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#10 of Our Top Ten Evolution Stories of 2014: A Stunning New Illustration of Intelligent Design in the Cell

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Published originally on May 15, 2014.

Known for its advocacy of intelligent design, Discovery Institute has released a dramatic new three-minute video revealing what could be the most visually stunning molecular machines in cells, called kinesins. The animation provides a new presentation of evidence for intelligent design at the cellular level.

“It’s one thing to tell someone, ‘Hey, kinesins are key transport proteins within the cell.’ It’s another matter entirely to show them, which is what this video does so beautifully,” says philosopher of biology Paul Nelson. “For some very deep reason, our perception of function is powerfully enhanced by being able to visualize the design that exists in nature. One picture is worth a thousand syllogisms. No one who sees a kinesin in action can forget what they’ve seen.”

The original animation by Light Productions brings to life these masterpieces of microengineering. Kinesins are motorized transport machines that move cellular materials to their correct locations so that they can perform their functions. Kinesins have two feet, or “globular heads,” that literally walk, one foot over another. Known as the “workhorses of the cell,” kinesins can carry cargo many times their own size.

The video, titled “The Workhorse of the Cell: Kinesin,” is the third in Discovery Institute’s series on molecular machines as evidence for design in nature. The first in the series, “Journey Inside the Cell,” has over half a million views on YouTube. It shows how the digital information encoded in DNA directs protein synthesis in the cell. The second, an animation of ATP synthase molecular machinery, has accrued over 70,000 views since its release last year.

“I open my cell biology course with a video on the cell, and the kinesin molecule is always the star of the show,” said Ralph Seelke, professor of microbial genetics at the University of Wisconsin, Superior. “Discovery Institute’s video shows it in its full glory; and the inference of design is very strong.”

“Congratulations to Discovery Institute,” said Tobias A. Mattei, a neurosurgeon at InvisionHealth. “As an epitome of the remarkable set of high-efficiency intracellular machinery, kinesin constitutes another example of the delicate and fine-tuned balance required for sustaining even the simplest living forms.”

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