Proposal
In this paper a new concept in creation biology, the organosubstrate, is described. I propose that microbes and viruses were created as a link between macro-organisms and a chemically rich but inert physical environment, to provide a substrate upon which multicellular creatures can thrive and persist in intricately designed ecosystems. Consistent with this perspective, microbes and viruses a) are abundant in all ecosystems, b) are separated by discontinuity from macro-organisms and discontinuity separates the major groups of viruses and microbes, c) are designed for symbiotic relationships with both macro-organisms and other microbes and viruses, d) extract inorganic minerals from earth minerals, e) participate in the cycling of all elements and compounds important in macro-organismal biology, and f) effect bioremediation. The organosubstrate concept explains organelle/bacterial similarities used as evidence of evolutionary endosymbiosis theory. The organosubstrate concept also suggests that microbe and viral pathogenesis is a relatively recent and rare deviation from original created function. Evidence of this includes the rarity and lower fitness of pathological forms and the late addition to and modification of symbiotic design features in microbes and viruses. The Organosubstrate concept is an imminently testable, well-supported concept in biology.
Keywords
Microbiology, microbes, viruses, symbiosis, biogeochemical cycles, bioremediation, endosymbiosis, pathology
Print Reference
Pages 433-444
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Recommended Citation
Francis, Joseph W.
(2003)
"The Organosubstrate of Life: A Creationist Perspective of Microbes and Viruses,"
Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism: Vol. 5, Article 40.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/icc_proceedings/vol5/iss1/40