BioLogos.org–seeking harmony between science and faith

Those that have read “The Language of God” by Francis Collins, former head of the Human Genome Project, will be familiar with the term “biologos”.  This is a word Collins coined to describe his perspective on evolution/science and religion as he is uncomfortable with the term “theistic evolution”. 

While I do own the aforementioned book and believe it is valuable (though more so for those of a religious persuasion that have difficulty accepting modern scientific truth), I don’t necessarily believe it was well-written.  I do applaud Collins for creating this new BioLogos Foundation, however, and hope the writing on this site will be an improvement.  The mission of the foundation, as stated on their website, is:

We believe that faith and science both lead to truth about God and creation.

The BioLogos Foundation promotes the search for truth in both the natural and spiritual realms seeking harmony between these different perspectives.

This is certainly a mission I can agree with and support, thus far.

One part of the website addresses commonly asked questions regarding faith, science, and their compatability.  For example, one of the questions addressed on the site is, “How was the Genesis creation story interpreted before Darwin?” 

I have not browsed the site in its entirety, but it is one I have bookmarked with the intent of investigating further in the near future.  I encourage others to go check it out as well.

Visit BioLogos.org.

Ultraconserved regions of DNA–we still have a lot to learn

In the news two days ago on Yahoo I read the following article: Mysterious DNA Found to Survive Eons of Evolution.  Basically, scientists have discovered segments of DNA that have survived long periods of evolution though they seem to have no apparent purpose.  The sequences in question are not non-coding or “junk” DNA. 

Since these segments haven’t been lost as a result of natural selection, one would assume they give some important advantage.  However, mice were bred to lack these sections of DNA, and they appeared to be healthy.

The article goes on to discuss potential answers to the puzzle, such as the possibility that these strands code for multiple layers of information or that they might protect against diseases that only rarely strike. 

What leaves me in awe is the fact that despite learning so much over the past few hundred years–and especially the past 60 or so–we still have so much yet to learn!  This article goes to show that science is certainly not stagnant.  Science doesn’t have all the answers about how the natural world works…though it’s still working on it!  🙂