Two biologists in 1953 uncovered the chemical code for all of life. We call it DNA. What does DNA tell us about life and the possibility of God?
On February 28, 1953, scientists James Watson and Francis Crick made perhaps the most remarkable discovery in the history of biological science. Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA - the chemical code for all life.
Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion and The Selfish Gene, has written that DNA's discovery "dealt the final killing blow to the belief that living material is deeply distinct from nonliving material."
Scientist George Williams says not so fast. One of the foremost authorities on gene selection, Williams argues that DNA is not the object of information, but rather the "medium" of information. Thus, says Williams, scientists are really grappling with "two more or less incommensurable domains: that of information and that of matter." According to Williams, the gene "is a package of information, not the object."
What's the relevance of this disagreement? The following illustration should explain:
A book is more than just paper and ink. Paper and ink are the means by which information is transmitted from the author to the reader. The information is something that utilizes paper and ink, but it is not paper and ink. Your DNA is the "paper and ink" of the illustration. That DNA conveys information in a language that is, in the opinion of a growing number of scientists and philosophers, more than the DNA itself.
So, who is the author of that information? A great question - and one that should lead you eventually to the God of the Bible.
