a typical chromosomal DNA molecule in a human being is composed of about five billion pairs of nucleotides… But since there are four different kinds of nucleotides, the number of bits of information in DNA is four times the number of nucleotide pairs. Thus if a single chromosome has five billion (5 X 10^9) nucleotides, it contains twenty billion (2 X 10^10) bits of information… We also see that if more than some tens of billions (several times 10^10) of bits of information are necessary for human survival, extragenetic systems will have to provide them: the rate of development of genetic systems is so slow that no source of such additional biological information can be sought in the DNA.
Carl Sagan
Related The body itself is an information processor. Memory resides not just in brains but in every cell. No... JAMES GLEICK I don't know if I have a favorite color. KATE MIDDLETON It's very special having a new little girl. KATE MIDDLETON There is, in fact, no entity in the known universe that stores and processes information more effici... DISCOVERY INSTITUTE Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn't misuse it. POPE JOHN PAUL II Humanity should question itself, once more, about the absurd and always unfair phenomenon of war, on... POPE JOHN PAUL II Science can purify religion from error and superstition. Religion can purify science from idolatry a... POPE JOHN PAUL II Wars generally do not resolve the problems for which they are fought and therefore... prove ultimate... POPE JOHN PAUL II I kiss the soil as if I placed a kiss on the hands of a mother, for the homeland is our earthly moth... POPE JOHN PAUL II The vow of celibacy is a matter of keeping one's word to Christ and the Church. a duty and a pro... POPE JOHN PAUL II From now on it is only through a conscious choice and through a deliberate policy that humanity can ... POPE JOHN PAUL II Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song. POPE JOHN PAUL II An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded. POPE JOHN PAUL II Love is never defeated, and I could add, the history of Ireland proves it. POPE JOHN PAUL II The great danger for family life, in the midst of any society whose idols are pleasure, comfort and ... POPE JOHN PAUL II Today, for the first time in history, a Bishop of Rome sets foot on English soil. This fair land, on... POPE JOHN PAUL II Pervading nationalism imposes its dominion on man today in many different forms and with an aggressi... POPE JOHN PAUL II The historical experience of socialist countries has sadly demonstrated that collectivism does not d... POPE JOHN PAUL II To maintain a joyful family requires much from both the parents and the children. Each member of the... POPE JOHN PAUL II Young people are threatened... by the evil use of advertising techniques that stimulate the natural ... POPE JOHN PAUL II When freedom does not have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything about the rule of law e... POPE JOHN PAUL II You will reciprocally promise love, loyalty and matrimonial honesty. We only want for you this day t... POPE JOHN PAUL II The future starts today, not tomorrow. POPE JOHN PAUL II The unworthy successor of Peter who desires to benefit from the immeasurable wealth of Christ feels ... POPE JOHN PAUL II Social justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create. POPE JOHN PAUL II Marriage is an act of will that signifies and involves a mutual gift, which unites the spouses and b... POPE JOHN PAUL II The United Nations organization has proclaimed 1979 as the Year of the Child. Are the children to re... POPE JOHN PAUL II Violence and arms can never resolve the problems of men. POPE JOHN PAUL II Have no fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you, ther... POPE JOHN PAUL II There are people and nations, Mother, that I would like to say to you by name. I entrust them to you... POPE JOHN PAUL II I have a sweet tooth for song and music. This is my Polish sin. POPE JOHN PAUL II What he [Venter] realized is that the DNA in microorganisms is about 1,000th the length of the human... LARRY SMARR The scars of others should teach us caution. ST. JEROME They talk like angels but they live like men. ST. JEROME Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not... SAINT AUGUSTINE The most High approveth not the gifts of the wicked. SAINT PATRICK I see that already in this present world I am exalted above measure by the Lord. And I was not worth... SAINT PATRICK He that offereth sacrifice of the goods of the poor is as one that sacrificeth the son in the presen... SAINT PATRICK I was freeborn according to the flesh; I am born of a father who was a decurion, but I sold my noble... SAINT PATRICK I have had the good fortune through my God that I should never abandon his people whom I have acquir... SAINT PATRICK The Lord discovered to me a sense of my unbelief that, though late, I should remember my transgressi... SAINT PATRICK Let who will scoff and revile - I will not remain silent; neither will I conceal the signs and wonde... SAINT PATRICK I only seek in my old age to perfect that which I had not before thoroughly learned in my youth, bec... SAINT PATRICK I have a Creator who knew all things, even before they were made - even me, his poor little child. SAINT PATRICK I have vowed to my God to teach the heathen, though I be despised by some. SAINT PATRICK No one should ever say that it was my ignorance if I did or showed forth anything however small acco... SAINT PATRICK The Lord opened the understanding of my unbelieving heart, so that I should recall my sins. SAINT PATRICK It was not any grace in me, but God that put this earnest care into my heart, that I should be one o... SAINT PATRICK Sufficient for me is that honour which is not seen of men but is felt in the heart, as faithful is H... SAINT PATRICK Before I was humiliated I was like a stone that lies in deep mud, and he who is mighty came and in h... SAINT PATRICK I am Patrick, a sinner, most uncultivated and least of all the faithful and despised in the eyes of ... SAINT PATRICK The Lord is greater than all: I have said enough. SAINT PATRICK Among the many signs of a lively faith and hope we have in eternal life, one of the surest is not be... SAINT IGNATIUS I can love a person in this life only insofar as he tries to advance in the praise and service of Go... SAINT IGNATIUS Some indeed have tears naturally, when the higher motion of the soul makes itself felt in the lower,... SAINT IGNATIUS The principal end both of my father and of myself in the conquest of India... has been the propagati... SAINT IGNATIUS We should love the body insofar as it is obedient and helpful to the soul, since the soul, with the ... SAINT IGNATIUS We should always be disposed to believe that that which appears white is really black, if the hierar... SAINT IGNATIUS It is one thing to be eloquent and charming in profane speech, and another when the one speaking as ... SAINT IGNATIUS Remember that bodily exercise, when it is well ordered, as I have said, is also prayer by means of w... SAINT IGNATIUS In the light of the Divine Goodness, it seems to me, though others may think differently, that ingra... SAINT IGNATIUS Occupy yourself in beholding and bewailing your own imperfections rather than contemplating the impe... SAINT IGNATIUS Be generous to the poor orphans and those in need. The man to whom our Lord has been liberal ought n... SAINT IGNATIUS Teach us to give and not to count the cost. SAINT IGNATIUS In the fallen there is danger of pride and vainglory, since they prefer their own judgment to the ju... SAINT IGNATIUS May God our Lord never let me harm anyone when I cannot help him! SAINT IGNATIUS True, I am in love with suffering, but I do not know if I deserve the honor. SAINT IGNATIUS May the perfect grace and eternal love of Christ our Lord be our never-failing protection and help. SAINT IGNATIUS For those who love, nothing is too difficult, especially when it is done for the love of our Lord Je... SAINT IGNATIUS If God has given you the world's goods in abundance, it is to help you gain those of Heaven and ... SAINT IGNATIUS Knowledge is sometimes superfluous: when we need it, we have it not. SAINT BERNARD For every benefit conferred, God is to be praised in his gifts. Otherwise when the time of judgment ... SAINT BERNARD Custom turns everything upside down. Give it time, and what can resist its hardening effect? What do... SAINT BERNARD Charity never lacks what is her own, all that she needs for her own security. Not alone does she hav... SAINT BERNARD I was made a sinner by deriving my being from Adam; I am made just by being washed in the blood of C... SAINT BERNARD The impudence of the sinner displeases God as much as the modesty of the penitent gives him pleasure... SAINT BERNARD A man who prides himself on being better than his fellow-men thinks it a disgrace if he does not do ... SAINT BERNARD Keep to the middle if you wish to keep moderation. The mid way is the safe way. Moderation abides in... SAINT BERNARD Humility is a good estate; founded thereon, the whole spiritual edifice grows into a holy temple in ... SAINT BERNARD That heart alone is hard which does not shudder at itself for not feeling its hardness. SAINT BERNARD There are people who go clad in tunics and have nothing to do with furs, who nevertheless are lackin... SAINT BERNARD You wish me to tell you why and how God should be loved. My answer is that God himself is the reason... SAINT BERNARD I myself, however wretched I may be, have been occasionally privileged to sit at the feet of the Lor... SAINT BERNARD Learn the lesson that, if you are to do the work of a prophet, what you want is not a sceptre, but a... SAINT BERNARD Christian, learn from Christ how you ought to love Christ. Learn a love that is tender, wise, strong... SAINT BERNARD In truth, opinion may be taken for understanding; understanding cannot be taken for opinion. How so?... SAINT BERNARD Sorrow for sin is indeed necessary, but it should not be an endless preoccupation. You must dwell al... SAINT BERNARD God removes the sin of the one who makes humble confession, and thereby the devil loses the sovereig... SAINT BERNARD We seek for truth in ourselves; in our neighbours, and in its essential nature. We find it first in ... SAINT BERNARD I believe though I do not comprehend, and I hold by faith what I cannot grasp with the mind. SAINT BERNARD Among irrational animals the love of the offspring and of the parents for each other is extraordinar... SAINT BASIL The woman who purposely destroys her unborn child is guilty of murder. With us there is no nice enqu... SAINT BASIL There is nothing unpremeditated, nothing neglected by God. His unsleeping eye beholds all things. SAINT BASIL We glorify the Holy Ghost together with the Father and the Son, from the conviction that He is not s... SAINT BASIL We do not accost a physician as we do any mere nobody; nor a magistrate as we do a private individua... SAINT BASIL Indulging in unrestrained and immoderate laughter is a sign of intemperance, of a want of control ov... SAINT BASIL Strive to attain to the greater virtues, but do not neglect the lesser ones. Do not make light of a ... SAINT BASIL To lovers of the truth, nothing can be put before God and hope in Him. SAINT BASIL Do not despise the fish because they are absolutely unable to speak or to reason, but fear lest you ... SAINT BASIL By nature, men desire the beautiful. SAINT BASIL
More Carl Sagan
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CARL SAGAN Are we an exceptionally unlikely accident or is the universe brimming over with intelligence? (It's)... CARL SAGAN When you make the finding yourself - even if you're the last person on Earth to see the light - ... CARL SAGAN We start out a million years ago in a small community on some grassy plain; we hunt animals, have ch... CARL SAGAN Black holes may be apertures to elsewhen. Were we to plunge down a black hole, we would re-emerge, i... CARL SAGAN It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out. CARL SAGAN The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all ... CARL SAGAN I don't want to believe. I want to know. CARL SAGAN In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my positio... CARL SAGAN You're an interesting species. An interesting mix. You're capable of such beautiful dreams, and such... 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