Review by Arthur G. Schwarz of the book “The DNA Question: Where Does the Information Come From?"

Laboratory abiogenesis is one of the ultimate goals of experimental biology. The most formidable barrier to create living matter in the laboratory is not the complexity of the cell, rather the absolute requirement for non-equilibrium steady state for all chemical reactions. Current synthetic biology technologies cannot yet produce cells, which harbor chemical systems in non-equilibrium steady-states.

Life depends on strict molecular chirality (L-amino acids, D-carbohydrates), yet the origin of this homochirality remains unexplained by chance, pointing instead to intentional design.

DNA is a tiny double-helix molecule with 3 billion base pairs, stretching up to 3 meters if uncoiled, yet compactly stored in cell nuclei. DNA’s unique sequences create individual traits and enable fingerprinting, with precise replication, transcription, and translation processes corrected by enzymes, reflecting intelligent design. Its complexity supports nanotechnology and unmatched information storage, pointing to a purposeful design by a great Designer.

The precise requirements for proteins and nucleic acids, along with the interdependence of DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis, make abiogenesis improbable and instead point to intelligent design by a Creator.

Life’s complexity, from genetic information to cellular repair systems, cannot be explained by random processes or spontaneous biomolecule formation; instead, its precise coordination points to intentional intelligent design.

Not all chemical reactions on Earth are "natural" or spontaneous, as defined by favorable Gibbs free energy. Photosynthesis, a non-spontaneous process, requires eight complex subsystems like Photosystem I and II, with precisely arranged components, to produce glucose and oxygen. Its irreducible complexity, needing intelligent design for assembly and function, challenges the idea of natural evolution, pointing to a purposeful intelligent design.

Chemical space, an immense domain of all possible molecules estimated at 10^24 for just 30 atoms, poses an insurmountable challenge for undirected evolutionary processes to form the precise molecular combinations needed for even a simple protocell, rendering the origin of life through chance highly improbable. Genesis presents a rapid, coordinated creation by a transcendent God who designs fully functioning organisms and ecosystems with dynamic interconnections.

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans shows rapid adaptation to post-catastrophic environments through epigenetic changes, like DNA methylation, and transposable elements (transposons). These mechanisms alter gene expression and genomic structure, enabling quick phenotypic changes heritable across generations. Transposons, 12% of the genome, respond to stresses like temperature, regulated by epigenetic mechanisms and RNA interference. This precise adaptability, filling ecological niches after disasters, suggests intelligent design, supporting a creationist view over gradual evolution, as implied in Genesis.

Unlike evolution-focused taxonomy, early naturalist Linnaeus saw nature’s order as God’s creation. Genetic recombination, epigenetic changes, and gene mutations enable species to adapt to environmental stress. Recombination diversifies offspring, epigenetics allows rapid, heritable adaptations, and mutations provide long-term species survival through beneficial traits. These processes suggest an intelligent design for adaptability, supporting a creationist perspective.

Epigenetics involves heritable gene expression changes without DNA sequence alterations, driven by environment, food, or social factors. Unlike evolution’s reliance on slow DNA mutations, epigenetic mechanisms like DNA methylation enable rapid, inherited phenotypic changes. Examples include chaperone-driven eye loss in cave fish and beak changes in Darwin’s finches due to environmental stress, not mutations. These self-tuning systems, allowing organisms to adapt to diverse environments, suggest intelligent design by a Creator, supporting a creationist view.

E. coli’s β-galactosidase enzyme breaks down sugars from dietary plant matter for growth. E. coli in the human colon scavenges oxygen, produces vitamins, and protects against pathogens. Alcohol dehydrogenase in the human liver converts E. coli-produced alcohol to prevent intoxication. These interdependent enzyme systems suggest a purposeful intelligent design, supporting a creationist view of interconnected biological systems.

Bone remodeling involves osteoblasts (OB) building bone and osteoclasts (OC) resorbing it, with both processes tightly coupled and regulated by DNA, microRNA, and proteins. OB and OC, derived from distinct stem cells in bone marrow, depend on each other for function and influence other organs. Imbalances cause diseases like osteoporosis. This complex, interdependent system suggests intelligent design over gradual evolution.

Fish maintain water-salt balance in diverse aquatic environments through specialized gill and kidney functions. Freshwater fish counter water gain and ion loss with high urine output and ion uptake, while marine fish combat water loss and ion gain by drinking and excreting ions. Euryhaline fish, like salmon and eels, adapt to salinity changes in weeks, not millions of years. An interventionist hypothesis suggests fish were designed with adaptive mechanisms for varying salinities, possibly for a global flood, indicating intelligent design over evolutionary processes.

Thermodynamics shows the Creator’s design in nature through systems like flowers, which, as open systems, use sunlight and nutrients. The first law ensures constant energy in isolated systems, while the second law drives systems toward high-entropy equilibrium. Flowers maintain low entropy via DNA-guided molecular machinery, converting sunlight into ordered growth and beauty. This precise integration of physical laws and complex systems suggests purposeful intelligent design.

Photosynthesis, where plants convert light energy into organic compounds, involves precisely designed leaves and chloroplasts with chlorophyll, requiring 17 enzymes. Photosystems I and II generate ATP and NADPH, fueling the Calvin cycle to produce glucose from CO2. This complex, enzyme-dependent process suggests intelligent design. By producing glucose and oxygen, photosynthesis sustains animal life, highlighting the Creator’s intricate planning.

Cholesterol synthesis requires complex, multi-step processes starting from natural compounds, yielding low amounts of either a racemic mix or pure enantiomer. In mammals, it’s made in specific organs from one acetyl group through intermediates like mevalonate and squalene, forming the steroid ring system and cholesterol after many steps. Despite 256 possible isomers, only one is produced, showing precise enzymatic control. This complexity suggests an intelligent design by the Author of life.

Molecular features like histones, nonsense-mediated decay (NMD), and homeobox (Hox) genes are highly conserved across diverse species, showing remarkable similarity despite supposed evolutionary change. Histones pack DNA similarly in plants and mammals, NMD uses the same mechanism across organisms as diverse as yeast, fruit flies and humans, and the same Hox genes regulate body development in different organisms. These similarities suggest intelligent design rather than evolutionary divergence.

Cell membranes in living cells are asymmetrical lipid bilayers composed of lipids and proteins as well as some carbohydrates. Glycolipids and sphingomyelin are always found in the outer leaflet, and phosphatidylserine in the inner. Transmembrane proteins, like pumps, are precisely oriented and never flip. Flippases maintain lipid asymmetry, vital for cell function and membrane potential. This asymmetry cannot be achieved randomly in labs, it requires preexisting membranes, pointing to a designed origin by a Creator.

DNA’s four-letter alphabet, discovered by Miescher and explained by Watson and Crick, is optimal for life’s functions; alternatives like physical necessity, chance, or evolution lack support, leaving intelligent design as the most plausible explanation for its origin.