Cells, Not DNA, Are The Master Architects Of Life

Every animal and plant on Earth has an awesome beauty: the majesty of an oak, the delicate fabric of a butterfly, the grace of a gazelle, the imperious presence of a whale and, of course, us humans, with our mixture of wonders and fatal flaws. Where does it all come from? In Mayan tradition, the answer is corn; other cultures suggest various forms of egg as the source. In many stories, the origin is some clay-like material shaped by the might and imagination of a powerful entity that breathes life into it. From such starts, multiplication follows and the Earth is populated, though the details of how this happens are scant.

Over the past century, scientists have discovered a material explanation for the source of life, one that needs no divine intervention and provides a thread across eons of time for all beings that exist or have ever existed: deoxyribonucleic acid — DNA. While there is little doubt that genes have something to do with what we are and how we come to be, it is difficult to answer precisely...