Cilia and Flagella are Intelligently Designed Organelles
by Owen Borville
July 17, 2020
Biology
Cilia and Flagella are unique intelligently-designed organelles that could not have evolved from random chance evolution. Only an Intelligent Designer with a purpose and a plan could have installed these features. Cilia and flagella have been described as "Irreducibly Complex" in that they are too complex to have evolved randomly by chance.
Cilia refer to the numerous short, microscopic, hair-like organelles found extending from only eukaryotic cells. There can be hundreds of cilia per cell. Flagella are long, threadlike organelles extending from one or both ends of the cell, and only number from one to about eight while cilia occur all over the cell surface. Flagella are found in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, but each has a different internal structure.
Cilia beat in a coordinated rhythm and have a rotational, very fast-moving motor like motion while flagella are slower and have a wave-like motion beating independently. Cilia function to aid locomotion, feeding circulation, and aeration (respiration), while flagella provide mainly locomotion.
Non-motile cilia can be found in almost every cell in all mammals and these cilia do not move. These can also be found in human sensory organs like the eye and the nose.
Motile cilia are found on the cell surface of single cells or cells anchored in tissue, and beat in a rhythmic pattern. Motile cilia can be found in the lining of the trachea (windpipe) of the respiratory system, where they sweep mucus and dirt out of the lungs. In female mammals, the beating of cilia in the fallopian tubes moves the ovum from the ovary to the uterus. Sensory cilia are found in the kidney, and in the eye, while motile cilia are found in the middle ear and sperm cells.
Cilia are so important to the human body that defects in human cilia can cause disease, such as blindness, chronic respiratory infections, deafness, diabetes, heart disease, infertility, and kidney disease. Therefore, cilia are essential to the function of the human body and could not have evolved over time. Humans would be prone to so many diseases without cilia that they would not survive for very long.
Flagella types: Bacteria flagella or prokaryotic flagella rotate like screws or propellers and provide mobility for locomotion. Archaeal flagella are similar to bacterial flagella but have a slightly different internal structure. Eukaryotic flagella are cellular projections that move back and forth in a wave-like motion or whipping motion, such as the sperm cell.
Both cilia and flagella help in locomotion of the cell and extend from the plasma membrane on the surface of the cell.
Cilia and flagella are very complex, being made up of microtubules, which are tubular-shaped proteins that make up the cell structure, specifically a cytoskeleton. Pairs of microtubules in the cilia or flagellum form a structure that looks like a wagon wheel, where the spokes are made up of proteins that provide energy called ATP. The internal structure of prokaryotic flagella is different, as they are made up of a different protein that is arranged in a different structural shape. This different structure is likely why prokaryotic flagella move in a rotating propeller motion and eukaryotic flagella move in a different, wave-like motion.
The complexity of cilia and flagella show Intelligent Design and could not have evolved by random chance evolution over millions of years. Humans and animals would not survive to reproduce without these complex organelles, and would be exposed to a host of serious diseases.
by Owen Borville
July 17, 2020
Biology
Cilia and Flagella are unique intelligently-designed organelles that could not have evolved from random chance evolution. Only an Intelligent Designer with a purpose and a plan could have installed these features. Cilia and flagella have been described as "Irreducibly Complex" in that they are too complex to have evolved randomly by chance.
Cilia refer to the numerous short, microscopic, hair-like organelles found extending from only eukaryotic cells. There can be hundreds of cilia per cell. Flagella are long, threadlike organelles extending from one or both ends of the cell, and only number from one to about eight while cilia occur all over the cell surface. Flagella are found in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, but each has a different internal structure.
Cilia beat in a coordinated rhythm and have a rotational, very fast-moving motor like motion while flagella are slower and have a wave-like motion beating independently. Cilia function to aid locomotion, feeding circulation, and aeration (respiration), while flagella provide mainly locomotion.
Non-motile cilia can be found in almost every cell in all mammals and these cilia do not move. These can also be found in human sensory organs like the eye and the nose.
Motile cilia are found on the cell surface of single cells or cells anchored in tissue, and beat in a rhythmic pattern. Motile cilia can be found in the lining of the trachea (windpipe) of the respiratory system, where they sweep mucus and dirt out of the lungs. In female mammals, the beating of cilia in the fallopian tubes moves the ovum from the ovary to the uterus. Sensory cilia are found in the kidney, and in the eye, while motile cilia are found in the middle ear and sperm cells.
Cilia are so important to the human body that defects in human cilia can cause disease, such as blindness, chronic respiratory infections, deafness, diabetes, heart disease, infertility, and kidney disease. Therefore, cilia are essential to the function of the human body and could not have evolved over time. Humans would be prone to so many diseases without cilia that they would not survive for very long.
Flagella types: Bacteria flagella or prokaryotic flagella rotate like screws or propellers and provide mobility for locomotion. Archaeal flagella are similar to bacterial flagella but have a slightly different internal structure. Eukaryotic flagella are cellular projections that move back and forth in a wave-like motion or whipping motion, such as the sperm cell.
Both cilia and flagella help in locomotion of the cell and extend from the plasma membrane on the surface of the cell.
Cilia and flagella are very complex, being made up of microtubules, which are tubular-shaped proteins that make up the cell structure, specifically a cytoskeleton. Pairs of microtubules in the cilia or flagellum form a structure that looks like a wagon wheel, where the spokes are made up of proteins that provide energy called ATP. The internal structure of prokaryotic flagella is different, as they are made up of a different protein that is arranged in a different structural shape. This different structure is likely why prokaryotic flagella move in a rotating propeller motion and eukaryotic flagella move in a different, wave-like motion.
The complexity of cilia and flagella show Intelligent Design and could not have evolved by random chance evolution over millions of years. Humans and animals would not survive to reproduce without these complex organelles, and would be exposed to a host of serious diseases.
Cilia in the lung