Can a freezer make life? A recent paper in Chemical Science suggests that freezing and thawing may have helped early “protocells” grow, merge, and trap DNA.1 But the key issue is not whether ice can move molecules around—it’s whether blind physical cycles can build the coded, regulated systems life requires. The evidence shows that ice can sort preexisting parts, but it cannot engineer life.
The researchers began with tiny membrane bubbles called phospholipid vesicles. They placed DNA inside some of them and ran freeze-thaw cycles. Some membrane mixtures joined together to form larger bubbles more easily than others. These larger bubbles then held more DNA.1 Although it yielded an interesting result, the experiment did not begin with simple chemicals and end with life. Instead, it began with chosen materials that already resembled parts of living systems.
This distinction matters. A living cell is not just a bubble with chemicals inside; it is a tightly controlled system with boundaries, codes, sensors, repair tools, and energy use. The cell’s selectively permeable (living) membrane protects it while allowing the right materials in and out, and the genetic material carries meaningful instructions. Molecular machines in the cell read those instructions and use them. From an engineering perspective, life requires coordinated function, not just chemical contact.
The paper itself recognizes the problem. The authors said the DNA placed inside the frozen membrane bubbles was enriched even though it “did not play a particular role” and was “independent of [its] encoded information.”1 In other words, the DNA message was not used—it wasn’t read, copied, corrected, or translated into useful work. The bubbles simply carried more of what researchers had already placed inside them, which is not equivalent to originating biological information.
This is where the creation model offers a better way to think about living systems. Dr. Randy Guliuzza has argued that biological systems reflect engineering principles, including sensors, programmed logic, and output responses that allow organisms to track changing conditions.2 That framework fits what we observe in living cells. Cells do not merely drift along with their surroundings. They use internal systems to detect, process, and respond.
The protocell experiment merely shows that the vesicles had no sensors, logic, code-reading machinery, or controlled response. Although they could merge and hold material, they could not manage it. Conventional scientists who favor an RNA-first origin still recognize that life would need molecules able to store information and perform useful chemistry before evolution could accomplish much.3 Other origin-of-life researchers have also noted that even a simple life form would need linked systems for boundaries, copying, and metabolism.4
In the end, the study is valuable because it measures what freeze-thaw cycles can do to premade lipid bubbles. But it doesn’t show that ice can write genetic instructions, build molecular machines, or unite cell systems into a working whole. The observable evidence points to a deeper reality: life depends on coordinated engineering. While ice can move parts, it cannot design the system.
References
- Shinoda, T. et al. 2025. Compositional Selection of Phospholipid Compartments in Icy Environments Drives the Enrichment of Encapsulated Genetic Information. Chemical Science. 16 (48): 23321–23329.
- Guliuzza, R. J. 2019. Biological Networks Feature Finest Engineering Principles. Acts & Facts. 48 (1): 17–19.
- Joyce, G. F. 2002. The Antiquity of RNA-Based Evolution. Nature. 418: 214–221.
- Szostak, J. W., D. P. Bartel, and P. L. Luisi. 2001. Synthesizing Life. Nature. 409: 387–390.
* 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.
