Page 105 - The Miracle of Human Creation
P. 105

THE CREATION OF A HUMAN BEING FROM A CELL


                 and for their dispersal to all their different destinations, is the fact
                 that genes can switch on and switch off. Not all of them are operati-
                 ve all the time. This happens in response to signals from fellow cells
                 as they all fit themselves into the elaborate programme of develop-
                 ment.
                 These events may be visualized as an exacting building task requ-
                 iring close co-operation. Each knows the grand plan, each gives out
                 signals, and in turn sensitively responds to the signals from others to

                 become integrated into the whole project. The cells of the embryo
                 work in a comparable way, in companionable agreement, with genes
                 switched on and off as required. 28
                 As can be understood from the above explanations, the fact that the
            cells differentiate from one another and take on completely different func-
            tions is said to indicate that there is a "genetic program" which causes
            them to act within a determined plan. It is true that a perfect program is
            implanted in every cell, but the important thing is this: Who created this
            program and implanted it in the cells? The program we speak of here is
            not like an ordinary computer program. By applying this program, the
            cells bring into being a human person who has within himself millions of
            interrelated complex organic structures: a person who can hear, see, feel,
            think, make decisions, experience joy, appreciate beauty and who can
            study his own cells and DNA, and draw conclusions from his investigati-
            ons. Moreover, it is certainly a miracle that the masses of protein which
            we call cells can understand such a program, act according to it, become
            aware of what is required and complete every stage perfectly.
                 Richard Dawkins, a well-known modern evolutionist, is at a loss to
            explain how, in the formation of a human being, the genes which contain
            the human genetic program act together with such a degree of cooperation.
                 Embryonic development is controlled by an interlocking web of rela-

                 tionships so complex that we had best not contemplate it. 29
                 Dawkins has understood that the relations among the genes respon-
            sible for the miraculous creation of a human being and the extraordinary

                                               103
   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110