In the beginning there was nothing. We all
know that, don’t we? Then allegedly there was a Big Bang. The impact of that
Bang apparently released unimaginable amount of energy and somewhere down in
the Space Time matrix that energy gave birth to the Matter. Secondary school
science tells us that this Matter in turn is comprised on 118 elements. So for
those who bunked the science class or who have simply forgotten, each element
is a unique atom with a certain atomic number which in turn represents the
number of protons in its nucleus. So, for instance the first element Hydrogen,
has atomic number of 1 and the last element Ununoctium, has atomic number of 118.
When two or more such atoms – of the same
or different elements – come together through a chemical bond, they form a
molecule. In fact some elements like Hydrogen exist only as molecules. There
are practically infinite permutations and combinations in which these elements
come together and form molecules. I am particularly intrigued with a handful of
these elements and the molecules they form. The heroes (or heroines) of our
interest are Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Sulfur and Phosphorous. This quintet teams
up to form very special categories of molecules. Proteins, Lipids,
Carbohydrates and Nucleic Acids.
Proteins are the basic building blocks and
are made of Amino acids which in turn contain Nitrogen. Carbohydrate provide energy for growth and
sustenance and are made up of atoms of Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen. Lipids are
the main constituent of a cell membrane. Their primary role is storage of
energy and intercellular communication. Chains of Carbon and Hydrogen together
make Lipids. There are two nucleic acids namely, the flamboyant DNA (deoxyribonucleic
acid) and the publicity shy RNA (ribonucleic acid). DNA is responsible for
carrying all the information an organism needs to survive, grow and reproduce.
While RNA molecules do the grunt work of actually translating the information
stored in DNA molecules and using the information to help build proteins.
These Proteins, Lipids, Carbohydrates and
Nucleic Acids who are as inanimate individually as a rock come together and
become a living organism. Because living beings at their core are made up of
the same elements which form inanimate matter, both have to obey the same laws
of physics.
Then what’s the difference between inanimate
matter and a living organism? I know we studied this in the elementary school.
But I will go ahead and say it anyway. At least a couple of key differences. First,
living organisms procreate. And second the living beings exchange both matter &
energy with their surroundings and are not at equilibrium with these. How do I put it? Only the dead livings beings
can do that by the way. Death restores the equilibrium and squares up. To avoid
being dead the living organisms must derive, process and consume energy from
their environment all the time. There are several other differences but listing
all will be a digression.
The story gets more and more quirky from
here on. Consider the grandest and the most complex of all living organisms the
Homo Sapiens. That’s you and me. What distinguishes sapiens from every other
living organism is possession of consciousness.
The very mention of CONSCIOUSNESS evokes a great deal of excitement
amongst scientists, mathematicians, physicians, philosophers, religious gurus
and practically everybody else who is conscious. Hence I won’t venture farther
into this territory. The only reason I even mentioned this is to quickly glance
at the seat of the consciousness, the Brain. It may be a matter of debate even amongst
the neuroscientists but consciousness is said to be somewhere in a small area
of the brainstem - known as the rostral dorsolateral. The entire brain is
composed of neurons and glial cells.
Did you ever wonder when a human embryo
forms, how does it get decided that this cell becomes skin, some other forms a
liver and some privileged cell gets to be the mighty brain?
I am sure we didn’t learn this bit in the
school though. At least not me. But a quick search on Wikipedia enlightened me
to the possibility of a mysterious process whereby some signaling molecules
turn on certain genes and turn off others and thus settle who grows up to be a
liver and who gets to be brain.
If you recall, we started by saying that
all the matter is made up of atomic elements which form molecules. All the elements and all the molecules on
their own are inanimate. The Famous Five of Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Sulfur
and Phosphorous form the Molecules of Life, the Proteins, the Lipids, the Carbohydrates
and the Nucleic Acids. These four together somehow become animate. Furthermore,
some luckier amongst them get to be rostral dorsolateral and suddenly become
conscious of their own existence. And finally, whether a molecule is a Lipid or
a Protein or a tungsten carbide, they all obey the same laws of physics. No, we
are not now going to study any laws of physics in this post.
The real question of this article is how
come these inanimate molecules first form life and then somehow make a living
being conscious of itself? How come they get properties which are bigger than
themselves? In fact they get properties which they never possessed
individually.
Is it also true for sapiens species as a
whole what is true for organisms? Can individuals come together and form larger
groups and organizations which are bigger than sum of the parts? Can we acquire
properties and characteristics which individually no one possessed?
Take a look around us. Environment is
degrading fast. Fossil fuels will disappear in a century or two. Race played
havoc in the 20th century and religious fervor is debasing humanity
in the 21st century. It is assumed that the nature wiped out the Dinosaurs.
But with exploding populations,
depleting resources and access to deadly weapons we won’t need nature to that
job for us. Humans always waged wars over wealth and territory but the weapons
of mass destruction in the hands of Sapiens today can make the whole species
extinct.
To the best of our knowledge the Earth is
the only celestial body which supports life. Can we – seven billion humans -
wake up collectively and come together to form a common race of Homo
Sapiens which has qualities far superior than individually any of us possesses?
Will this race figure out a way to preserve itself and allow the nature to continue
to support Life as long as the Earth rotates?
