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CSA News
The Creation Science Association for Mid-America
Volume 32:5
May 2015
"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man."
Psalm 118:8 (KJV)

...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,...

(Romans 3:23 ESV)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 6:23 ESV)

...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

(Romans 5:8 ESV)

For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

(Romans 10:10-13 ESV)


In This Issue


“Cancer: Commentary on a PBS Documentary, with Added Creationist Insights”


“Genetics 102: Plant Breeding the Natural Way ”

Please Note:
New snail mail address:

Creation Science Association
for Mid-America
PO Box 13503
Overland Park, KS 66282-3503

Lending library only:
The CSA Lending Library
8904 Mastin
Overland Park, KS 66212
(913) 492-6545

Cancer:

Commentary on a PBS Documentary,

with Added Creationist Insights

by Douglas Roger Dexheimer

One of the aims of this newsletter is to highlight current events that show various aspects of Biblical creation science, and the individuals who have worked to develop that scientific field.  The medical profession is a scientific field that touches us all, and is responsible for the discoveries of the incredible complexity of life as we know it now, in the 21st century.  Recent advances in microbiology and genetics have made possible the advances in health care that enhance our lives. 

Recently, I have seen too many friends go to their eternal reward afflicted with cancer.  The statistics are clear: one of four men and one in five women will die with cancer unless this disease is conquered.1

Since I started writing this article, two more of my friends have been diagnosed with terminal cancer. One unfortunate gentleman who has had a powerful ministry has developed several different cancers on his face and neck, making treatment by radiation impossible. 

This April, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) aired three episodes of a documentary that traced the history of cancer from the earliest records in Egypt, to the present day. 

Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Siddhartha Mukherjee, tells the complete story of cancer, from its first description in an ancient Egyptian scroll to the gleaming laboratories of modern research institutions. At six hours, the film interweaves a sweeping historical narrative; with intimate stories about contemporary patients; and an investigation into the latest scientific breakthroughs that may have brought us, at long last, to the brink of lasting cures.2

This is a very informative and touching account of the individual medical doctors and their patients, showing their breakthroughs and disappointments as they search for the cure for cancer.  The entire series of at least 6 hours can be downloaded for personal use.  I recommend seeing it.

As I viewed the programs, I saw scientist after scientist as they tried to find what was causing cancer cells to replicate uncontrollably -- i.e., to evade the normal biological countermeasures that normally stop rebellious cells in their tracks.  Some scientists tried to find a way to prevent cancer, and some sought a magic bullet that would only affect cancer cells, while others tried to find a way to boost the antibodies in a person so that his own immune system would be able to fight off the onslaught of the rebellious cells.

I believe the problem is a lot more complex than the featured doctors could have known, short of understanding the concept of genetic entropy.

A creation scientist named Dr John Sanford3 is the author of the best selling book Genetic Entropy & The Mystery of the Genome.  At our July CSAMA meeting, we watched a recorded video presentation by Dr. Sanford.  Based on his statistical research on mutations in the human genome, he believes that each generation has numerous uncorrected mutations.  Most of those mutations are not expressed visibly, but become latent “time bombs” which may manifest themselves in future generations.  He has found that the human genome is full of mutations in our genes. 

Following are the main points of his presentation:

  • The human genome is deteriorating at an alarming rate due to uncorrected random mutations.
  • There are multiple copies of genes within our DNA, and there is a means to eliminate harmful mutations.
  • Approximately 100 uncorrected new mutations are added to the human genome with each generation.
  • The mutations are not normally expressed in recognizable ways.
  • The genome’s increasing rate of decay exceeds that of the birth rate.
  • Birth defects are becoming more prevalent.
  • Human reproduction will soon fail to generate viable offspring.

This fact was brought home to me in the summation or abstract of an article by Australian writer, Alexander Williams4 in the Journal of Creation.5

In neo-Darwinian theory, mutations are uniquely biological events that provide the engine of natural variation for all the diversity of life. However, recent discoveries show that mutation is the purely physical result of the universal mechanical damage that interferes with all molecular machinery. Life’s error correction, avoidance and repair mechanisms themselves suffer the same damage and decay (emphasis, DRD).  The consequence is that all multicellular life on earth is undergoing inexorable genome decay. Mutation rates are so high that they are clearly evident within a single human lifetime, and all individuals suffer, so natural selection is powerless to weed them out. The effects are mostly so small that natural selection cannot ‘see’ them anyway, even if it could remove their carriers. Our reproductive cells are not immune, as previously thought, but are just as prone to damage as our body cells. Irrespective of whether creationists or evolutionists do the calculations, somewhere between a few thousand and a few million mutations are enough to drive a human lineage to extinction, and this is likely to occur over a time scale of only tens to hundreds of thousands of years. This is far short of the supposed evolutionary time scales.6

These creationist scientists found what is causing the increasing rate of cancer, and other diseases: mutation of our human genome due to genomic entropy.  Put simply, the number of mutations in each of our cells is increasing.  We may not feel the effect ourselves, but our children inherit the deteriorating genome from their parents.  Each generation experiences increased incidence of runaway cancer, uncontrolled by the biological watchdogs that normally eliminate the cancer cells before they multiply; this is because the watchdogs themselves are subject to mutation to the extent that they no longer protect us from rebellious cancer cells.


5Journal of Creation 22(2): pp. 60–6, August 2008.

Ω


June Monthly Meeting

June 2nd, 2015

“Evolution’s Achilles’ Heels” DVD

by Creation Ministries International

moderated by Kevin Anderson

The purpose of this ground breaking book and video project by CMI is to simply and concisely expose evolution’s fatal weaknesses. CMI believes evolution theory has no answer to these stated weaknesses, once properly explained and understood. The book this video is based upon is like no other work that CMI is aware of, in that it is authored exclusively by nine Ph.D. scientists. CMI's hope is that this fact alone will cause evolutionists to sit up and listen. All of these authors received their doctorates from secular universities very similar to those of their evolutionary counterparts. Each one of the authors is a specialist in his particular field of study. They include Drs. Don Batten, Jonathan Sarfati, Tas Walker, Rob Carter, Jim Mason, Emil Silvestru, John Hartnett, David Catchpoole, and Mark Harwood.

Included in the video is spectacular underwater footage of Dr. Werner diving at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the coral reefs in the Caribbean Sea, plus footage from dinosaur dig sites in Europe and North America.

Ω



Monthly Meetings

2015

(1st Tuesday of each month; content subject to change; no signup or registration necessary.)

For a more detailed discription of the monthly meeting topics visit www.csama.org.

  • January 6th: “Formed to Fly DVD, by Dr. David Menton,
    moderated by Kevin Anderson.
  • February 3rd: “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” (the 2008 motion picture) DVD,
    moderated by Bob Farwell.
  • March 3rd: "Lunar Eclipses,"
    by Douglas Roger Dexheimer.
  • April 7th: “Canopy Theory,”
    by Dave Penny.
  • May 5th: “Living Fossils Evolution: The Grand Experiment” DVD, episode 2,
    moderated by Bob Farwell.
  • June 2nd: “Evolution’s Achille’s Heels” DVD, by Creation Ministries International,
    moderated by Kevin Anderson.
  • July 7th: “Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings,”
    by Dave Penny.
  • August 4th: "Compromise”,
    moderated by Kevin Anderson.
  • September 1st: “Creation Variations,”
    by Dave Penny.
  • October 6th: “Chinese Characters or Mysteries Confucius Cannot Solve” DVD,
    moderated by Bob Farwell.
  • November 3rd: “Q&A on Ham/Nye Debate,”
    by Ken Carlson.
  • December 1st: “The Chair” DVD, by Frank Peretti,
    moderated by Kevin Anderson.
 

CSA Monthly Meeting Location

Westbrooke Church
9777 Antioch
Overland Park, KS 66121
10 blocks east of 69 Highway (or Switzer) on 95th St. to Antioch, south two blocks on Antioch, on east side of street.
Fellowship & book table: 6:15PM. Meeting: 7:00PM.


For detailed Monthly Meeting information:
www.csama.org

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

(Titus 2:11-14 ESV)

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,...

(Acts 3:19 ESV)

...yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

(Galatians 2:16 ESV)

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

(Philippians 2:9-11 ESV)


Creation Safaris by CSA

2015 Creation Safaris

  • March 20 – (Friday, 7:15 PM) – Astronomy Safari.
  • April 17 – (Friday, 8:00 PM) – Astronomy Safari.
  • April 25 – (Saturday) 8AM - 6PM - Southeast KS Fossils and Mineral Safari.
  • May 15 – (Friday, 8:30 PM) – Astronomy Safari. (Canceled do to scheduling conflict of instructor.)
  • May 23 – 25 – (Saturday - Monday) – Southeast MO Volcanic Mountains Safari.
  • June 6 – (Saturday) – Photo/Nature Hike Creation Safari at O.P. Arboretum.
  • June 18-20 – (Thursday - Saturday) – Ozark Stream Float - Elk River.
  • June 20 – (Saturday, 8:45 PM) – Astronomy Safari.
  • July 11 – (Saturday, 8:45 PM) – Astronomy Safari.
  • July 18 – (Saturday) – KU Natural History Museum.
  • August 14 – (Friday, 8:15) – Astronomy Safari.
  • August 15 – (Saturday) – Greater KC Fossil Hunt.
  • September 4 - 7 – (Friday - Monday) –
    Cahokia Mounds / Keokuk Geodes / Mammoth State Park.
  • September 11 – (Friday, 7:30 PM) – Astronomy Safari.
  • October 9 – (Friday,7:15 PM) – Astronomy Safari.
  • October 17 – (Saturday) – HaHa Tonka Safari.
  • November 6 – (Friday, 7:15 PM) – Astronomy Safari.
  • November 21 – (Saturday) – Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge Safari.

Ω

You must register for any safari.
For safari details, and to register please visit:
www.csama.org


Astronomy safaris only, call:
(913)-515-6421.

Genetics 102:

Plant Breeding…

the Natural Way

by Douglas Roger Dexheimer

A while ago, I wrote about a technique used by gardeners, landraces, whereby the natural strengths and weaknesses of plants and animals are selected by the gardener, based on what grows well in his local conditions.  Varieties that do not produce, or die, are left out of next year’s garden; varieties that do well are encouraged to do better by nurturing the best examples; and watching for special unexpected results is important.  This is natural selection by the human gardener.

I found that the next level of development in plants is practiced by “seedsmen.”  This is simple genetics, as outlined by Gregor Mendel.1  The basis of genetics is summed up in these three precepts:

  1. Fundamental Theory of Heredity Inheritance involves the passing of discrete units of inheritance, or genes, from parents to offspring.
  2. Principle of Segregation.  During reproduction, the inherited factors (now called alleles) that determine traits are separated into reproductive cells by a process called meiosis and randomly reunite during fertilization.
  3. Principle of Independent Assortment.  Genes located on different chromosomes will be inherited independently of each other.

Seedsmen rely on the above principles in their development of hybrid plants.  The seedsmen imagine an improvement in a particular plant variety, and seek out plants that are to be mated with each other to produce a hybrid that is not found in nature.

Johnny’s Selected Seeds explained this in detail in a recent article:

…I should say this: the basis for plant breeding, called "traditional plant breeding" in these days of biotechnology, is simply the manipulation of mating. As a breeder, you get an idea, and you manipulate mating in an attempt to get there.

Genetic engineering is something totally different — it's the (artificial) mechanical transfer of a piece of DNA from a donor plant, or other kind of living thing, to another plant, with the goal of moving a trait from the donor. Mating is bypassed.2

I recommend this as light reading, because it explains the breeder's thought process and procedures employed.  What I find fascinating is the sources of the varieties.  If you garden, you will appreciate the hard work of seedsmen.  Here is a summary of the six short stories that were in Johnny's original article, which goes on to describe the development of six different popular varieties of vegetables:

  1. Butterbeans Organic Soybeans.  A particular plant was observed to mature earlier, and had a more compact, and concentrated pod set.  The plants grown from seeds from this plant were uniform (for observable characteristics) and were self pollinating.   That was called "Single Plant Selection" (SPS).  All that needed to be done was to build up the seed supply.
  2. Carmen Pepper.  We had seeds that produced tasty and early peppers, but sprawled.  These were hand-crossed with an Italian hybrid bull's horn pepper that had a tall, strong plant form, nice fruits, and good taste, but later maturity.  The resultant F1 hybrid — "F1" standing for "first filial," or first generation after the cross, was wonderful and was named Carmen.
  3. Baby Bear Pumpkin.  I crossed 'Streaker' with 'New England Pie.' 'Streaker' was a naked (hulless) seeded pumpkin. 'New England Pie' was an old, heirloom variety of small pie pumpkin. The goal was a pie pumpkin with naked seeds.  I grew the F1 hybrid and began eight generations of self-pollinating (known by breeders as "selfing") and selection. This successful breeding work hinged on:
    1. choosing the parents for the initial cross; and 
    2. making the single plant selections in each of seven subsequent generations.
    That makes my finding that one exceptional plant that became 'Baby Bear' rather remarkable. Translate: good fortune. To balance that good fortune, there are plenty of promising parental combinations that amount to nothing.
  4. Racer Pumpkin.  A medium-large jack-o'-lantern with a nice rib, color, and handle, was crossed with a  small-fruited, semi-bush pumpkin. Bingo. A beautiful, extra-early-maturing, medium-size Hallowe'en pumpkin.
  5. Racer Plus PMR Pumpkin.  'PMR' stands for Powdery Mildew Resistance. Powdery mildew is a commonly troublesome disease of pumpkins.  I got the idea of crossing a yellow summer squash variety that has good PMR resistance with Racer.  The resultant hybrid retained the appearance and earliness of 'Racer' and we named it 'Racer Plus PMR.'
  6. Sunshine Winter Squash.  The scarlet-orange kabocha-type squashes from Taiwan and Japan were attractive but needed better flavor.  We crossed those scarlet lines with an old Japanese green kabocha called 'Home Delight,' which had high dry matter.  During the 1990's, from those crosses, we successfully bred a scarlet line that retained the high dry matter, with intense scarlet color.

So there you have the essence of seedsmen’s skill:  Inventiveness together with chance opportunities to select parent feedstock results in hybrids that present the best characteristics of both parents.  There is no evolution involved, rather development based on careful human selection of each successive generation of plants.

Coming up in a future article: Golden Delicious Apples developed by Stark Brothers.


Ω

Too far away to attend CSA meetings?
Why not attend via audio or video tape?

Attend CSA Meetings by ordering the audio ($5) or video ($13) copy.
A full list of what is available can be found in a link at:
www.csama.org
To order, request by meeting date and topic. Copies of above items may also be borrowed from...

The CSA Lending Library
8904 Mastin
Overland Park, KS 66212
(913) 492-6545

Help Wanted

CSAMA is seeking an editor for, and contributors to, our newsletter. If you are a born-again Christian, believe the Bible is the infallible word of God, subscribe to the literal 7-day creationist viewpoint, if you have researching and writing skills, and if you have suitable ideas for articles to contribute to our publication and can meet a monthly deadline schedule, please contact the newsletter webmaster via the link at www.csama.org.


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Please consider supporting our work.
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Write or call: Creation Science Association for Mid-America
PO Box 13503
Overland Park, KS 66282-3503
Phone (Bob Farwell): (816) 246-4517

You are invited to attend all of the monthly meetings, and as many of the safaris as you can fit into your schedule. Pass the word. Tell your friends and neighbors about CSAMA and our activities. Show them how to subscribe to the CSAMA Newsletter.  Never miss an opportunity to debunk the "millions-of-years" notion that evolutionists insist is necessary for life as we know it.

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If you have questions or comments, or if you have suggestions for making our newsletter better, please feel free to contact us. We’ll do our best to respond to every query.

Thank You!

The Editor

(Use the editor link on the contact page at www.csama.org.)

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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