The Language of the DNA Encyclopedia
The life of societies is based on information flow, and communication. The most important tool in the information flow between individuals and generations is language. Language is represented by specific codes, which are letters. English is a language made up of 26 letters or we may say 26 codes. These codes make up words and words in turn make up sentences. The information flow and storage is realised by means of these codes.
The language in the cell is similar to this. All the physical traits of a human being are stored in the cell nucleus being coded by this language, and it can be used by the cell again by way of this language. This language is that of the master molecule, called DNA. The DNA language is made up of 4 letters; A, T, G and C. Every letter represents one of the four special bases called 'nucleotides'. Millions of these bases line up in a meaningful sequence and make up the DNA molecule.
That is how the information in the data bank in the nucleus is stored. While we describe the coding system in this data warehouse, we will continue to use this letter analogy for the nucleic acid molecules which constitute DNA. These letters match in twos each forming a base pair in this way. These base pairs add on top of each other to form the genes. Each gene, which comprises one portion of DNA molecule, determines a particular feature of the human body. Countless properties like height, eye colour, the material and the shape of the nose, ear, and skull are formed by the command of the related genes. We can compare every one of these genes to the pages of a book. On thepages there are scripts made up of the letters A – T – G – C.
There are approximately 200,000 genes in the DNA of a human cell. Every gene is composed of a special sequence of nucleotides, the number of which ranges between 1000 and 186,000 according to the type of the protein it correlates. These genes hold the codes of nearly 200,000 proteins that function in the human body and control the production of these proteins.
The information stored in these 200,000 genes constitute only 3 %of the total information in DNA. The remaining 97 % still maintains its mystery today. The recent studies showed that this 97 % unknown part includes vital information about the survival of the cell and the mechanisms that control the highly complex activities within the body. Yet there is still a great distance to go.
The genes are located in the chromosomes. There are 46 chromosomes in the nucleus of every human cell (except for the reproduction cells). If we compare every one of the chromosomes to a book volume made up of gene pages, we may say that in the cell lies a 46-volume "cell encyclopedia" which covers all the characteristics of a human being. Remembering the previous encyclopedia example, this cell encyclopedia is equivalent to the knowledge contained in a 920-volume 'Encyclopedia Britannica'.
The sequence of letters in the DNA of every human is different. This is the basic reason why the billions of people who have ever lived on earth look different from each other. The basic structure and functions of organs are the same in every person. However, every person is created in such a detailed and special manner with such subtle differences that even though all people are created from the division of a single cell and have the same basic structure, billions of different people have come into existence.
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All the organs in our body are constructed within a plan outlined by our genes. To give a few examples, according to a gene map completed by scientists, in the human body, skin is controlled by 2,559, brain by 29,930, eye by 1,794, salivary glands by 186, heart by 6,216, chest by 4,001, lung by 11,581, liver by 2,309, intestine by 3,838, skeletal muscle by 1,911 and blood cells by 22,902 genes.
The sequential order of the letters in DNA determines the structure of a human being down to his slightest details. In addition to features like height, eye, hair and skin colours, the DNA of a single cell also contains the design of 206 bones, 600 muscles, a network of 10.000 auditory muscles, a network of 2 million optic nerves, 100 billion nerve cells, and 100 trillion cells in the body.
Now let us think in the light of the above information: Since even a letter cannot form without a writer writing it, how did billions of letters in the human cell originate? How did these letters queue up in a meaningful sequence so as to make up the unique plan of such a perfect and complex body? If there were any break downs in the order of these letters you could have your ear on your abdomen or your eyes in your heels. You could have born with your hands stuck on your back, and lived as a freak. The secret of your living as a proper human currently lies in the 'flawless' sequence of the billions of letters in the 46-volume encyclopedia in your DNA.
DNA Challenges Coincidence
Today mathematics has proved that coincidence does not play a role in the formation of the coded information within DNA, let alone the DNA molecule made up of millions of base pairs. The probability of the coincidental formation of even a single gene out of the 200,000 genes making up DNA is so low that even the notion of impossible remains weak. Frank Salisbury, an evolutionist biologist, makes the following statement about this 'impossibility':
A medium protein might include about 300 amino acids. The DNA gene controlling this would have about 1,000 nucleotides in its chain. Since there are four kinds of nucleotides in a DNA chain, one consisting of 1,000 links could exist in 4 1000 forms. Using a little algebra (logarithms) we can see that 4 1000 =10 600 . Ten multiplied by itself 600 times gives the figure 1 followed by 600 zeros! This number is completely beyond our comprehension.
That is to say that even if we assume that all the necessary nucleotides are present in a medium, and that all the complex molecules and enzymes to combine them were available, the possibility of the these nucleotides being arranged in the desired sequence is 1 in 4 1000 , in other words, 1 in 10 600 . Briefly, the probability of the coincidental formation of the code of an average protein in the human body in DNA by itself is 1 in 1 followed by 600 zeros. This number, which is beyond even being astronomical, means in practice 'zero' probability. This means that such a sequence has to be effected under the control and knowledge of a wise and conscious power. There is zero probability of it happening by 'accident', 'chance', or 'coincidence'.
The probability of the coincidental formation of the code of an average protein in the human body in the DNA by itself is 1 in 10 600 . We can write this number which is formed by putting 600 zeros next to 1 as follows: 10 600 = 1, 000, 000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, |
Think of the book you are reading right now. How would you regard someone who claimed that letters (by using a different printing stamp for every letter) have come together by chance on their own to form this writing? It is evident that it was written by an intelligent and conscious person. This is no different from the status of DNA.
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Francis Crick, the biochemist who discovered the structure of DNA, won a Nobel prize with respect to the research he had made on the subject. Crick, who was an ardent evolutionist, stated the following scientific opinion in a book he has written after testifying the miraculous structure of DNA:"An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that, in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to be almost a miracle." Even in Crick's view, who was one of the biggest experts on DNA, life could never originate on earth spontaneously.
The data in DNA, which is made up of 5 billion letters, is composed of a special and meaningful sequence of letters A-T-G-C. However, not even a single letter error should be made in this sequence. A misspelled word or a letter error in an encyclopedia may be overlooked and ignored. It would not even be noticed. However, even a single mistake in any base pair of DNA, such as a miscoded letter in the 1 billion 719 million 348 thousand 632 nd base pair, would cause terrible results for the cell, and therefore for the person himself. For instance, haemophilia (child leukemia) is the outcome of such an erroneous coding.
In truth, it would be incorrect to call this "erroneous coding", because like every other thing that exists, the human DNA, too, is created by God and even the seldom occurring mistakes come about with respect to a hidden cause (divine purpose). The coding mistake which causes cancer is a specially created disorder. It is created specially for a certain hidden cause to show man his own weakness and impotence, remind him of the delicate balances man's creation depends on, and of what kind of troubles he may face in case of the slightest disturbance in these balances.
