Language of the Genome

  The recent announcement that scientists have deciphered the human genome has secular scientists buzzing. And their editorials in the New York Times and elsewhere praise, not the Creator, but Darwinian evolution. We need to know, however, that these new discoveries are no threat to the Christian worldview. Rather, they are a bold verification of its coherence. The human genome -- the molecular-biological blueprint of the human body -- is written in a language of four letters (A, C, T, and G), which represent the amino acids that produce the proteins that make up our biology. The arrangement of these letters in the genome account for things like hair and eye color and a host of physical traits. Even male pattern baldness has a genetic link. But, much to the amazement of the translators of our genetic code, instead of the human genome consisting of 100,000 genes that account for biological traits, the human blueprint is only around 30,000 genes. Since the fruit fly possesses between 13,000 and 14,000 genes, scientists believed that, to account for all the differences between fruit flies and humans, our genome would have to be many times larger. Not so. If their measurements are accurate, the human genome is just over twice the size of the fruit fly's. But all this proves, of course, is that the language of the genome is much subtler than scientists thought previously. This shouldn't surprise us. The fact that our biology is written in a decipherable language testifies even more brilliantly to a God who speaks. That he created all living things from a relevantly similar blueprint is, likewise, no surprise. That the language of the human genome is close to that of other species is no surprise, either. The latest research reveals that chimpanzees share 98.8 percent of our genes; mice share 85 to 90 percent; and bananas, 50 percent of our genes. Well, for Christians whose worldview includes the affirmation that we were made from the dust of the earth, this hardly comes as unsettling information. To go on to conclude, as evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould has done in the New York Times, that the similarities between genomes point to Darwinian evolution requires an act of faith that is simply breathtaking. Subtle differences in the language of our genomes results in profound differences between us and other species -- and vive la difference! The point is, interpreting the information in our cells requires a set of worldview lenses through which to view the information. A Darwinian sees through Darwinian glasses. But the more we learn about DNA, the more difficult it becomes for Darwinists to explain what they see. How does information, through a process of chance evolution, become rational, coherent instruction for the building of a body? Well, this is why Gould and his colleagues talk about "blind watchmakers" and other oxymorons. Francis Crick, the co-discoverer of the double helical nature of the DNA molecule, has even declared, "Biologists must constantly keep in mind that what they see is not designed, but rather evolved." It's as if reminding themselves of their own dogma will convince them that the evidence for a Designer is a mirage in the desert of scientific explanation. Christians know that the Creator has left his fingerprints on everything he created. And the God who speaks, in his infinite wisdom, uttered the language that brought us all into existence. For further reference: Crick, Francis. What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery. New York: Basic Books, 1988; p. 138. Gould, Stephen Jay. "Humbled by the Genome's Mysteries." New York Times, 19 February 2001.


Chuck Colson


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