The Body Human (Part 2)

More from the book “What Darwin Didn’t Know” by Geoffrey Simmons, M.D.

The Genes
Everything that transpires within the body is controlled by the three billion base pairs that make up the 100,000 genes that form the 23 paired chromosomes within the nucleus of nearly every cell. The amount of information stored within a single nucleus is equal to a library of 1000 encyclopedias, each with 1000 pages. Multiply that by the 35 billion cells in a brain, not to mention the ten or more trillion cells in a single body, and the amount of information moving about the body in each second becomes astronomical. Yet if one could put all of the DNA coordinating the growth, development, and functioning of every human on Earth into a single pile, it would weigh barely 50 grams. How could a particle smaller than dust have enough knowledge to, as it were, multiply into a trillion-room skyscraper - and also know the color, shape, and size of every room, every worker who would ever be employed in it, and every speck of furniture, wiring, and plumbing? (This speck might even know the past, the present, and the future.) (P. 30)