Considering Seeds

If you study on it, seeds are masterpieces of engineering. A well-engineered system will perform the purpose for which it was designed. From the science of genetics pioneered by Gregor Mendel (peas be upon him), scientists have learned that seeds are packed with a passel of information.

Big seeds, little seeds, big plants, little plants — but one does not necessarily correlate with the other. They are designed to tell plants what they are going to be when they grow up, but also contain information on self-repair and reproduction.

Variety of seeds image credit: US Department of Agriculture (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents)

The Master Engineer involved critters in seed dispersal, such as squirrels burying many more nuts than they can ever find again, and birds swallowing seeds that are often pooped out somewhere else, fertilizer conveniently added. In addition, plants are equipped to communicate with each other!

Design specifications, growth, repair, reproduction, communication — and we're supposed to believe that these little bundles of specified information are the products of time, chance, mutations, random processes, and luck? Not hardly! I haven't seen a plausible evosplanation or mechanism yet, have you? Further, there are "seed arks" to preserve many varieties in the event of a global disaster, but they cannot last too long. That indicates that seeds found in layers called the Cretaceous are not millions of Darwin years old.

There are many ways that plants and seeds are important to humanity. They are also used in metaphorical ways, such as planting seeds of the gospel, gardening our minds and hearts, and others. People may wonder how seeds survived the Genesis Flood, but this creationist botanist has some answers.

It’s amazing to think how the information and miniature machinery needed to produce an entire plant is compressed into such a small package. There’s a little energy store, too (known as the endosperm), to enable the germinating seed to firstly send down roots that both anchor the seedling into the ground and act as foraging conduits for water and nutrients. And then secondly to erect solar energy panels (the leaves, of course) to power the growing plant once the seed’s store of energy has been depleted. Imagine—the instructions and equipment needed to build and operate a self-maintaining and environmentally-friendly solar energy capturing system (photosynthesis), inside every seed!

For decades now, top solar energy engineers have been striving to mimic the way plants convert sunlight into fuel—but they’ve got a long way to go yet. In fact, scientists have not yet fully described all that happens in photosynthesis, let alone been able to duplicate it. So, if such highly intelligent minds are thus challenged, what does it say about the One Who not only designed the incredibly complex chemistry behind photosynthesis, but somehow equipped tiny seeds with their own ready-to-build DIY solar energy kit, complete with instructions for sourcing component parts and ongoing maintenance?

To read the full article (get comfy, it's a mite long but not overly technical), march forth to "Sensational Seeds—compact packages attest to God’s handiwork." (Today is March 4th. I made a funny.) Related, a similar but more compact piece is linked at "Seeds and the Master Engineer."