Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
“Robust” fine-tuning in chemistry and biochemistry?

“Robust” fine-tuning in chemistry and biochemistry?

Last updated on: September 24, 2020 at 11:42 pm by Dan Peterson

“Robust” fine-tuning in chemistry and biochemistry? 2020-09-24T23:42:36-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It’s scarcely coincidental that, if you scramble my name, “Dan,” you get “DNA.” I’m absolutely saturated with the stuff.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain)

A passage from Surprised by Meaning: Science, Faith, and How We Make Sense of Things (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), by the Oxford theologian Alister McGrath, who holds Oxford doctorates in both divinity and intellectual history — which he earned after he had first received an Oxford doctorate in molecular biophysics:

Yet it is not simply the origins of the universe that seem to show evidence of fine-tuning. A good case can be made for the same patterns emerging at the biological level. It is generally agreed that living systems require two fundamental components: (1) a self-maintaining metabolic system and (2) a genetic system capable of transmitting biological information. Both of these turn out to be critically dependent on the properties of certain chemical elements, which could have been very different.

In recent years, a new field of research has opened up, exploring the remarkable role played in the development of life by metal ions. The term “bioinorganic chemistry” is sometimes used to refer to the exploration of the remarkable biological significance of small traces of metal ions in critical processes, such as photosynthesis and oxygen transport. This field was pioneered in the 1950s by R. J. P. Williams at Oxford University: since then it has become a leading area of scientific research. If the chemical properties of the elements were slightly different, many of the key chemical reactions on which life depends could not take place. The conversion of light to chemical energy in photosynthesis, and the “fixation” of atmospheric nitrogen by plants to produce essential nutrients — these are examples of critical chemical processes upon which life depends. If the fundamental properties of the elements of the universe were different, these reactions might not be able to take place, and life as we know it could not have emerged.

Furthermore, it is clear that a capacity to encode information is of decisive importance for evolution in general and evolvability in particular. And that is critically dependent upon the organic chemistry of carbon, which permits the formation of long, stable chains. No other element has this property; without it, complex molecules essential to life such as RNA (ribonucleic acid) and DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) would be impossible, as would the replicative processes they control. The capacity of evolution to fine-tune itself is thus ultimately dependent on fundamental chemical properties which in themselves can thus be argued to represent a case of robust and fruitful fine-tuning. (68-69)

Previous Post

September 24, 2020

Revision 5.11 "What the West Owes the East" (Take One)

Next Post

September 24, 2020 Atheism as Wonderfully Good News . . .

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to Hebrews, without what is it impossible to please God?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Faith Sacrifice Obedience Love