Intelligent DNA 2

Questions that lead to more questions result from the search for how an entity became what it is today. Take an ordinary watermelon for instance. What in the world inspired the watermelon to evolve? Think about it for a moment.

The watermelon we live with today fits nicely into a niche that keeps it thriving. There had to be a point in time that no watermelons existed. What brought it into existence? We can look at its current life cycle for clues, but the light we shine on the current life cycle only brings more questions.

Currently, the watermelon produces a tasty fruit that when ingested, its seeds travel through the digestive system of the animal that ate the fruit, then finally deposited in a dung heap that nourishes the seed into a new watermelon plant. It sounds easy up to this point, but my question is, how did the process start?

The seed knew that just popping out of a pod with seeds did not distribute the plant very well, and they might or might not have the proper conditions to grow. What the seed needed was distribution. It may be dry in its present location, but by moving to another location, the seed may find favorable conditions to grow. All sorts of methods for distribution evolved. Some, like the dandelion figured out that by making its seed light enough with hair like protrusions to catch the wind, it could distribute itself without the help of animals. But some plants, like the watermelon (and others), enlisted the help of animals.

In my mind's eye, I can just see the first seed (of another long gone plant) that made it through the digestive tract of an animal. The end of that journey left it deposited in the dung heap. The resulting plant flourished. The experience was so good for the seed that it started seeking ways to insure that its resulting seeds would be so lucky.

The seed at this point had two worries. The seed must coat itself to avoid digestion and attract an animal with an inefficient digestive system. (Where the animals with an inefficient digestive system came from is another question for another article.) Picking the proper animal group to distribute its seeds was a vexing chore. After all, the seeds didn't know what the animals wanted to eat. Biologists would tell us that natural selection solved the mystery, but I am not sure that natural selection initiated the process. The process for change started with a plant's need to reproduce itself. Natural selection only solved the dilemma after the DNA tried different strategies. New problems confronted the seed at every turn. Among its new problems was to figure out the best way to produce its seeds and how many to produce. Should it use a pod and make the pod attractive with odor or use many pods with the seeds bound together in a fleshy encasement.

An organism's DNA comes up with different strategies, but natural selection determines the winners and losers. You have to hand to the DNA structure; it realizes that a change would be beneficial so it starts the process of modification. The conditions that start the DNA to modify may be climate, predation, or competition with other organisms. The life structure seems self-programmed to succeed against a variety of obstacles. You can be sure that something in the inner workings of this life structure determines that a change is necessary. That is why I believe that DNA, because of its ability to self-program, is a creation of intelligence. DNA doesn't care what form it takes as long as that life form is successful. The dead-end life forms fail because the time to adapt is too short. Adaption time can be cut short because of severe climate changes, predation, or cosmic events. I'm sure there are other reasons but the idea is only to demonstrate some of the possible causes for extinction of different life form. But given ample time to adapt, the DNA will see to it that needed changes will emerge that can compete.

The opinions expressed here about DNA are mine. This is not a scientific document.

Cheers,

-Robert-

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