The Creation.com website published the article by Dominic Statham. I now quote his article below: “Dr Yusdi Santoso grew up in Bali, a province of Indonesia known for its beautiful mountains, stunning coastal regions and rich cultural heritage. Following high school, he moved to Singapore to study Computer Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Yusdi then worked for a company specializing in bioinformatics, producing software which helps biologists study DNA. He became deeply interested in molecular biology and particularly the area of biophysics. In 2005 he was accepted as a Ph.D. student by the Department of Physics at Oxford University in the UK, funded by a scholarship from NTU. Much of his time at Oxford was spent studying DNA polymerase, one of the remarkable nanomachines found in the cells of our bodies. (See box). Yusdi now works in business and software consulting, and is married with two young children.
“The strength of evolution is in the narration—it’s a good story. However, when you look at the details it seems most unlikely.
“Raised in a Roman Catholic family, he attended a Catholic high school in Malang, East Java; however, he says he did not know God personally at this time. While studying in Singapore, his wife-to-be (Jessica) encouraged him to attend her Bible-believing church. Yusdi told me, “I came to see the Bible as the Word of God, and Christianity began to make sense. Prior to this, my life was compartmentalized and I couldn’t relate what I was taught about God to everyday life. I was ‘religious’, in that I went through the motions, going to church because it was a cultural expectation. I came to see the Bible as God’s revelation of Himself, which transcended any teaching of men. By reading it, I began to understand what God wants from us, and with this, God’s peace came into my life.” Yusdi told me that the books of the Bible he treasures most are Romans and Hebrews, “because they present the Gospel in such a logical way.”
“Yusdi told me that, in the final year of his Ph.D., he realized that his belief in creation would lead to him being marginalized at work. Consequently, he pursued a career in business and software consulting, rather than science. He explained, “In many parts of the world, the scientific community discriminates against those who do not toe the party line on evolution. For example, it would have been very difficult for me to obtain funding for my work.” Despite this, Yusdi encourages young Christians to study science so that they can defend the faith and the creation worldview.
“DNA polymerase is an enzyme, a protein ‘machine’ that makes copies of DNA molecules. It is found in all living organisms in various levels of complexity and performs a number of important functions. For example, our bodies are constantly producing new cells and each one requires its own copy of our DNA. This is produced by the DNA polymerase. This amazing molecular machine is also used to repair damaged DNA and in copying DNA for the purposes of reproduction. Forensic scientists use DNA polymerase taken from bacteria to produce copies of human DNA for ‘genetic finger-printing’. DNA needs these machines to copy itself, but it also codes the instructions to build its own copying machines. But these instructions to build copying machines can’t be passed on unless copying machines are already present.
“DNA is made up of two strands zipped together and wound into a double helix. Before being copied, it must be unwound and unzipped, which is accomplished by another protein machine called a ‘helicase’. The process is very fast and the helicase spins the DNA molecules at the speed of a jet engine. If we were to magnify a typical DNA polymerase machine taken from a bacterium, so that it occupied the same space as a kitchen food mixer, the new DNA strand would be generated at a rate of around 20 km/hour.
“It is most important that the DNA polymerase copies the original molecules accurately, as otherwise the information carried by the copy will be corrupted, potentially leading to genetic diseases, birth defects or even cancer. This is achieved in a number of ways, including the use of a proof-reading system whereby the DNA polymerase checks the copy as it’s produced and cuts out any mistakes. Human DNA polymerase makes less than one mistake in a billion bases (letters). This is equivalent to misspelling one character when you copy the content of one thousand Bibles.
“Yusdi’s research led to the discovery that, prior to proof-reading, there is an additional process that screens the DNA ‘letters’ before they are incorporated into the copy.1 Since defective screening leads to copying errors, Yusdi’s work may contribute to the curing of genetic disorders arising from inefficiencies in this process.”
Thank God for Dr. Yusdi and Dominic Statham.
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