"The Strange Berry"

Psalm 71:17
“O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.”

Sometimes it seems as if God made some creatures just to show us He could do the impossible. Many of these creatures, by their strange nature, offer direct challenges to evolutionary theory, since there was no evolutionary need for their unique nature.
    
One such creature is a bacterium that has been labeled “the toughest bug on Earth.” Its Latin name means “strange berry that withstands radiation.” It can withstand thousands of times the radiation that would kill a human. The bacterium was first isolated in the 1950s, but a scientist who began studying the bug in 1988 said, “I had difficulty believing anything like this could exist.”
    
Many bacteria form hard capsules around themselves in response to radiation. While this provides some protection, the “strange berry” doesn’t form a capsule and still survives better than any other bug. While 500 to 1,000 rads of radiation would kill a human being, the “strange berry” can withstand 1.5 million rads. The radiation shatters the “berry’s” DNA into hundreds of fragments, a hundred times the fragmentation that is fatal to other bacteria. But a couple of hours later, the DNA is stitched back together, free of all mutations.
    
Evolutionists are puzzled because there is no environment containing this much radiation. Why would evolution develop such a creature? The “strange berry” not only challenges evolution directly, but also declares the skill and wisdom of its Creator!

Prayer:
We praise You, dear Father, for Your wondrous works which challenge unbelief and declare Your glory. Amen.

Notes:
John Travis, “Meet the Superbug,” Science News, December 1998, v. 154, p. 376. Portrait: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, the first microbiologist and the first person to observe bacteria using a microscope.