Even the smallest living cells face a big design problem. How do they keep the right shape while many parts inside them are moving? A recent study in Science considered this question in regards to a blue-green bacterium called Anabaena.1 The researchers studied a protein system that helps the cell keep its shape. Conventional scientists call this an example of evolution “repurposing” DNA-moving machinery into a bacterial skeleton.1 But the evidence points to a clearer thesis: the protein system inside the cell has more built-in function than scientists first recognized.
The system is called CorMR. Researchers found that CorM, a protein inside the system, forms thin strands just under the inner cell membrane. CorR, another bacterial protein, helps place those strands in the right area. An additional system, MinC, helps keep them away from the cell ends and the division site.1 These parts must form, move, bind, avoid the wrong places, and preserve cell shape—demonstrating controlled placement inside the cell, not random clutter.
Other studies have also shown that bacteria use skeleton-like protein systems for shape, division, and inner order.2 So CorMR is not a strange, onetime feature. It fits the more widespread impression of engineering in organisms once thought to be simple.
The function of CorMR became clearer when researchers removed it. According to the Institute of Science and Technology Austria, cells lacking it “lost their normal rectangular-like cell shape and instead became round and swollen.”3 Clearly, the system is not optional. It’s necessary to maintain a working cell’s form.
The claim of evolution rests on similarity. CorMR resembles ParMR, a known bacterial system that helps move plasmids (small DNA rings that must move during cell division).1 Earlier research showed that ParM protein strands can grow and shrink in a controlled way while helping separate plasmids.4 CorMR uses related features for cell shape control. The authors credit evolution for such “repurposing.”1 But similarity does not prove an unguided origin. Engineers often use related designs in different systems because those blueprints work well. Although it used the word “repurposed,” the study did not watch Anabaena become a new kind of organism. It identified a cell shape function not recognized before. Discovering another function is not the same as explaining how the system originated.
ICR’s continuous environmental tracking model argues that creatures use internal systems with sensors, programmed logic, and output responses to adjust within designed limits.5 CorMR fits that engineering pattern because it has biological limits on its functions. The system helps keep a cell’s form through organized parts and action.
Psalm 104:24 says, “O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all.” This bacterial system gives a small but clear example of His creativity. The evidence doesn’t show nature inventing cell engineering. Instead, it reveals a living cell using its own ordered parts, exact placement, and controlled motion to preserve its form. That is another reason to celebrate the Creator’s amazing workmanship.
References
- Springstein, B. L. et al. 2026. Repurposing of a DNA Segregation Machinery into a Cytoskeletal System Controlling Cell Shape. Science. 392 (6795). Preprint. Posted on biorxiv.org November 2, 2025.
- Shih, Y.-L. and L. Rothfield. 2006. The Bacterial Cytoskeleton. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. 70 (3): 729–754.
- Anabaena Learns a New Trick. Institute of Science and Technology Austria news release. Posted on ist.ac.at April 16, 2026.
- Garner, E. C., C. S. Campbell, and R. D. Mullins. 2004. Dynamic Instability in a DNA-Segregating Prokaryotic Actin Homolog. Science. 306 (5698): 1021–1025.
- Guliuzza, R. J. 2019. Biological Networks Feature Finest Engineering Principles. Acts & Facts. 48 (1): 17–19.
* Dr. Corrado earned a Ph.D. in systems engineering from Colorado State University and a Th.M. from Liberty University. He is a freelance contributor to ICR’s Creation Science Update, works in the nuclear industry, and is a Captain in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
