DNA is an organic molecule. A system containing the elements that make up organic molecules (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen), a few other elements, and energy, spontaneously produces a large variety of organic molecules according to physical law.
DNA is not "just" a physical molecule. It is one of the greatest "mysteries" in the world; for it not only maps the genome; but it can read it, and knows the "rules" of how to transcribe this intangible information into tangible physical processes/effects.
The information is not "intangible." It is very physical, in fact, as are the enzymatic processes that eventually end up with various proteins that perform various functions on the organismal level.
There is nothing in physics or chemistry that can explain any of this. Certainly Darwin is no help at all here — he never even heard of DNA during his lifetime....
Any biochemist and/or molecular biologist can explain this, at every step of the way, in excruciating detail.
It does not matter that Darwin did not know the nature of DNA. Both his work and that of Mendel suggested that some sort of physical process was necessary for the variations seen between species, and between members of a single species. It was this implication inherent in their work that led generations of scientists to investigate and debate what the nature of this physical process was, a debate that was mostly settled in the 1950s when Watson, Crick, Franklin, and Wilkins solved the structure of DNA. From knowing the structure of DNA, it was a short step to demonstrating that DNA was, in fact, capable of storing the necessary information.
DNA consists of four letters, A, T, C, G. Those four letters are transcribed into RNA through physical enzymatic processes. The letters in RNA are A, U, C, G. Amino acids of proteins are coded by three letter words. AUG, for example, codes for methionine. The RNA letter string feeds through a ribosome, which attaches amino acids together in the order that their corresponding words appear in the RNA. The process is completely mechanical and explainable.
bettyboop:
Well, where did DNA come from? That is, on what causal principle does it itself rest?
DNA is an organic molecule. A system containing the elements that make up organic molecules (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen), a few other elements, and energy, spontaneously produces a large variety of organic molecules according to physical law.
She asked where it came from, not what it is...
Please explain how a solute containing Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, and hydrogen will spontaneously large quantities of organic molecules according to physical laws. Since all of science of cosmogony indisputably proves the universe began, and came to be from nothing, please tell us, in accordance to physical laws how hyrogen, oxygen, and carbon came to be. I would also ask if you would clarify for us if the early earth contained O2. If O2 is produced for the most part by photosynthesis how did O2 come to develope 20% of the earths atmosphere. Also regarding the early earth, please explain how O2 molecules could evade the profound effects of ultraviolet radiation on those O2 molecules.
So many questions. Are you really meaning to say that DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) consists of 4 letters.. A,T,C, and G. Or did you mean those letters represent nucleotides. And if so, please tell us how chemical nucleotides convey this 'tangible information'. Would it be more accurate to express this 'tangible information' as the physical expression of information contained in the genetic code. If you agree with that expression, then how did chemicals 'tell' messenger RNA to move to ribosomes and produce a protein. Information -> Nucleic acid -> mRNA ->ribosome ->expression of information. Now, what is the physical makeup of information.