Creation Research Can Be Adventurous

A dinosaur dig turns true life
adventure as researchers try to
recover molecules from bones

The opening paragraph if the Creation Research Society newsletter begins:

Open sky and unending tundra as far as the eye could see. After slogging our way to the top of a large bluff along the Colville River, this was our view—no sign of human presence anywhere. We had finally made it to the North Slope of Alaska, in search of some of the coldest dinosaur bones on planet Earth.

Tough job, but someone has to do it. The secular paleontologists seem to be giving up on soft tissue research in dinosaur bones. Is it not a huge embarrassment to them to find original soft tissue in bones thought to be older than 65 million years?

Ever since Nature admitted that the soft tissue is real and must be faced (20 March 2025), a strange silence has come upon the Darwinians. They avoid dinosaur soft tissue by two methods: (1) ignoring the subject, and (2) using equivocation to dodge the truth. They use the phrase “soft tissue” to refer both to permineralized material (i.e., fossil material turned to stone) and unpermineralized material (what most of us think of as soft tissue: material that is still fresh-looking, flexible, and able to be studied for protein and DNA content). This makes it very difficult for creationists to determine what they found.

Taking the Initiative

There’s one way to get around this stonewalling: get outside and find the material yourself. The Creation Research Society (CRS), the oldest research society of Biblical creationists, is doing just that. This is not the first time creationists have traveled to Alaska on a hunt for unfossilized dinosaur bones. The late Buddy Davis and geologist Dr John Whitmore from Answers in Genesis went to the Colville River in 1994, and wrote a book about their harrowing adventures, The Great Alaska Dinosaur Adventure (a fascinating read). Results from that trip were deemed uncertain, but that was before Mary Schweitzer‘s bombshell discovery of stretchable soft tissue in a T. rex leg bone.

Now, CRS is raising its own money to mount a search. Director Joel Brown explains why the effort to dig in Alaska.

A large effort is underway to document and study the biological molecules found in dinosaur bones—a discovery that challenges the “millions of years” conventionally assigned to these fossil remains. CRS’s iDINO project was the earliest concerted effort by creationists to add to the growing body of molecular paleontology data showing that cells, proteins, and intact soft tissue are still present in dinosaur bones. The “holy grail” of molecular paleontology would be to find even more delicate biomolecules, like DNA, buried within these ancient bones (and even by biblical standards, they are ancient). The chemical reactions behind the breakdown of biological tissue are temperature-dependent, so it’s reasonable to expect that molecular preservation will be best where temperatures are coldest. That’s what led us to Alaska.

Science has improved its methods for molecular analysis since 1994, making this year a good time for analyzing dinosaur bones for original biomaterials. Getting permits to gather specimens, though, is more difficult and time-consuming these days. To prepare for a larger expedition in 2027, CRS sent a two-man expeditionary team to find the Lipscomb bonebed along the Colville River.  Joel Brown and Tommy Lohman, with a guide, headed for the target. You never know what you will encounter till you get there.

• They flew a “puddle jumper” from Fairbanks to remote Inuit villages.
• Fog delayed landing where they needed to be.
• Viewing that vast tundra, they realized they were a long way from home.
• They traveled up the Colville River for 200 miles to reach the Lipscomb bonebed.
• They learned that “Alaskan quicksand is real”.
• They found that the natives call 9mm handguns “bear ticklers.”

Despite the hardships, they determined that the Lipscomb bonebed is still accessible, and has plentiful bones that will make it ideal for study when they obtain the permits for a larger 2027 expedition.

Opposite Teams

It’s not that secular science is ignoring this site. In fact, Brown and Lohman ran into a veteran paleontologist who has been exploring the Colville River every summer for a decade. Brown explains why it’s harder for creationists to do this work.

We’re trying to lay the groundwork that will give creation paleontologists—young and old—access to the same resources, opportunities, and experiences our secular colleagues have enjoyed for decades. But we also have to remember that they (secular paleontologists) spent lifetimes getting to where they are. We can’t expect that same access to be handed to us overnight. It will take work. However, the prospect of obtaining and analyzing freshly excavated bones from Alaska for molecular analysis now feels closer than ever.

Secular paleontologists also have better funding. Original creation research relies on donations, and sometimes has to get past the bias that may prevent them obtaining permits (read about geologist Andrew Snelling’s experience, 11 May 2017). Nevertheless, this encouraging expedition may promise bigger discoveries in 2027, and results that may put the final nail in the coffin of Deep Time.

We bring you this glimpse of adventure to encourage support for creation research and to inspire young scientists to get involved. Other creation groups are also working to bring the truth about dinosaur soft tissue to public attention through peer-reviewed publications. Logos Research Associates has a research fund; broadcaster David Rives takes people on annual dinosaur digs; microscopist Mark Armitage has dug up and examined dinosaur bones from Wyoming and Montana with an electron microscope; Brian Thomas at ICR collects published studies about soft tissue in dinosaurs and other ancient fossils. He also critiques evolutionary “explanations” for how original biomolecules might survive for millions of years. There are undoubtedly other projects underway by creation groups. These studies need to exhibit the rigorous high standards that will preclude criticism by mainstream scientists.

Secular science will not give up Deep Time easily. That’s why it is essential to have watertight data and foolproof analysis to circumvent all the excuses secular paleontologists throw at creation researchers to try to preserve their evolutionary timeline. There’s too much at stake to be careless. If Deep Time falls, so does the evolutionary tree, with all its bitter fruit. 

One more thing; the wider circle of Darwin doubters includes many who may accept intelligent design but maintain belief in Deep Time. Some Christians, too, take compromise positions like progressive creation or day-age interpretations of Genesis. We encourage those people to look into dinosaur soft tissue research with an open mind, and ask whether Deep Time is helping their view or not. Are they wearing that ball and chain out of habit or a desire to be on good terms with secular scientists? Who needs the favor of those who trust the Stuff Happens Law to make our living world? Let the evidence speak. Sometimes it takes hard work and perseverance to dig it up.