The Tucker Carlson Show

Episode: James Tour: Super Humans, Genetic Engineering, Cloning, Lies of Evolution, and What Really Is Life?
Date: December 15, 2025
Host: Tucker Carlson (referred to as “Interviewer” in transcript)
Guest: Professor James Tour (Rice University, nanotechnology & organic chemistry)

Episode Overview

This episode features a wide-ranging conversation between Tucker Carlson and Dr. James Tour, a renowned organic chemist and nanotechnology expert at Rice University. The discussion covers the scientific mysteries of life’s origins, the limitations and overselling of evolutionary theory, the ethical frontiers of genetic engineering and cloning, and the intersection between scientific inquiry and faith. Dr. Tour passionately critiques current scientific orthodoxies while sharing his personal journey of faith and the transformative power of spiritual conviction.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Professor James Tour’s Background & Scientific Career

• Dr. Tour details his specialty in organic chemistry, nanotechnology, material science, and computer science ([00:09]).
• He’s actively involved in groundbreaking research, start-ups in pharmaceuticals, electronics, and AI computing:
  • Notable quote:

    "We generate new things and publish papers, produce PhD students and start companies."
    (Prof. Tour, 00:50)

2. Science and Faith: A Personal Perspective

• Dr. Tour openly discusses his belief in God and Jesus, emphasizing that his scientific work increases his faith, not diminishes it.

• He illustrates how an understanding of nature’s complexity—like the structure of wood or photosynthesis—inspires awe toward a creator, not disbelief ([02:15]-[05:35]).

  • Notable quote:

    "My science makes me believe all the more... God, you’re amazing. This is just what an amazing piece of construction."
    (Prof. Tour, 02:15)

• Dr. Tour suggests many scientists privately share doubts about life’s origins, but fear professional backlash ([05:44]-[07:33]).

  • Notable quote:

    "I’ve never had a scientist say to me, ‘Oh yeah, no problem, I understand this.’ Never. Never in private. They’ll never say that."
    (Prof. Tour, 06:24)

3. Challenges in Scientific Honesty and Culture

• Both acknowledge how scientific culture often discourages open admission of ignorance due to fear of exclusion, loss of funding, or damage to one’s career ([07:07]-[07:46], [09:00]-[10:33]).
• Peer review and grant systems can be weaponized to enforce orthodoxy.

4. What is Life? Science vs. Semantics

• Dr. Tour distinguishes between the characteristics of life (responsiveness, metabolism, homeostasis, cellular structure, inheritance) and the nature of life itself ([12:45]-[14:47]).
• He accuses Origin of Life researchers of redefining “life” to claim premature breakthroughs.
  • Notable quote:

    "What they’ve made is just a bunch of nonsense. It’s really not life at all... Show me the homeostasis... Show me the metabolism here... It’s not there."
    (Prof. Tour, 13:18)

5. Origin of Life Research: Grand Claims & Unmet Deadlines

• Dr. Tour criticizes prominent scientists (Jack Szostak, Dimitar Seseloff, Steve Benner, Lee Cronin) for public promises and failing to create life or even its basic building blocks in the lab ([16:49]-[19:07]).
• He issues open invitations for debate that remain unanswered.
  • Notable quote:

    "You can’t even hook two amino acids together... Am I the only one seeing this?"
    (Prof. Tour, 15:52)

6. Unresolved Paradoxes in the Origin of Life

• Four molecular classes needed for life (lipids, polysaccharides, nucleotides, polypeptides/proteins) have never been created prebiotically ([19:25]-[23:41]).
• Prebiotic experiments (like Miller-Urey) are chemically insufficient; biological molecules require specific handedness—something never achieved outside living systems.
• Even with all cell components in a lab, reassembling life is impossible ([23:41]-[27:13]).
• Memorable analogy:

  "It’s like... give you all the letters of the alphabet, but that’s no guarantee you’ll ever form meaningful sentences."

7. The Moving Target of Cellular Complexity

• Advances reveal that life’s chemical complexity (e.g., chiral induced spin selectivity, the interactome) make origins research ever harder ([27:13]).
• Instead of getting closer to solving life, “the target has moved miles away”.

8. Evolution: Micro vs. Macro, and the Cambrian Explosion

• Dr. Tour differentiates:

  • Microevolution—minor adaptations (e.g., bacterial antibiotic resistance) observable and well-evidenced ([41:52]-[44:25]).
  • Macroevolution—large changes, new “body plans,” for which he asserts there is no chemical, genetic, or fossil evidence ([44:23]-[50:08]).
  • Cambrian Explosion is cited as a major problem for evolutionary gradualism.
    • Notable quote:

      "You don’t see transitional forms. They just appear as if God spoke it into existence."
      (Prof. Tour, 47:37)

• Points to leading biologists (Levine, Wagner, Davidson, Erwin) who acknowledge the great difficulty in accounting for body plan changes ([49:23]-[53:05]).

9. Cloning, Genetic Engineering, and the 'Superhuman' Frontier

• Cloning is not creating life, but copying existing life ([30:36]-[34:00]).
• Genetic interventions can help correct diseases—and offer hope—but could be abused; possibility of “superhuman” engineered races is both near and ethically fraught ([35:47]-[38:07]).
• The global context: Stricter oversight in the US, but potentially less scrupulous research elsewhere ([35:47]-[40:05]).

10. Suppression of Dissent in Evolutionary Orthodoxy

• Dr. Tour recounts professional repercussions for signing a statement expressing skepticism about random mutation and natural selection as a sufficient explanation for life ([59:54]-[62:59]).

  • Notable exchange:

    Interviewer: "Because you had questioned the orthodoxy on evolution."
    Tour: "Correct, man." (59:51)

• Funding withdrawn, barred from honors; biologists and peers pressured to maintain the status quo.

11. Science, Philosophy, and the Boundaries of Knowledge

• Unanswered mysteries abound: the origin of life, consciousness, sleep, intuition, dark matter/energy, fine-tuned physical constants ([68:09]-[77:08]).

  • Notable quote:

    "There’s far more that we don’t understand than we do understand in many ways. We don’t even know how to ask the questions..."
    (Prof. Tour, 74:56)

• The more we know in science, the more profound and unfathomable reality becomes.

12. Dr. Tour’s Personal Faith Journey

• Details his conversion from secular Judaism to Christianity at 18, highlighting a transformative encounter with the Gospel ([77:13]-[91:54]).
• Describes the profound influence on his family, with his mother ultimately embracing faith after deep skepticism.

Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• "My science makes me believe all the more... When I see things, I understand it... I’m like, God, you’re amazing."
  (Prof. Tour, 02:15)

• "I’ve never had a scientist say to me, 'Oh yeah, no problem, I understand this.' Never. Never in private."
  (Prof. Tour, 06:24)

• "Why would you want to project that you’re on the verge of making life or have made life?"
  (Interviewer, 27:51)

• "You can’t even hook two amino acids together... Am I the only one seeing this?"
  (Prof. Tour, 15:52)

• "The problem with body plan changes... These genetic networks occur very early on in life... You clip one wire, it is catastrophically lethal."
  (Prof. Tour, 45:33)

• "You don’t see transitional forms. They just appear as if God spoke it into existence."
  (Prof. Tour, 47:37)

• "Everything is fine-tuned for life. How do you have all these fine-tuning things just for life?"
  (Prof. Tour, 76:20)

• "If I go a week without leading somebody to Jesus... that’s a wasted week for me. Just through a one-on-one conversation..."
  (Prof. Tour, 80:18)

• “The more you know, the less you know, and the more it points you toward a creator.”
  (Interviewer, 98:04)

Important Segment Timestamps

• Dr. Tour's Scientific Background: 00:09–01:44
• Faith & Science Coexist: 02:15–05:35
• Concealed Doubts in Academia: 05:44–07:33
• Scientific Honesty & COVID Parallel: 07:33–09:00
• ‘What Is Life?’ & Redefining Life: 12:45–16:49
• Origin of Life Research Critique & Unmet Claims: 16:49–19:07
• Unsolved Paradoxes in Life’s Origins: 19:25–27:13
• The Moving Goalposts of Complexity: 27:13
• Cloning, Genetic Engineering Dangers: 30:36–40:05
• Chemistry of Evolution & Macro vs. Micro: 40:05–53:05
• Cambrian Explosion & Fossil Record Gaps: 45:19–50:08
• Suppression of Skepticism in Science: 53:20–62:59
• Dr. Tour’s Faith Journey: 77:13–91:54
• Science’s Endless Mysteries: 68:09–77:08
• Teaching and Wonder at Nature: 101:23–102:41

Final Thoughts

This episode offers a passionate critique of scientific hubris, calls for humility about the mysteries of life and creation, and challenges the uncritical embrace of materialist origins. Dr. Tour advocates for an honest reckoning with what science cannot claim to know, and describes how both the wonders and gaps of science can point toward faith. It’s a blend of molecular detail, personal experience, and philosophical awe.

If you’re seeking an in-depth, unvarnished conversation at the crossroads of faith, science, and society—with genuine challenges to mainstream narratives—this is an essential listen.