What is DNA?
Flipping through the pages of Anatomy of a book on Human Body gives us the everlasting wonder of the best creation ever designed. From the basic structure of our skeleton to our overall invisible-like nerve system, all are very complex. Not a soul can design such a marvelous creation, neither can anyone come into being by coincidence. This is the evidence that we are crated by Allah the All-Powerful Designer and Creator. Glory be to Allah!
“And in the earth are signs for those who are certain. And in your own selves; so can you not perceive?”(Adz-Dzariyat: 20-21).
Allah SWT has mentioned, “Verily, We created man of the best stature (mould)” (At-Tin: 4).
Humans are multi-cellular with about 100 trillion or 1014 cells. The cell is the functional basic unit of life. They are tiny and each obeys Allah. Allah designed our body from many types of cells and each cell is designed for a mission. Allah created the tiny cells with microscopic sets of blueprints, the DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid. Allah created this minute creation with a big purpose, a data bank for the human body. DNA stores genetic information which controls thousands of different events happening in the cells of the human body, in our functioning systems and physical features which include our blood pressure and the color of our hair.
Designed to be Very Specific
From the books we have read and pictures that we have seen before, we are certain that the DNA is created in detail and in a very specific way. Such a small thing is responsible for such big differences. Scattered letters in a game of Scramble are impossible to sequence themselves into meaningful words. Neatly arranged pieces of jigsaw puzzle in place to form a beautiful picture must be the work of someone. Harun Yahya conveys, “Words without writers, or designs without designers are quite impossible.” – That’s what writers and designers mean. The slightest sign of something intended somewhere shows the certainty of an owner of wisdom and Allah has the supremacy to create everything in the Heavens and the earth.
“In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, there are Signs for people of intelligence: those who remember Allah standing, sitting and lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: ‘Our Lord, You did not create this for nothing. Glory be to You! So guard us from the punishment of the Fire’ ” (Surah Ali-‘Imran: 190-191).
The following figure illustrates the precision of Allah’s creations:
DNA alphabet
Allah designed the DNA to store the instructions of all functioning systems of the cell. As the 26 letters in the English alphabet to construct words and sentences, DNA sends codes using the alphabet of 4 letters, which are A,G,C, and T (adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine). These letters are called chemical bases. DNA bases pair up with each other to form base pair units of A with T and G with C. Each base is attached to a sugar molecule and a phosphate molecule, which gives to be a nucleotide. The nucleotides are arranged in two long strands forming a double helix, while the base pairs form like a ladder’s rung, and the sugar phosphate becomes the sidepieces of the ladder acting as its backbone.
With the DNA alphabet, the instructions given are to make proteins that act as tools in performing tasks according to the cell’s needs. Proteins are constructed of any 20 building blocks called the amino acids. The instructions given by the DNA specifies which amino acid is needed to construct the respecting protein. The order of the DNA bases is called the sequence, similar to the order of the letters in a sentence. The sequence of the bases in DNA can spell all the instructions for your body. The DNA instructs three letter ‘words’ and specifies which amino acid should attach to form a protein.
Such precision and accuracy of a minute creation, the DNA, shows....
[Continue reading in HALUAN Magazine, 4th Edition, 2010]
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