The Genomics of Creation

A basis for generation of diversity of life on earth was first explained by Charles Darwin in his eminent work on evolution ‘The Origin of Species’ in late 19th century. A genetic mechanism for natural selection and speciation was later developed by mutation theory popularized by Theodosius Dobzhansky and others. The gene-centric view of evolution emerged in 1960’s with the discovery of DNA/RNA as the genetic material of all life on earth.

We cannot prove or disprove how life originated on earth, with our current understanding of scientific materialism. Was it formed de novo spontaneously from the crucible of evolution of earth? Was it planted by some asteroids carrying microbes from a distant galaxy? Or is there some cosmic intelligence?

Synthetic biology, the creation of new or alternate forms of life by genetic engineering, has taken off since 1971 when Ananda Chakraborty first created an oil eating bacteria. But so far, no one has not been able to create self replicating organism completely from scratch.

Recently, researchers at the not-for-profit J Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland, USA have identified a set of minimum genes essential for independent existence and replication of an organism. These fewest possible gene set which allows an organism to grow, replicate and multiply independently was identified by chemical knockout studies of the simplest microbes in existence, Mycoplasma genitalium, which causes urinary tract infections in humans. This knowledge will allow synthetic biologists to create living organisms almost from scratch, and may help to understand molecular mechanisms fundamental to life.

While creation of a simple life form, able to do specific defined functions or self replication may be achievable, creating a sentient being is altogether a different matter. What is soul and consciousness? At what stage of its development does a sentient being get its soul or consciousness?

Buddhist philosophy classifies all materials in the universe into 3 groups, namely non-living materials, living non-sentient organisms and sentient living beings (Dalai Lama: Universe in a single atom). According to Bible, ‘god created man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul’ (Genesis 2:7). It implies that soul entered the body at the time of first breath. Most prolife abortion opponents believe that fetus receives the soul at the time of conception.

At the time of conception, the union of a sperm with an egg takes place to form a single fertilized cell or zygote. Multitude of cell divisions later the single cell becomes an embryo or fetus. Only after birth does the fetus able to breathe air independently. It is said that the entry of soul into the new born causes the first cry of the baby. The complete program for this development is inscribed in the genome of the organism.

The genome is a string of nucleic acid made up of 4 different kinds of bases. A combination of three tandem bases code for a letter in the genomic language, with 64 possible letters. The physical nature of an organism is written in this language, called the genetic code.

The genetic code is embedded in the DNA of each cell of the organism (except RNA in some viruses). It was thought that there will be more number of genes with increasing complexity of the higher organism. The estimated number of genes for humans was over 100,000 in 1995 at the initiation human genome project. That estimate steadily decreased with the publication of the draft genome sequence in 2003. Current estimate of number of human genes is between 21,000 and 25,000. It was found that we, humans, differ from Chimpanzee by only 2% of the genomes sequence! Yet how such diversity between the two species is achieved?

Every individual resembles its parents in some respects but differs from them in others. Evolution is the development of dissimilarities between the ancestral and the descendant populations. The mechanisms which determine the similarities and dissimilarities between parents and offspring constitute the subject matter of genetics. Researchers recently deciphered the genetic basis of dog hair coat, a complex trait, from a study of 80 different breeds. They found that just 3 genes could account for all possible combinations of dog hair patterns.

The evolving understanding of genetics and genomic of inheritance and variation is that it is not just the physical number of differences in genes but a combinatorial effect of these gene products and their temporal and spatial expression that is important. Is there a super genetic code at play orchestrating these?