As I’ve mentioned previously on this blog, creation is a difficult subject to comprehend.  Specifically, there are two aspects that theists attempt to monopolize the explanations of.  Initial cause and the origin of life.  We know the theist explanation, God did it, but the scientific explanations have been best guesses and speculation.  The current Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments underway at CERN demonstrate science’s intense desire to understand our origins.  Of course, the CERN experiments are specifically looking at the beginning of the universe, and the moments immediately following the big bang, so what about the origin of life?

Fortunately for us as a species, there are those out there who aren’t willing to accept the explanation of a book that’s thousands of years old and spouts unprovable falsehoods.  So in an attempt to explain the very beginning of life, the transition from the primordial ooze to the beginning of life as we know it, John Sutherland of England’s Manchester University has been examining the conditions under which life may have formed.

The result is a new way of combining five molecules believed to have been present in the primordial soup to form RNA.  RNA is very similar to DNA but is typically single stranded, as opposed to the double stranded DNA.  It essentially contains the blueprint for life.

This is very important and is yet another piece in the puzzle that is the origin of life.  Whether it’s the final piece remains to be seen (the experiment was based on feasible primordial conditions, further verification is required).  It’s also worth pointing out that getting from RNA to the species we are all a part of is not straight forward and gaps still exist.  But what is clear is that the gaps are slowly but steadily disappearing, and scientific progress shows no signs of slowing yet.  If we can explain the origin of the universe, and the origin of life, what does that leave for God to have done?

If you want to read more about this subject, take a look at this Nature article (warning, subscription required to view in full) or this summary in New Scientist.