The Marvelous Message Molecule: Unveiling God's Divine Plan

The Marvellous 'Message Molecule': Understanding the Role of DNA in Life

When we send a message, something fascinating and mysterious occurs. Let's imagine Alphonse in Alsace wants to send the message, "Ned, the war is over. Al." The message starts as patterns of air compression (spoken words) when Alphonse dictates it to a friend. His friend then writes it down using ink on paper and sends it to another person who feeds it into a fax machine. The machine converts the message into a coded pattern of electrical impulses, which are transmitted through a phone line and received at a remote Indian outpost where it is printed out as letters once again. The person at the outpost reads the fax and relays the same message through smoke signals to Old Ned in Nevada, who receives the exact message that was intended for him. Interestingly, no physical matter has been transmitted from Alsace to Nevada, yet the message has traveled all the way.

This intangible something that travels is called information. It is not a physical substance since no matter has been transmitted. However, it seems to require matter as a medium during its journey. Whether the message is in Turkish, Tamil, or Tagalog, information needs a material medium to be transmitted. Air molecules compressed into sound waves, ink and paper, electrons traveling through phone wires, semaphore signals — all these involve material mediums used to transmit information. But it's important to note that the medium itself is not the information.

Information is the key element that differentiates life from non-living matter. It poses a challenge to materialist explanations of life that reduce it to mere interactions governed by the laws of physics and chemistry. Life encompasses more than just physical and chemical processes; living organisms carry vast amounts of information.

One might argue that a sheet of paper carrying a written message is nothing more than ink and paper following the laws of physics and chemistry. However, ink and paper alone cannot generate messages — it requires a mind to do so. Similarly, the alphabet letters in a Scrabble® kit do not hold information until someone arranges them in a specific sequence. Thus, mind is necessary to create and interpret information. While it is possible to program a machine to arrange Scrabble® letters into a message, a mind must write the program for the machine.

So, how is the information for life carried? How does the message that determines whether an organism becomes a frog or a frangipani tree get passed on from one generation to the next? How is this information stored, and what medium does it use? The answer lies in the extraordinary "message molecule" known as DNA. DNA can be visualized as a long rope or string of beads tightly coiled up inside the center of every cell in our bodies. This molecule carries the programs of life — the instructions that are transmitted from one generation to the next.

It's important to note that DNA itself is not alive; it is a dead molecule. It cannot replicate itself without the machinery of a living cell. While DNA may seem to be the information in our bodies, it serves as a carrier or medium for the actual message. In a similar way, Scrabble® letters are not information until someone imposes a specific sequence or message on them from outside. DNA can be thought of as a chain of such alphabet letters linked together in various ways. However, unless they are arranged correctly, no usable message can be generated, even though it is still DNA.

To read the message encoded in DNA, pre-existing language codes or conventions and specialized machinery are required. All this machinery exists within cells. Just like man-made machines, cellular machinery does not arise spontaneously from raw materials based on the properties of those materials alone. If we were to throw together the basic ingredients needed for a living cell without any pre-existing information, nothing would happen. Machines and programs do not emerge solely from the laws of physics and chemistry because they embody information. Information, contrary to chance, requires a specific order imposed on matter to arrange letters into a sequence and convey a meaningful message.

When living organisms reproduce, they transmit information from one generation to the next. This information, carried by DNA from both parents, serves as the instruction manual for constructing a new organism using raw materials. This remarkable process results in new combinations of traits, making children similar yet distinct from their parents. While the deck is reshuffled, no new cards are added.

The amount of information stored in DNA is truly mind-boggling. Human achievements in information storage pale in comparison. For instance, the information on a videotape of a movie can be held in one hand. However, DNA achieves an astounding feat of information miniaturization. For a given amount of information, DNA requires only about a trillionth of the space needed for storing it on a videotape. In other words, DNA is a million million times more efficient at storing information than our most advanced technologies.

Estimating the amount of information contained in the DNA code that describes an individual varies widely. Using simple analogies based on DNA's storage capacity, it ranges from around 500 large library books filled with small-type information to over 100 complete sets of 30-volume encyclopedias. These estimates may not even be sufficient to specify the intricate construction of the human brain alone, with its trillions of precise connections. It is possible that there are additional higher-level information storage and multiplication systems within our bodies that we have yet to discover.

Consider this: if we unraveled the DNA from just one cell in our body (an amount so small that it requires a microscope to see), it would stretch two meters in length. Now imagine multiplying this by the roughly 75 to 100 trillion cells in our bodies. If we join all the DNA from one human body end to end, it would stretch a mind-boggling 150 billion kilometers (around 94 billion miles). To put this into perspective, it would circle the Earth's equator three-and-a-half million times. It is a distance a thousand times greater than from the Earth to the sun. Even if we shone a torch along this distance, it would take light, traveling at 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) per second, over five-and-a-half days to reach the end.

The truly captivating aspect of DNA is how the information it carries in all living things directly points to intelligent and supernatural creation. Through scientific reasoning, we can deduce the following:

Observations: 1. Coded information used in constructing living organisms is transferred from pre-existing messages (programs) that are transmitted from generation to generation. 2. During this transfer, information either remains the same or decreases due to factors like mutational loss, genetic drift, and species extinction. Meaningful increases in information are rarely, if ever, observed.

Deduction from observation No. 2: 3. If we trace back along the line of any living population (e.g., humans), we would see an overall pattern of gradual increase in information as we go further back in time.

Axiom: 4. No population can be infinitely old or contain infinite information.

Deduction from points 3 and 4: 5. There must have been a point in time where the first program originated without any pre-existing program — the first of its kind had no parents.

Further observation: 6. Information and messages always originate from a mind or pre-existing messages. They never arise spontaneously or unguided through natural laws and processes.

Conclusion: The programs within the first representatives of each type of organism must have originated not from natural laws but from a mind.

This conclusion aligns perfectly with the teachings of Genesis, which tell us that the programs for each original "kind" population, with their vast potential for variation, originated from the mind of God in a specific moment of supernatural creation. These messages, written in intricate coded language, could not have emerged by themselves according to real observational science.

Once the first messages were written, they contained instructions for creating machinery to transmit those messages across generations. DNA, the marvellous "message molecule," carries this non-material entity called information from its origin in the mind of God.

In addition to the biological language written on DNA, there are other messages from the Creator found in the Bible. In the book of Romans, it is stated that God's invisible attributes, such as His eternal power and divine nature, can be understood through what has been created. As we uncover some of the biological language inscribed on DNA, we are reminded of the most wonderful message from the Logos — Jesus Christ, the Creator — who said, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

Through studying DNA and recognizing its intricate design and information-carrying capacity, we are led to recognize the handiwork of a Creator. The information contained within living organisms points directly to intelligent design and refutes notions that life arose spontaneously through natural processes alone. By diving deeper into these concepts and engaging with creationist ideas, we can develop a greater understanding of our origins and appreciate the wonder of God's creation.

Why This Matters: Understanding how DNA carries information challenges materialistic explanations of life and highlights the need for an intelligent creator. Recognizing DNA's role in transmitting information strengthens our faith and deepens our appreciation for God's design in every living organism.

Think About It: Consider the vast amount of information stored within your DNA. Reflect on how this information is passed down from generation to generation, shaping the traits and characteristics of each individual. Contemplate the complexity and efficiency of DNA as a medium for storing and transmitting the instructions for life. What does this reveal about the incredible design and purpose behind our existence?