our Earth, the product would be a dead cell only.
Conclusion:
Quantitatively, the first Life in this earth cannot be formed by random chance without an external source.
