Bacteria and a Designer

I believe in a Designer.

I’m a biology major. One of the reasons that I chose biology is because I love studying life. I love the intricacies and the complexities involved in everything that makes up our world. The more I look at the details that surround me and the perfection in which little puzzles fit together, from my skin, to a flower, to the microorganisms that cover every surface, I realize more and more that it is impossible for Someone not to have designed it.

Even bacteria, the “simplest” living organisms, are incredibly complex. Without them, life for the rest of us would be almost impossible. For example, some cyanobacteria and methanogens (groups of bacteria) go through a process called nitrogen fixation. Normal atmospheric nitrogen is impossible for non-bacteria to use, but it is essential for the production of amino acids which in turn produce proteins. These nitrogen fixing bacteria have the perfect mechanisms and chemicals needed to change atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia which can then be used by other organisms, including humans.

Another example is that of the symbiotic relationship between the flashlight fish and bioluminescent bacteria. The bacteria feed off the nutrients shed by the fish’s skin, while the fish uses the light from the bacteria to attract prey as well as potential mates. They can’t survive alone. Without the bacteria, where would the fish be? And without the fish, would the bacteria still be able to survive? This is not just a mutation that occurs randomly, this is bacteria that know instinctively to live on the certain part of the skin of a certain species of fish. How can something like this interaction possibly come about by chance?

Without a Designer, life would be impossible.