Changes

:Truthfully, we don't know.  Science is built upon repeatable evidence as provided by observation and experimentation.  There is very little evidence, one way or the other, regarding the exact mechanism of the origin of life.  Science cannot rely on dogma, and the existence of scripture is hardly evidence in support of divine creation; therefore the most scientifically sound answer here, relying on the evidence, is that we do not conclusively know.  That said, there are a few good hypotheses that have been presented--notably the "RNA world hypothesis", for which there is actually quite a bit of evidence--but not a single one of them can be conclusively demonstrated yet.

:Truthfully, we don't know.  Science is built upon repeatable evidence as provided by observation and experimentation.  There is very little evidence, one way or the other, regarding the exact mechanism of the origin of life.  Science cannot rely on dogma, and the existence of scripture is hardly evidence in support of divine creation; therefore the most scientifically sound answer here, relying on the evidence, is that we do not conclusively know.  That said, there are a few good hypotheses that have been presented--notably the "RNA world hypothesis", for which there is actually quite a bit of evidence--but not a single one of them can be conclusively demonstrated yet.

:Organic compounds, such as amino acids and nucleic acids, will form spontaneously--albeit in trace amounts--wherever the proper elemental ingredients (Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorous, and Sulfur) and environmental conditions can be found.  The common thread underlying all naturalistic hypotheses on the origin of life is that at some point these compound polymerized (which will happen spontaneously if the conditions are right) into larger polymeric biomolecules and that a very tiny minority of these molecules were able to self-reproduce.  The rest, as they say, is history.

:Organic compounds, such as amino acids and nucleic acids, will form spontaneously--albeit in trace amounts--wherever the proper elemental ingredients (Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorous, and Sulfur) and environmental conditions can be found.  The common thread underlying all naturalistic hypotheses on the origin of life is that at some point these compound polymerized (which will happen spontaneously if the conditions are right) into larger polymeric biomolecules and that a very tiny minority of these molecules were able to self-reproduce.  The rest, as they say, is history.

:This may seem a far-fetched phenomenon to happen by chance until you consider the scale on which these events happen.  Out of millions of trillions of randomly formed polynucleotides or polypeptides (the actual number probably many orders of magnitude larger than that), all it takes is one with the capacity for self-reproduction to get the process started.  Self-reproducing strands of RNA, for instance, can be created and identified in a lab by a much smaller-scale screening of random nucleotide sequences--that this could be the mechanism for the origin of life on Earth is quite plausible.

:This may seem a far-fetched phenomenon to happen by chance until you consider the scale on which these events happen.  Out of millions of trillions of randomly formed polynucleotides or polypeptides (the actual number is probably many orders of magnitude larger than that), all it takes is one with the capacity for self-reproduction to get the process started.  Self-reproducing strands of RNA, for instance, can be created and identified in a lab by a much smaller-scale screening of random nucleotide sequences--that this could be the mechanism for the origin of life on Earth is quite plausible.

2. '''How did the DNA code originate?'''

2. '''How did the DNA code originate?'''

:The phrase "DNA code" here is alarmingly vague.  Does it reference the specific pattern of which codon encodes a particular amino acid in a protein?  Does it reference interactions between nucleic acids and ribozymes (enzymatic RNA molecules)?  Or does it reference the "central dogma" whereby DNA encodes biomolecules, the expression of which is regulated by cell metabolism?

:The phrase "DNA code" here is alarmingly vague.  Does it reference the specific pattern of which codon encodes a particular amino acid in a protein?  Does it reference interactions between nucleic acids and ribozymes (enzymatic RNA molecules)?  Or does it reference the "central dogma" whereby DNA encodes biomolecules, the expression of which is regulated by cell metabolism?

:In reference to the system of 64 codons (nucleotide triplets) encoding the order in which one of twenty amino acids are incorporated into a polypeptide (a protein), we are still entirely sure.  Interactions between ribozymes and amino acids form the basis of protein production in modern cells.  We have pretty good biochemical insight into the function of this system but, until we get more evidence, much of its origin remains subject to conjecture.

:In reference to the system of 64 codons (nucleotide triplets) encoding the order in which one of twenty amino acids are incorporated into a polypeptide (a protein), we are still not entirely sure.  Interactions between ribozymes and amino acids form the basis of protein production in modern cells.  We have pretty good biochemical insight into the function of this system but, until we get more evidence, much of its origin remains subject to conjecture.

:As for mechanisms by which DNA/RNA/Protein interactions emerged, much of it has to do with the 3-D structure of these molecules.  Again, as for de-novo emergence of this system, the jury is still out, but mechanisms of variation within these systems between lineages are quite well known.  In fact, comparing these variations across lineages is one of the most effective ways of understanding their functioning.

:As for mechanisms by which DNA/RNA/Protein interactions emerged, much of it has to do with the 3-D structure of these molecules.  Again, as for de-novo emergence of this system, the jury is still out, but mechanisms of variation within these systems between lineages are quite well known.  In fact, comparing these variations across lineages is one of the most effective ways of understanding their functioning.

:Considering other facets of structural genetics, we actually have a pretty idea where they came from.  For instance, the itron-exon / RNA splicing mechanism that allows a single eukaryotic gene to encode multiple protein-coding mRNA products seems to have emerged from bacterial retroelements.  There is quite a bit of data supporting this.

:Considering other facets of structural genetics, we actually have a pretty idea where they came from.  For instance, the itron-exon / RNA splicing mechanism that allows a single eukaryotic gene to encode multiple protein-coding mRNA products seems to have emerged from bacterial retroelements.  There is quite a bit of data supporting this.

:Creationism is generally kept out of the classroom.

:Creationism is generally kept out of the classroom.

== One Question for Creationists ==

== One Question for Creationists ==