Page 104 - The Golden Age

THE GOLDEN AGE

All information about living beings is
stored in the DNA molecule. This incredi-
bly efficient information storage method
alone is a clear evidence that life did not
come into being by chance, but has been
purposely designed, or, better to say, mar-
vellously created.

tally, is 1 in 10 950 for an average protein made up of 500 amino acids.
In mathematics, a probability smaller than 1 over 10 is considered to
50
be impossible in practical terms.
The DNA molecule, which is located in the nucleus of a cell and
which stores genetic information, is an incredible databank. If the in-
formation coded in DNA were written down, it would make a giant
library consisting of an estimated 900 volumes of encyclopedias con-
sisting of 500 pages each.
A very interesting dilemma emerges at this point: DNA can repli-
cate itself only with the help of some specialized proteins (enzymes).
However, the synthesis of these enzymes can be realized only by the
information coded in DNA. As they both depend on each other, they
have to exist at the same time for replication. This brings the scenario
that life originated by itself to a deadlock. Prof. Leslie Orgel, an evo-
lutionist of repute from the University of San Diego, California, con-
fesses this fact in the September 1994 issue of the Scientific American
magazine:
It is extremely improbable that proteins and nucleic acids, both of which are
structurally complex, arose spontaneously in the same place at the same
time. Yet it also seems impossible to have one without the other. And so, at
first glance, one might have to conclude that life could never, in fact, have
originated by chemical means. 33

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