Page 13 - FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE; EXPLORING GOD’S UNIVERSE

Science Y6 – Marvellous Me – Evolution and Intelligent Design

Molecular machines

Today we know better. Living cells are described as nanotechnology factories, packed with molecular machinery, with vast
numbers of different processes going on in a harmonious way. New revelations about cell complexity continue to be
announced and they often lead to expressions of astonishment by the researchers involved.

An enormous change of gear in thinking came with the discovery in 1953 of the cell’s information system. The genetic code
is built into the structure of the DNA molecules that lie at the heart of every living cell.

Chemical units (‘nucleotides’) of four different kinds are arranged along each DNA molecule. Their function is analogous to
the letters of the alphabet. Just as a sequence of letters is used to construct words and then meaningful sentences, so
these chemical units arranged in appropriate sequences are used as a template — from which the proteins needed by the
cell can be copied.

Just as the arrangement of alphabetical letters on this page constitute a code spelling out a message that you can read
and (hopefully!) understand, so the nucleotide sequence strung along the DNA molecule is a code that spells out a
meaningful message. Of course, the code has to be read and decoded before it can be used to control actions within the
cell. Molecular biologists are only just beginning to work out what is going on.

Codes and computers

The codes we meet most frequently today are computer codes. Intelligent programmers convert real-world problems into a
code that is then fed into the computer system. Indeed, both software and hardware have to be intelligently designed,
otherwise they would not work together.

The analogy with the genetic code is very close — the biological molecules within the cell are the ‘hardware’, while the
encoded genetic information is equivalent to the ‘software’.

In our daily lives, whenever we see coding, transmission and decoding taking place, we know that someone has sent a
message. A simple example is making a telephone call. You dial a number (a code) which is transmitted to the telephone
exchange and interpreted (decoded) as the telephonic location of the person you are calling. Using that information it rings
the phone you are calling, and you know the rest.

Not just noise

The existence of a code points clearly to an intelligent agent at work. Codes do not just ‘happen’, they have to be designed.
One vastly expensive research project is built on this premise — SETI, the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.

Huge sums of money are being spent to employ powerful radio-telescopes to search for signals from intelligent life beyond
earth. How do scientists hope to distinguish intelligent communication from all the radio ‘noise’ from outer space? By
discovering signals containing — you guessed it — coded information!

Since, by common consent, coded signals point to intelligence, why should biology be any different? Within every living
thing there exists an extraordinarily rich and complex coded system. Why should all that have happened just by chance?

No explanation

After enormous effort by the best scientific brains, using advanced technologies, we are just beginning to discover how the
genetic code works. The closer we look, the more pointers we find to intelligent design.

For example, the discovery of cases where more than one message is encoded in the same DNA sequence reveals
unexpected sophistication. Another example is the mechanism that repairs faulty copying. All these findings provide
powerful evidence that an intelligent Designer has been at work.

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