We and all other organisms are complicated biological structures made from very simple building blocks on an information template of DNA. Individual variations in DNA are rather easy to work out although you do need lots and lots of DNA sequencers, data-storage facilities and data comparison programs. Fact remains, – you basically only need time and money to do this.

We know that the DNA sequence itself is diverse enough to make every individual exclusive while retaining enough common features for speciation. So, DNA explains a lot, but the final functionality including the ability to adopt to changing environments, depends on the next levels of variation…

Take the Necker Cube below. As described by  Edge writer Nathan Myhrvold:

This is a perfectly good 2D picture, but we cannot help trying to force into being a 3D object. The 3D reconstruction problem is ill posed—there are two very different solutions, each of which is feasible. So, when you look at it you alternately see one then the other—you can feel it pop in, or pop out. Without a unique solution your brain flips between the possible solutions.

The analogy to biology is as follows:

Strictly speaking, the cube is two-dimensional. But, for all practical purposes it is a three-dimensional object. At the same time it’s three dimensional form shifts from one confirmation to the other.

The analogy to DNA is that while the written DNA-sequence is linear (two-dimensional) the resulting molecular three dimensional structure allows for transcription into RNA and interactions with proteins both at the DNA and RNA level. These interactions in turn can lead to effects that vary depending on the surrounding environment. The Necker cube is made out of 12 identical lines giving rise to two different three dimensional conformations. DNA is made out of four versions of millions of basepairs. Resulting in a vast number of possible final variations of effects.

Biology handles a chaotic and changing environment using simple building blocks to make flexible, hyper variable, intricate and complicated possible solutions. Knowing the DNA-sequence, the transcriptome and the proteome is basically just discovering the two first dimensions in a many-dimensional organism.

New ideas, approaches and tools are needed to explain how this seemingly chaotic system works. Dismissing reasons for the obvious complexity using terms like “junk-DNA” is not going to get us anywhere.

Instead, let’s start by acknowledging that we know very little. All we know is that function comes out of an apparent chaotic mixture of DNA protein and RNA. Let’s speculate that everything is there for a reason. Without reason you loose hope and visions and those are qualities that science is vitally dependent upon.

Illustration taken from http://wisebytes.net/illusions/