The Design of DNA

We all know about DNA.  We know that each person has a unique DNA signature but do most people really know what DNA is?  DNA structure was discovered in 1953 by Francis Crick and James Watson.  They revealed the double helix structure that had previously been unknown.  But what is DNA and what does it do?  DNA encodes the proteins that do the work in the cell.

Since 1953 a lot has been learned about DNA and it's complexity.  What fascinated me at first about DNA is it's similiarity to software and computers because that's my world.  DNA is machine code for the genes.  Computers speak in machine code (binary language).  All instructions that the device you are reading this on boils down to a series of 1's and 0's called bits which when put together are called bytes.  For instance the letter A in binary code is represented as 01000001.  So the computer takes that and displays an A on your screen.  There are programs that instruct the computer what to do with the 1's and 0's.  It instructs the browser you're reading this on to display the size, color, typeface, and many other attributes of the A.  These programs were written by programmers with minds which gives the computer instructions on how to process the information.  DNA works exactly the same way in that it contains specific digital information that is translated and processed by a complex set of chemical machines in the body.  It copies, assembles, and error corrects the proteins in our bodies.  However, it's much more complex than software.

"DNA is like a computer program but far, far more advanced than any software ever created" Bill Gates

Just think about that statement for a minute.  Think about some of the amazing things that software does and DNA is more advanced than that.  Where does information come from?  Not just any information but information with a specified purpose?  Information which contains instructions for the buildings blocks of life.  Do we see information which contains complex instructions coming from non-intelligent sources?  When we see information containing complex instructions we know there is intelligence behind it.  When I see information in DNA I can come to no other conclusion than it was created by an intelligent mind.  In fact there is no reasonable evidence to suggest otherwise.  Given the evidence and what we know about complex information it's completely reasonable to believe that there is intelligence behind the creation of DNA.  In fact it's the most reasonable conclusion to come to given what we know and the more we find out the more we realize how complex DNA is.  So the more we learn about DNA it points more and more away from chance and random variation than it does towards it.

Below are a couple links to videos on DNA.  The first one is an animation of how DNA works and the second one is Dr. Stephen Meyer talking about information in DNA.  Meyer also wrote the book Signature In The Cell which explains pretty clearly how DNA works and what information in the DNA is.