DNA & Design Series by Dr Gasser Hathout

Lecture 13: The Computational Capacity of the Universe.  The staggering odds against forming a single functional protein by chance (a reflection of the amazing information content in DNA), is juxtaposed to modern estimates of what is called the “computational capacity of the universe.”  The question is posed: if the universe devoted all of its computational resources since its birth in the Big Bang, to randomly forming a single functional protein or generating the information content in a single primitive cell, would it have been able to do so.

This multi-lecture series takes an in depth look at DNA, the repository of genetic information, and makes the case that DNA speaks strongly for intelligent and deliberate design, and against a random origin of life on earth, which has been the prevalent dogma in the biological sciences.  The series asserts that as we learn more about the structure and function of DNA, incorporating the advances of the last two decades, the stronger this case becomes.  The series begins illustrating this paradigm—that advances in knowledge often overturn previously accepted dogmas – by looking at a macro issue where this has happened: the vertebrate retina.  The series then moves to introduce the viewer to the genetic code and how it works, and tackles such issues as the optimality of the genetic code, the  myth of junk DNA, the information enigma of DNA, and the “chicken-and-egg,” problem of DNA and proteins.  All of this is done using primary scientific source literature, and numerous papers and books are referenced.  If you love science, and are interested in how scientific advances make the case for the handiwork of a Divine Intellect, this series will be of interest to you.