Miniature Database: DNA

DNA is the database of the human body. Take a look at people around you and try to think for a moment about what kinds of characteristics they have. In fact, the color of their eyes, their height, the color and type of their hair, their voice, and the color of their skin and all such data is recorded in their DNA. This database contains all kinds of information about the structure and needs of both the cell in which it exists and of all other cells in the body. Comparing the human body to a structure, we find a complete blueprint of the body, including each and every detail, not excluding the slightest, in the nucleus of every cell within DNA.

DNA is carefully protected in the nucleus in the center of a cell. When one remembers that the average diameter of a cell is one-hundredth of a millimeter, one can better grasp an understanding of how small a region is being discussed. This miraculous molecule is clear evidence for the perfection and splendor of God's artistry in creation.

The information contained in DNA not only determines physical characteristics but also controls thousands of different processes and systems in the cells and the body. Having either low or high blood pressure, for example, depends on the information contained in DNA.

Scientists have advanced different theories in order to emphasize the amount of information contained in the genetic structure of man. The information in DNA is so plentiful that if books containing this information were stacked one on top of each other, they would reach sky-high, all the way to 70 meters (230 feet). Scientists have also calculated how long it would take to type the gene map of a human and they concluded that a person typing 60 words per minute and working 8 hours a day would take fully a half-century to complete this momentous task. They also stated that approximately 200 telephone directories of 500 pages apiece could be filled with the information contained in DNA.

A chain made up of atoms lined up side by side, each having a diameter of one-millionth of a millimeter, has such an immense amount of information and memory that a living creature can use it to carry out all its life functions. This is evidence for creation. With the information He put into DNA, God once again presents His boundless power and the fact that He has no partner in creation. The boundlessness of God's knowledge is related in a verse with the following comparison:

Say: "If all the sea was ink to write down the Words of my Lord, it would run out long before the Words of my Lord ran out," even if We were to bring the same amount of ink again. (Qur'an, 18:109)