So-called Junk DNA obtains it’s name because it appears to serve no purpose. If God created the cosmos, the atheist claims, why put useless code in the DNA?
As we’ve talked about before, it’s the argument about vestigial organs all over again. Only problem, we’re finding out they’re not so useless after all. The problem stems from hubris — the idea if we don’t see a purpose, it must be worthless, or “junk”. Naturally, that pre-supposes evolution and a lack of a deity, but adherence to strict dogma instead of experimental evidence never bothered science before.
So what about junk DNA? A theory proposes it’s really about meta-programming. Most programs manipulate and output data, while meta-programming outputs other programs. It’s a program writing a program, instead of data. Why do this? In short, at runtime you might not know exactly what needs to be done — the program may need to vary depending on external inputs known only as the program executes.
So what to do? Have the program write code, and then execute the created code. That’s meta-programming from 20,000 feet.
Because we don’t see a function for parts of the DNA code, could it be used in other ways we don’t see right now? Perhaps. Right now, meta-programming DNA remains a theory, but whether it’s proved true or false via experiment obscures the main point — science many times proclaims absolute fact based on a lack of understanding, not from experimental evidence. Vestigial organs, junk DNA, and evolution itself are theories based on no information. Remember, science is based on experimental evidence. No experiment, no science.
In time we’ll find out the purpose for so-called junk DNA, and then perhaps it won’t be labeled as God’s mistake, but we’ll be in awe of the incredible design.