Michael Behe on the Origin of Biological Information

Intelligent Design the Future

Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture

Science, Philosophy, Astronomy, Society & Culture, Life Sciences

4 • 993 Ratings

🗓️ 25 September 2023

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Just what is information? Why is so much of it needed for life? And where did it all come from? On this ID The Future, we're pleased to rebroadcast in audio form the latest episode in biochemist Michael Behe's Secrets of the Cell series on the mystery of biological information. In this episode, Behe starts by explaining just what information actually is. From the decision to flip a switch to the thousands of decisions needed to build complex structures, information is everywhere in our world, and it also runs the show in the hidden inner world of cells. Behe describes how cells manage information to build tissues, organs, and systems. He also explains that each cell is part of a massive collaboration of trillions of cells, where the right information at the right time flows through us in the form of chemical and electrical signals, activating different energy modes and keeping our entire body functioning efficiently. To conclude, Behe invites us to join him for a sobering thought experiment: attempting to build an instruction manual for a human femur bone. Sounds simple enough in theory. It's just a bone, after all! But Behe reminds us of the many layers of complexity inherent in making even a single bone part of a larger, dynamic, and coordinated living system. Complex machines and working structures, says Behe, are possible only through specific code that determines form and function. And our uniform and repeated experience affirms that specified or functional information always arises from an intelligent source, not a strictly material process.

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0:00.0	I d the future a podcast about evolution and intelligent design
0:12.4	welcome to ID the future I'm your host Andrew McDermott. Today we're pleased to rebroadcast in audio form the latest episode in biochemist Michael Bie's Secrets of the Cell series.
0:24.0	Launched in 2020, the video series explores the building blocks of life,
0:29.0	an unseen world of genetic coding, fabulous integrated systems, and astonishing machines.
0:35.0	This is not your typical biology class.
0:38.0	Each episode goes on location with Behi
0:41.0	as he unpacks the secrets of the cell with practical modern visuals. with to YouTube and watch the episode. Why would I just listen? Well, not so fast. Yes, the
0:56.2	secrets of the Salz series is available in video. And of course, video is
1:00.6	supremely popular these days. There's an all-you-can-eat feast of video entertainment at our fingertips,
1:06.4	and the biggest social media platforms on the planet specialize in keeping eyeballs glued to little screens to watch untold numbers of videos.
1:16.0	But we may be so tuned into the visuals of a video that we miss important details that
1:20.9	our ears might pick up. We might miss the forest for the trees or even a specific tree for the forest.
1:28.0	So I invite you to let your ears take center stage as you enjoy an audio presentation of Secrets of the Cell,
1:36.4	the Mystery of Biological Information. What's stored inside here is the most valuable product on planet Earth.
1:50.0	And there's so much inside you could never count all of it.
1:59.0	What's intriguing is that the product has no color, no odor.
2:05.0	Actually it has no mass.
2:08.0	You might have guessed it.
2:10.0	This is a data center.
2:12.0	A massive repository. This is a data center.
2:17.0	A massive repository of information. It's home to documents, videos, even military secrets.
2:23.0	And this is just one of thousands of data centers located across the globe.
	...

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