You’re familiar with the genetic revolution — the discovery that physical structures in the cell, including DNA and RNA, shape every organism. But we are now overdue for another and more profound revolution in science, one you’ve probably heard very little about. Recent findings reveal that genetic and even epigenetic sources alone cannot account for the rich dynamism of life — not even close. Some other informational source is required. On a new episode of ID the Future, science writer and Discovery Institute Senior Fellow David Klinghoffer speaks with me about his new book Plato’s Revenge: The New Science of the Immaterial Genome. A little book about a very big idea, it tells the story of the scientist, Dr. Richard Sternberg, who has spent the last two decades bringing together cutting-edge molecular biology, higher mathematics, and common-sense reasoning to flesh out this potentially revolutionary new idea.

Intelligent Design in Real Time

The immaterial genome hypothesis is a very old one, sketched by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato in his dialogue Timaeus over two millennia ago. But aspects of it are very new too, confirmed by the latest scientific discoveries about the genome. And although the past figures into this story prominently, it’s very much a theory of the present, affecting all of us, as well as every developing organism, at this very moment. Klinghoffer explains: “We are accustomed to thinking of intelligent design as having happened in historical time…And it has. But Sternberg’s thesis really takes intelligent design to a different level. It shows design operating in real time, operating at this moment in every cell in your body.”

Also discussed: a useful analogy to help you wrap your head around the immateriality of the genome, a glimpse into the long line of intellectual forbears behind Sternberg’s idea, and some thoughts from Klinghoffer on what you’ll get out of reading this user-friendly and concise volume. Download the podcast or listen to it here.

Dig Deeper

• Order your copy of Plato’s Revenge, now available from Discovery Institute Press!
• Learn more about the contents and scope of Plato’s Revenge in this post from Dr. Emily Sandico.