Who doesn’t enjoy the amazing color patterns of butterflies?^1,2 Such beautiful designs and construction do not reflect blind naturalistic forces³ but the Creator’s hand.^4,5

It has been known that “the genetic code contained within the cells of developing butterfly wings dictates the specific arrangement of the color on the wing’s scales -- the microscopic tiles that form wing patterns -- similar to the arrangement of colored pixels to form a digital image.”⁶ Codes, such as the DNA code, are extremely sophisticated messages, in this case detailing color arrangements of the tiny scales. Codes do not come about by chance. DNA contains a distinct code, and all life is constructed and patterned by information dictated by that code and other types of molecular codes. In fact, “genes [DNA] can be compared to computer codes. The same gene or set of genes can be used to build different parts of an animal based on how those genes are incorporated with the many other genes (‘computer codes’) that are used to develop those features.”⁷

Recently, zoologists from George Washington University have “discovered a gene that produces an RNA molecule – not a protein – [that] controls where dark pigments are made during butterfly metamorphosis.”⁶ This is a significant finding because it was assumed that black pigments came about via a protein-coding gene like other pigments.

However, this was not the case. These scientists used a special genome-editing technique to show that when a gene that produces the RNA molecule is removed, “butterflies completely lose their black pigmented scales, showing a clear link between RNA activity and dark pigment development.”⁶

This form of RNA is a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) that the scientists called “ivory”: “Strikingly, ivory expression prefigures most melanic patterns during pupal development, suggesting an early developmental role in specifying scale identity.”⁸

“What we found was astonishing,” said Livraghi, a postdoctoral scientist at GW. “This RNA molecule directly influences where the black pigment appears on the wings, shaping the butterfly’s color patterns in a way we hadn't anticipated [emphasis added].”⁶ They then researched just how the lncRNA molecule operates during wing development. Not surprisingly, they found “a perfect correlation” between where these black scales form and where the RNA is expressed.

“‘We were amazed that this gene is turned on where the black scales will eventually develop on the wing, with exquisite precision,’ said Arnaud Martin, associate professor of biology at GW [emphasis added].” How can such “exquisite precision” be attributed to random, unguided events?

The scientists found that several other butterflies had this unique RNA and erroneously concluded that it “had evolved to control new placements in the patterns of dark pigments.”⁶ An evolutionist called the RNA gene “a key ancestral mechanism to control wing pattern diversity.”⁶ But the RNA didn’t evolve; it was placed in these butterflies during creation thousands of years ago.⁹ Indeed, the scientists are saying that “‘remarkably we are finding that this same RNA is used again and again, from longwing butterflies, to monarchs and painted lady butterflies,’ said Joe Hanly, a postdoctoral scientist and visiting fellow at GW.”⁶ This would be expected on the basis of creation. The Creator used the same RNA gene “to control wing pattern diversity” in a variety of different butterfly species.

The evolutionists concluded, “Overall, these results show that a lncRNA gene acts as a master switch of color pattern specification and played key roles in the adaptive diversification of wing patterns in butterflies.”⁸ They discovered the “master switch” (gene) of color patterns, which is commendable. But when one has a non-biblical worldview, praise goes to the creation and not the Creator: “It is truly an evolutionary paintbrush in this sense, and a creative one, judging by its effects in several species,” stated Arnaud Martin.⁶

The creative paintbrush (“a surprising genetic mechanism”) must truly belong to the One who created all things.⁶

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.¹⁰

References

1. Sherwin, F. Butterfly Variation. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org November 3, 2022.
2. Sherwin, F. Butterfly Variation and AI-Powered Research. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org August 8, 2024.
3. Guliuzza, R. 2010. “Natural Selection Is Not ‘Nature’s Design Process,’” Acts & Facts. 39 (4): 10–11.
4. Tomkins, J. Butterfly Wing Design Repudiates Evolution. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org February 18, 2021.
5. Thomas, B. 2020. Why Don't Raindrops Bomb Butterfly Wings? Acts & Facts. 49 (8): 20. 
6. Genomic Dark Matter Solves Butterfly Evolutionary Riddle. George Washington University. Posted on sciencedaily.com August 30, 2024.
7. Thomas, B. Multifunctional Genes Indicate Ingenious Programming. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org June 1, 2009.
8. Livraghi, L. et al. 2024. A Long Noncoding RNA at the Cortex Locus Controls Adaptive Coloration in Butterflies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 121 (36): e2403326121.
9. Sherwin, F. Butterfly Evolution? Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org July 18, 2006.
10. Revelation 4:11.

* Dr. Sherwin is a news writer at the Institute for Creation Research. He earned an M.A. in invertebrate zoology from the University of Northern Colorado and received an honorary doctorate of science from Pensacola Christian College.