The Chimpanzee Genome and the Christian View of Humanity - CASE

14 THE CHIMPANZEE GENOMEoccur randomly in the genome. They arestill at it. One in every 200 babies hasinherited a new parasitic element.One in every 1000 patients with a newlyarising genetic disease has succumbed toa misdirected parasite that has disruptedan important gene. 3Some viruses that cause cancer alsosplice themselves at random sites intopeoples’ DNA. When a particular pieceof viral DNA occurs at the same pointin the DNA of all the cells in a cancer,those cells are known to be descendantsof the one cell in which the unique viralinsertion occurred. 4 In the same way, thepresence of a particular parasitic element,inserted in the same place in the DNAof two or more species of animal, showsthat those species are descendants of theone creature in which the uniqueinsertion occurred.DNA sequencing has shown that weshare myriad individual parasitic elementswith other primate species such aschimps and gorillas. We are products ofWe and other primates have generatednew genes by copy-and-paste processes.These new genes have been copied(randomly) into our chromosomes, withthe essential co-operation of enzymescontributed by parasites. 9 Other parasiticelements that were added to primateDNA as ‘junk’ have been co-opted tocontribute to the structure of our genes. 10The study of parasitic DNA haselucidated striking aspects of our biology.There are also fascinating implicationsfor Christian faith. The presence ofshared parasites in different speciesdemonstrates that we have evolved.Religious attempts to base faith in Godby denying that evolution has occurredare untenable. Such attacks onevolutionary science are futile.The colonisation of our DNA byparasitic elements is not an integral partof our life cycle or body plan. Weconclude that random events havestructured our DNA. To some people,the operation of chance rules God out(‘chance’) generates novelty. The consistent,rational lawfulness of nature (‘necessity’)provides boundaries to that novelty sothat change is limited (constrained) inparticular directions. This delicatebalance between randomness andlawfulness is consistent with a Creator’splan. Chance is an aspect of creation. 12Evolution is a wondrously fruitfulprocess that has generated the breathtakingdiversity of life because of thepotentiality conferred upon it by itsCreator. Analogously, powerfulcomputer programs solve problems byrandomly generating possible solutionsand then selecting between them. 13Fittingly, they are called ‘geneticalgorithms’. The rationality of evolutionis consistent with the conclusion thathumanity is a purposed outcome.Of course, not everyone sees this.To one physicist (Stephen Weinberg,an atheist), cosmic history is pointless; toanother (John Polkinghorne, a Christian),it is rich and fruitful because theGod values his creation so much that it is giventhe one lineage in which these mobileelements colonised primate DNA. Ourplace in the ape family has been mappedout by investigating which species haswhich parasite. 5 Parasitic sequences are‘fingerprints’ that establish evolutionaryrelationships.It is stunning to view large segmentsof DNA from different species showingthe same randomly generated array ofparasites. 6 Unique patterns of parasitesalso act as specific fingerprints to showhow, during primate history, largesegments of DNA have been copied-andpastedto generate complex gene families. 7Many of these parasites have beendomesticated. Primates (including us)have co-opted genes that were originallyadded to primate DNA as part of invadingviruses. Such viral genes usually decay away,but several that entered primate DNAin distant ancestors now have a job todo in the development of the placenta. 8as the Creator of the process.Such randomness reflects the underlyingconsistent patterns by which natureoperates. It reflects lawful behaviour. Werightly speak of the laws of probability,or the science of statistics. Probabilistic(chance) events are consistent with thelaw-giving rationality of the Creator.God does not control the events ofnature with a vice-like grip. He is not amaster puppeteer. A clockwork universe,devoid of chance events, would be astatic structure in which nothing coulddevelop. There could be no freedom,no newness, no novelty. God values hiscreation so much that it is given thefreedom to change, to generate a history,to follow an independent course withinthe limits that God maintains. 11Randomness cannot then underminefaith in God as Creator. Indeed, there isan exquisite balance between ‘chance’and ‘necessity’ in evolution. Randomnessfaithfulness of God provides an excitingvision of hope. 14 To one French biologist(Jacques Monod, an atheist), evolution ismerely a tale told by an idiot; to another(Teilhard de Chardin, a mystic Christian),it is a grand epic leading to anexhilarating climax. 15 To one evolutionaryscientist (Richard Dawkins, an atheist),no intelligent person can speak of cosmicpurpose; to another (Simon ConwayMorris, a Christian), it is there for all whowill take off their dark glasses. 16There is a probabilistic texture tothe world. The materialist notes thisrandomness and assumes that evolutionis meaningless. The Christian observesthe same randomness and perceives agrand design in the story. Small wonderthat modern science was incubated in aChristian environment. 17 Only people whobelieved in a faithful, good and purposivecreator God would have valued materialnature enough to probe its structure.

THE CHIMPANZEE GENOME 15The very processes that havecontributed to our evolution andprovided new genes also cause diseases.The trial-and-error processes of geneticsproduce suffering. Why should Godcreate through such an insanely slowand brutal process as evolution?The scientist Peter Medawar said thatsuch questions are those that childrenask. 18 This does not mean that suchquestions are juvenile or trivial. Rather,they address ultimate issues that cannotbe answered by science. They presupposethat we need to address a person forpersonal answers. But of course wecannot interrogate God as we would like.We can make the general observationthat anything of value is achievedthrough travail. Running a race, climbinga mountain, passing an exam, or creatinga spectacularly complex, fertile andbeautiful biosphere all demand time andpain. At the heart of the Bible story isthe conviction that God has paid dearlyfor his commitment to his creation.The Christian physical scientist C.A.Coulson observed the suffering in nature.He concluded that all of nature isobedient to the supreme law of sacrifice.The spectacular diversity of life couldonly come about at the cost of ongoingdeath. This law of sacrifice—life fromdeath—seems to be embedded in thedeep structure of reality.At the start of the Christian faith isthe suffering of a gory Roman gibbet.God himself in a person called Jesus ofNazareth experienced utter abandonmenton a cross so that he could renew creationand reconcile humanity to himself. Thedeath of Jesus is the chief exemplificationof the sacrificial law of the universe, thetime when God entered creation toremove evil and its attendant sufferingby the sacrifice of himself. 19A young medical geneticist calledFrancis Collins turned from atheism tocommitment to Jesus Christ as he sawthe faith of his patients in the face ofsuffering. Now as the Director of thehuman genome project, he sees in thehuman genome, parasites and all, thework of God. 20The primate geneticist AchillesDugaiczyk has surveyed the myriadrandom events by which geneticparasites have colonised our genome.He concludes that evolution may bebased on the repeatable, “but it is alsobased on the unique, which is at theouter edge of science”. 21Unique events in our genetic historyhave made us what we are now. A patternof unique events in the random confusionof human history—God appearingamong us as a peasant carpenter who diedon a cross and, according to eyewitnesses,returned to life—seems totally consistentwith this view of reality. Our genetic,biological history is necessary but notsufficient to describe our humanity. Weare social, relational creatures. God hasinvolved himself personally in history,and has shared our suffering that hemight redeem and transform us.the freedom to change, to generate a history.RESPONSESCase asked some local scientists and theologians for their initial responses to this article and the genome research. Please addyour thought to the discussion by emailing case@newcollege.unsw.edu.au.Peter BarryEmeritus Professor of Medical Science,University of New South Wales, SydneyI think that this is an important andexcellent article and that the Christianchurch has to face up to what ishappening in genetics research. AsChristians we should have nothing tofear from a search for truth.Barry NewmanLecturer in Science Education (retired),University of New South Wales, Sydney.The article is too assertive for my likingand should have used words such as“strongly suggests” rather than “proves”.There is a character to the article whichsuggests “truth by assertion”. It is notwritten by theologians and thisunfortunately manifests itself at certainpoints. There is a tendency to letevolutionary theory lead the waytheologically and so there are distortionsof the nature of God.Nonetheless, the matter needs to bebrought out into the open. We can onlyhelp one another by having the mattersdealt with openly with various reactionsand debate. Matters such asrandomness/ chance/probability and thesovereignty of God have probably notbeen addressed as well as they might beand the article might promote somedecent thinking in the area.Evangelicals need to push for betterunderstanding of the biblical material.In the end, it is not evolutionary theorythat is at issue but how to properlyhandle the biblical text. No one is wellserved if we continue to hide a betterunderstanding of Genesis 1-11 fromothers out of consideration for theirfeelings or beliefs.Andrew SloaneLecturer in Old Testament and ChristianThought, Morling College, Sydney.The issue of biological evolution and itsrelation to Christian belief in God ascreator just won’t seem to go away. Theviews expressed in this paper will disturband anger some within the Church;others will be unfazed. As someone withan interest in the intersections between