Okay, I thought I'd venture out of the "General" folder and find a thought-provoking topic to put somewhere else, and I think I'll give this a go even though it involves some topics I know very little about.
I have heard it said that there was once a molecular biologist who changed from being an atheist to a Christian (or maybe only a deist) when he realized supposedly that the existence of DNA implies that every human being on earth is destined for a resurrection. I'm really never heard the whole story, but I've heard people in various Christian speaking venues discuss this concept in part. Perhaps if someone has a good link to an explanation, it would be useful.
I'm addressing this concept however as a Christian who is skeptical about it, and as a person who nonetheless thinks there's fodder for interesting discussion there anyway. Do the Christians reading this think God uses our DNA to resurrect us in the afterlife? Is DNA really special if, as is a very demonstrable fact, every living creature in the world, including lifeforms as low as viruses have their own DNA?
More to the point, I wonder about the conundrum that prompted me to think of this: chimerism. There is a condition that is more common in some animals (such as cats, for instance* in which a single living body actually has more than one set of DNA. Essentially, the cause of this condition is that two (or possibly more?) embryos accidentally fuse together and make a body that is a mix of two different genetic patterns. Last night I caught a bit of a documentary on a woman who got her children tested to prove that her ex-boyfriend was the father, and the test came back 99% sure he was the father, but also virtually certain that she was not the mother. I didn't watch the whole thing, but I assume that what had happened was that her ovarian tissues did not have the same DNA as her blood tissues.
When this woman is raised in the resurrection of the dead, will God use her DNA, and if so, which set?
If you don't believe in a connection between the resurrection and DNA, but you believe every fertilized egg has its own sould from the moment of conception, did this woman then have two souls?
I'm mostly looking for Christian feedback, but I'll take anyone's thoughts, of course.
(*Did you know that a cloned calico cat will not be a calico, because calicos are chimeras? I find this fascinating stuff.)
I have heard it said that there was once a molecular biologist who changed from being an atheist to a Christian (or maybe only a deist) when he realized supposedly that the existence of DNA implies that every human being on earth is destined for a resurrection. I'm really never heard the whole story, but I've heard people in various Christian speaking venues discuss this concept in part. Perhaps if someone has a good link to an explanation, it would be useful.
I'm addressing this concept however as a Christian who is skeptical about it, and as a person who nonetheless thinks there's fodder for interesting discussion there anyway. Do the Christians reading this think God uses our DNA to resurrect us in the afterlife? Is DNA really special if, as is a very demonstrable fact, every living creature in the world, including lifeforms as low as viruses have their own DNA?
More to the point, I wonder about the conundrum that prompted me to think of this: chimerism. There is a condition that is more common in some animals (such as cats, for instance* in which a single living body actually has more than one set of DNA. Essentially, the cause of this condition is that two (or possibly more?) embryos accidentally fuse together and make a body that is a mix of two different genetic patterns. Last night I caught a bit of a documentary on a woman who got her children tested to prove that her ex-boyfriend was the father, and the test came back 99% sure he was the father, but also virtually certain that she was not the mother. I didn't watch the whole thing, but I assume that what had happened was that her ovarian tissues did not have the same DNA as her blood tissues.
When this woman is raised in the resurrection of the dead, will God use her DNA, and if so, which set?
If you don't believe in a connection between the resurrection and DNA, but you believe every fertilized egg has its own sould from the moment of conception, did this woman then have two souls?
I'm mostly looking for Christian feedback, but I'll take anyone's thoughts, of course.
(*Did you know that a cloned calico cat will not be a calico, because calicos are chimeras? I find this fascinating stuff.)
