Page 21 - The Origin of Life and the Universe - International Conference 2016

The Origin of Life and the Universe

certain properties that reflect the work of a mind. And it is provocative to
think that those same features are defining biochemistry in its very
essence. So if certain features reflect the work of a human mind, and we
see them in biochemical systems is this not evidence that they too must be
the work of “A Mind”?
Because of time constraints, I’m only going to focus on one of these
features today, namely the fact that there are information systems found
inside the cell. At their essence, biochemical systems are information
systems. Two major classes of biomolecules that harbor information:
1) The nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA; the DNA is depicted on
the left and
2) Proteins.
Both types of molecules are chain-liked nature. These molecules are
formed when the cell’s machinery links together smaller, subunit molecules
in a head-to-tail fashion to form molecular chains. In the case of DNA
and RNA, the subunits are nucleotides or sometimes called the genetic
letters abbreviated: A, G, C, and T. In the case of proteins, the subunit
molecules are amino acids. Twenty different amino acids are encoded by
the genetic code. The cell’s machinery uses these 20 amino acids to
construct proteins.
Biochemists often think of the nucleotides used to build RNA and
DNA and the amino acids used to build proteins, as molecular alphabets.
Just as alphabet letters are used to build words in English or in the Turkish
language, amino acid sequences are used to construct biochemical words—
proteins—that carry out specific functions inside the cell. Nucleotide se-
quences are used to store information in DNA. In fact, the function of
DNA is to store information that the cells machinery uses to build proteins.
The regions of the DNA molecule that contain the information needed to
build a single protein is called a gene.
The recognition that biochemical systems are information systems
indicates that life must come from a Mind. Why? Because whenever we
encounter information we recognize that there is a mind behind that in-
formation. When you receive a text message; when you receive an email;
if you receive a letter in the mail or you see a sign on the side of the road,

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