Language of God

I took the DNA swab test last year, which I blogged about earlier, so I was excited to pick up a new book on Ancient DNA by David Reich with the title: Who We Are and How We Got Here. Apparently, there has been a “revolution” in DNA technology and an exponential growth of data in this emerging field. DNA is now being sequenced on everything that moves or is buried in the ground, including thousands of ancient bones of human origin. The author likens current reseachers to kindergartners who have mastered letters and words but don't yet understand the meaning of the story stretching back through millennia. The oldest human DNA found so far dates back 320,000 years, and more bones are being discovered every year. A data limit arises from the decay of organic material, because mineralized fossils have no DNA left to work with, but there is still a chance for older material to be found frozen in permafrost or preserved in certain types of crystalline formations. In addition to directing the genetic traits of individuals, scientists now understand that our DNA encodes the entire history of human life back to primitive origins. Although some areas of the globe have had only minimal testing to date, David Reich envisions an “atlas of humanity” that fits every genetic group into a worldwide data record that will provide a DNA timeline to studies in anthropology and archeology. His sense of anticipation reminds me of the flurry of research in cosmology years ago when scientists first realized that the cosmic background radiation in the sky had left clues from the “big bang” that allowed us to chart the first inflation of the universe!

So it now seems unlikely that God plonked two naked Jews in a garden and told them to go out and multiply, although science can't rule out that possibility definitively. The fact that God used DNA from chimpanzees and bonobos to fashion this new species would seem to indicate a more elaborate and strategic process than a simple flash in the pan. What we do know for sure from the historical DNA record is that there were at least four distinct groups of archaic humans, only one of which survived on planet Earth—now called “Modern Humans.” The present evidence shows a slow expansion out of Africa, where a group of Modern Humans crossed the Red Sea to arrive in a fertile land. That sounds familiar. At the same time, another archaic group with more robust build and prominent brow, named after bones found in Neander Valley, slowly expanded south from the European peninsula to meet with Modern Humans just east of the Mediterranean Sea. This epic moment is likely the source of legendary stories of “giants from the north” who took wives for themselves from among the daughters of men, known as the Nephilim in the Bible.

Ancient DNA evidence now proves conclusively that this is exactly what happened. Many bones of Neanderthal/Human hybrids have been analyzed and studied extensively, including one as far away as Romania. About 40,000 years ago, a volcanic eruption of ash in Naples, Italy contributed to the rapid extinction of the Neanderthals, along with climate change and other factors. However, some of their DNA lived on in the mix of Modern Humans. Today, roughly 2% of all non-African human DNA comes from Neanderthal man. Another extinct archaic group to the east, called the Denisovans, has likewise bred with humans and left DNA signatures of up to 5% on some Far Eastern islands to this day. The big discovery here is that these distinct archaic groups with wildly dissimilar characteristics must have shared a Common Ancestor in order to successfully breed.

Another notion that new DNA research has thrown out the window is the idea of a genetic tree in the development of man. What we see from the evidence is more like an intertwining mesh, a proverbial fabric of society. Regardless of how long a tribal group is separated in a genetic bottleneck, either by forced isolation or cultural caste, humans retain the propensity to breed and migrate, blurring any quaint notions of racial purity. Even Native Americans are a mix of two groups: Eurasians from Siberia who crossed the northern land bridge, and Australasians from further south who made an earlier migration. Everywhere we travel today, we are meeting our own cousins.

The human genome is a programming code with six billion characters. It is made up of only four building blocks, which we call “letters” in the double-helix DNA chain. Mankind now has the capability to rewrite this code as easily as typing a document. We could CRISPR the heck out of the human genome and very easily change our DNA heritage. But where would we begin? The blond hair mutation arose 17000 years ago near Lake Baikal in southern Russia, and seems to be currently fashionable. Bright green eyes are somewhat rare in humans, although eye colour is controlled by more than one gene. Perhaps the best place to start will be correcting hereditary diseases where a simple knockout of a letter or two will save innocent children from certain death! For now, DNA technicians and their lawyers stand frozen in awe as they study this incredible programming code, always mutating in the short term, always evolving in the long term, and yet stable across millennia. We are afraid to change even a single letter because we don't yet understand the language of God.

Humans are standing on a promontory overlooking a wide landscape. On one side, deep roots run down the hill into dark earth below, and on the other side, our vision of the pathway leading up a gentle incline ahead is obscured by fog. Above us, a trillion galaxies swirl in an expanding universe of incomprehensible magnitude, finely tuned by strict physical laws to the exquisitely narrow parameters required to produce life in a quiet backwater of the Milky Way. As above, so below, miracles of creation.