[Denis] Noble is neutral on religious matters. Yet he sees compelling evidence that purpose may be fundamental to life….Noble’s critics worry that entertaining religion-adjacent views subverts established science and the entire scientific project.
What if the formation and function of organisms requires design and reflects purpose? And what if these phenomena suggest the reality of a transcendent, intelligent Designer?
When it comes to the development of organisms, the current scientific narrative is
a reductionist, gene-centric model that forfeits natural phenomena like purpose due to its association with intelligent design and a transcendent, intelligent designer.
Yet, according to a recent Forbes article, an increasing number of scientists have concluded that organisms do, in fact, exhibit purpose.
[Denis] Noble is neutral on religious matters. Yet he sees compelling evidence that purpose may be fundamental to life. He’s determined to debunk the current scientific paradigm and replace the elevated importance of genes with something much more controversial. His efforts have enraged many of his peers but gained support from the next generation of origins-of-life researchers working to topple the reign of gene-centrism. If successful, the shift could not only transform how we classify, study and treat disease, but what it means to be alive….