A TEXAS Christian group's proposal to offer a degree in science education has drawn criticism from leading physicians and scientists, including a Nobel laureate who warned that Texas risks becoming "the laughing-stock of the nation".

Critics of the proposal by the Dallas-based Institute for Creation Research have peppered the state's commissioner of higher education with emails in recent weeks.

The institute's curriculum for the proposed science degree is heavily flavoured with Christian references and creationism, which ascribes the origin of matter and species to God.