Pigliucci Challenges Randomness (Religion)

by David Turell , Wednesday, January 20, 2010, 17:16 (5203 days ago) @ xeno6696


> If we're talking life as we know it, there are about 60 "words" in the entire language, and thus the complexity of life hinges on the length of the piece, in which case, the words code for proteins of varying sizes. 
> 
> How intelligent can you be if you can only communicate yourself with 60 words? (and many of them mean the same thing?) In human terms we'd either call you a 1 yr old or mentally challenged. Of course, this is looking at life as it is now, and not when it got started.-These comments entirely miss the point of living biochemistry. Sure the 60 codons translate into 20 amino acids, but biochemical protein molecules are more than just strings of amino acids. Folding creates different functions. Enzymes are enormous molecules with keyed areas to hold the molecular actions they helping to succeed. Histones help control DNA, etc. It is not just 20 left-handed amino acids (and why only left-handed?). It is a highly complex interplay of very carefully fashioned molecules. Often one action is coordinated by a large company of different molecules in a succession of events. -Watson and Crick thought their code was the beginning and the end point. Far from it, understanding DNA just opened a Pandora's box of almost infinite complexity.