The Spiral Staircase of Life

Genesis 2:19
And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

Did you know that a spiral staircase is not really a spiral? The width of the loops in a spiral staircase does not change, but the structure winds upwards or downwards. The correct name for this shape is a helix.

You might be familiar with the word helix, as the word that describes the shape of a molecule of DNA. In fact, a DNA molecule is a double helix. The two helices, made of sugars and phosphates, are joined by bases. There are four bases that can be used, often referred to by their initial letters: A, G, C and T. Between the helices, A always bonds with T, and C with G. The order of these four bases determines what that portion of the DNA molecule is for. In fact, these bases act as if they were a 4-letter alphabet. The information spelled out by these letters can be “photocopied”. In order to replicate, the two strands of the DNA molecule separate. So, where there was an A joined to a T, these will now be separate. As new strands are formed to join these original 2 strands, the unbonded A can only join with another T, and the unbonded T with another A. The same happens with a C-G bond. Thus, the new double-helices formed have exactly the same information as the old.

Much more can and will be said about this information. However, it defies logic that such a system could arise from simple molecules by chance, in a manner which we know is thermodynamically impossible. The Bible makes clear that God is the source and the sustainer of such systems.

Prayer:
Thank you, Father, that we see Your hand, even in the information held in our cells, at molecular level. You have done all things well, and we praise Your name. Amen.

Notes:
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Image: Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Declaration. Credit: Madeleine Price Ball