Is Fossil-Associated Cholesterol a Biomarker for a Young Earth?

A good article from RTB’s Faz Rana:

https://www.reasons.org/explore/blogs/the-cells-design/read/the-cells-design/2018/10/24/is-fossil-associated-cholesterol-a-biomarker-for-a-young-earth

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This is a good article (pass this one @AJRoberts)…

Despite the protests of YECs, for several converging reasons the isolation of cholesterol derivatives from the Dickinsonia specimen is easily explained—even if the specimen dates to 588 million years in age.

  • The research team did not recover high levels of cholesterol from the Dickinsonia specimen (which would be expected if the fossils were only 3,000 years old), but trace levels of cholestane (which would be expected if the fossils were hundreds of millions of years old). Cholestane is a chemical derivative of cholesterol that is produced when cholesterol undergoes diagenetic changes.
  • Cholestane is a chemically inert hydrocarbon that is expected to be stable for vast periods of time. In fact, geochemists have recovered steranes (other biomarkers) from rock formations that date to 2.8 billion years in age.
  • The Dickinsonia specimens that yielded cholestanes were exceptionally well-preserved. Specifically, they were unearthed from the White Sea Cliffs in northwest Russia. This rock formation has escaped deep burial and geological heating, making it all the more reasonable that compounds such as cholestanes could survive for nearly 600 million years.

In short, the recovery of cholesterol derivatives from Dickinsonia does not reflect poorly on the health of the old-earth paradigm. When the chemical properties of cholesterol and cholestane are considered, and given the preservation conditions of the Dickinsonia specimens, the interpretation that these materials were recovered from 588-million-year-old fossil specimens passes the physical exam.

Perhaps the best article from a creationist organization on this topic.

We also covered this topic here: Fat from 558 million years ago reveals earliest known animal - #5 by swamidass.

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"Fossil-Associated Cholesterol"?

Is that really a thing nowadays? I guess fossils are yet another item I’m going to have to cut from my diet.

There sure are a lot of rules to follow if one wants to keep one’s blood cholesterol profiles healthy. There will be no more fried or barbecued Dickinsonia on my menus.

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