Here, then, are the facts about the cell that we have looked at:

• The cell is the basis for all life.
• It is incredibly complicated.
• All the cells that have ever been discovered have all the essential systems in place.

We want to think about the implications of that last fact.

We have no observable facts to suggest that cells have ever been anything other than complete and fully functional. Nor do we have any observable facts to lead us to believe that the complex chemicals like DNA that we find within cells have ever been anything other than complete and fully functional. Theories have been put forward suggesting that animal cells developed from more simple yeast cells. But again, we must remember that yeast cells are complete and fully functional. We should also bear in mind that they are far from simple. There are no observable facts that indicate that yeast cells developed into more complex cells.

By just looking at the observable facts, we would not be led into thinking that the basic building block of life has ever been anything other than complete and fully functional.

4. Summary - 'Big Bang', Evolution and the Cell

Looking at the observable facts we find that the 'Big Bang' theory:

• Is based on very few observable facts.
• Has assumptions we cannot prove.
• May be missing some important information.

Looking at the theory of evolution we see:

• The animals in the fossil record appear fully formed.
• Comparing animals today gives no information on how they came into existence.
• Small observable changes are no evidence of the large changes required by the theory.
• There are no observable facts to suggest the cell (the basic building block of life) has ever been anything other than complete and fully functional.