Creation Moments

Announcer: How do tomatoes protect themselves? Find out the answer next on today's Creation Moments. And now here's our Creation Moments host, Ian Taylor.

Ian T. Taylor: The study of plants' abilities to protect themselves from insect attackers is a fairly new and rapidly growing area of research. It seems that new and even more amazing discoveries are appearing every month. Let's imagine that you are a nice little beetle looking for a tasty tomato plant. Soon after spotting a juicy looking tomato, you are happily munching away. However, before you can finish your meal, you're in trouble. Every leaf on the tomato has started turning out chemicals that will, at the least, give you serious indigestion and possibly kill you. At the same time, the plant has warned its neighbors of your presence and the other tomatoes too are turning out the same nasty chemicals.

Your very act of eating has made it impossible to get a decent meal in this garden. The latest research suggests that the tomato under attack communicated with its neighbors by releasing a chemical called methyl jasmonate. Methyl jasmonate is commonly found in perfumes. This chemical tells the neighboring plants that hungry insects are in the neighborhood. On receiving this news, they begin making two chemicals that prevented you from digesting the protein in your lunch. This reaction has been seen among a number of plants, including cotton plants and various trees. Who would ever have guessed that plants warn each other about attack?

Who would have guessed that they know enough chemistry and insect biochemistry to mount such clever defenses? While even we who believe in creation are amazed, we know that the Creator can and did equip plants with these abilities.

Jonathan Cotton: For a free download of Ian Taylor's ebook, 25 Short Answers to Big Questions About Creation, visit us at creationmoments.com or call us toll free at 1-800-42-BIBLE.