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what were the chances of life arising on its own?
BRADLEY: It's been speculated that probably
there would have to be
a minimum of about 250 proteins
to provide minimal life function.
Um, if that's really true,
then I think it's almost inconceivable
that life could've happened
in some simple, step-by-step way.
Okay, so the simplest form of life
requires at least 250 proteins to function.
What's so difficult about that?
[1950s SCHOOL FILMSTRIP MUSIC PLAYS]
FILMSTRIP NARRATOR: Welcome to The Casino of Life.
Who wants to spin for a chance to win?
Oh, sure. I'll give it a shot.
What do I win?
Take a look at this.
- [MAN IN AUDIENCE WOLF-WHISTLES] - Huh?
How 'bout the world's first single-cell organism?
This perfectly aligned string of proteins
could be yours.
Now, take a spin.
- [BELL RINGS] - I won!
[LAUGHS]
Tina, tell him how many tis
he needs to do that to win the prize.
Two hundred and fifty.
- [AUDIENCE BOOS] - SHOW HOST: That's right, folks.
And all in the correct order.
But that's impossible.
[LAUGHS] We've heard that before,
haven't we, Richard?
[LIKE DAWKINS] Come on, Mother Nature, do your thing.
[MACHINE BUZZES]
You stupid machine! I hate you.
We're talking about something that's staggeringly improbable,
roughly one in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion.
Let all of life chose a million, a trillion,
a trillion trillion--
the number is essentially zero.
Something has to skew nature to chose the ones that work.
So, in the game of life,
it looks as if the house always wins.
Luckily, some serious scientific minds