The Big Bang... In Immunology | The Institute for Creation Research

 
The Big Bang... In Immunology

It would seem the sudden “explosive” appearance of everything—from the universe to invertebrate creatures, to people and their immune system—is the frustrating rule in secular science.

In the Cambrian system of sedimentary rock, for example, complex invertebrate creatures such as corals, worms, trilobites, sea stars, and jellies all explosively appear in a most un-Darwinian manner. Evolutionist Niles Eldredge admits, “The Cambrian evolutionary explosion is still shrouded in mystery.”1 Creation scientists hardly see this as an enigma, but exactly what is expected based on Creation, the Fall, and the Flood.

Human evolution is as much a puzzle in the 21st century as it was in the days of Darwin, “We note that, like that of other hominins, the evolution of Homo is highly controversial . . . ”2 In 2024, paleontologist Michael Benton stated, “Unfortunately, the fossil evidence for human evolution is patchy. There has been a great deal of controversy over primate and human relationships, partly because of the limited number of good fossils . . . 3 Five evolutionists said a year later in 2025, “The origins and migrations of modern humans around the world are a hot topic of debate."4

On a smaller scale, the incredibly sophisticated immune system has no Darwinian explanation for its sudden origin. This complex system is an arrangement of multilevel defenses that protects people and vertebrates against bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. The immune system, and other systems of the body, reveals wondrous design by the Master Designer. Consider for a moment that the secular community does not know how this incredible system evolved—

There is still much debate on how the vertebrate immune system evolved and even less consensus on its relationship to defense systems in invertebrates.5 The late immunologist and evolutionist Charles Janeway and fellow authors speak of the very sudden appearance of adaptive, or acquired, immunity in an unknown past creature. In jawed fish and all “higher” vertebrates, adaptive immunity is possible because of what I like to think of as the immunological “Big Bang,” which occurred in some ancestor of the jawed fish.6 But it doesn’t stop there. The rays and sharks (Chondrichthyes) have experienced this “Big Bang” in their immune system— Adaptive immunity appears abruptly in the cartilaginous fish.7 While the secular community continues to ponder their origins apart from God, the cry of David can still be heard by those truly searching, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” (Psalm 139:14).

References 

1. Eldredge, N., The Monkey Business, Washington Square Press, New York, 1982, p. 46.There are attempted recent explanations of the Cambrian explosion. See Bio Essays 22:1053–1056, 2000. See also, Meyer, S. 2013. Darwin's Doubt. Harper One. 
2. Hickman, C. et al. 2024.Integrated Principles of Zoology. 19th edition McGraw Hill. 646.  
3. Benton, M. 2024. Vertebrate Paleontology. 5th edition. Wiley. p. 585.
4. Whitfield, A., C. Helm, F. Thackeray et al. Where did the first people come from? The case for a coastal migration from Southern Africa. The African Mirror. November 1, 2025. 
5. Gerhart & Kirschner, Cells, Embryos and Evolution, Blackwell Science, 1997, p. 161.
6. Janeway, et al., Immunobiology, 5 th ed., Garland Publishing, 2001, p. 602.
7. Ibid., p. 604.

Cite this article: Frank Sherwin, D.Sc. (Hon.). 2002. The Big Bang... In Immunology. Acts & Facts. 31 (4).

The Latest
NEWS
Bold Claim, Hidden Design: What Salterella Reveals About Early...
What if a fossil no bigger than a grain of rice showed engineering so precise that it still puzzles scientists? That is the intrigue surrounding Salterella,...

CREATION PODCAST
Black Holes are BREAKING the Big Bang! | The Creation Podcast:...
Space is full of some of the strangest and most breath-taking objects in existence. Among them, black holes sit right at the top of the list. They're...

NEWS
Where Did Most of Earth's Species Come From?
Evolutionary naturalism is locked into seeing the entire living world as having evolved from a single common ancestor many millions of years ago.1...

NEWS
A Molecular Snowmobile
People following—or actively involved in—creation science are no doubt aware of the incredible molecular motor called the flagellum,1,2...

NEWS
Rhino Fossil Requires the "Impossible" from Conventional...
A recent study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution claims that the “impossible” actually happened—not just once, but three...

NEWS
December 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they...

NEWS
The Bipedal Two-Step of Human Evolution
The supposed evolution of bipedalism continues to be a major obstacle in the narrative that humans evolved from apelike ancestors.1,2 For...

CREATION PODCAST
The James Webb Space Telescope vs The Big Bang | The Creation...
When you look into the night sky, you’re seeing light that has traveled incredible distances to reach you. For centuries, astronomers have used telescopes...

CREATION PODCAST
Dr. Randy Guliuzza | From Learning to Leadership | The Creation...
For more than 50 years, the Institute for Creation Research has continued its mission to show how scientific evidence confirms the truth of Scripture....

NEWS
Announcing the Acts & Facts Kids Edition for 2025!
Hi, kids! Have you ever stopped to think about just how wonderful and amazing our world really is? Everywhere you look, from the tiniest bug to the...