BY TIMOTHY G. STANDISH

S ELISHA'S HEALTH DECLINED IN HIS OLD AGE, Joash realized that soon Israel would be without God's prophet. 2 Kings 13:14-17 gives a moving account of the king's visit to Elisha's deathbed. During this visit the king and the prophet shot an arrow out of the east window of Elisha's room to symbolize deliverance from Syria.

From outside, the arrow provided little hint of the poignant scene inside, but some inferences could logically be drawn. Arrows don't shoot out of windows by themselves, so it would be reasonable to infer a human cause for the arrow's flight. Where the arrow landed might provide additional information about the human cause. If a target happened to be placed fifty meters to the east of Elisha's house, and the arrow hit the bull's-eye, it would suggest that either a very skilled or lucky archer had shot the arrow. If several other arrows came out of the window and each one hit the bull's-eye, luck could be discarded as a cause, while skill-some sort of ability with a bow and arrow-would logically be implied. On the other hand, if arrows came flying out of the window and hit the ground, house walls, and an olive orchard, but not the target, little skill would be inferred.

In the world of molecular genetics a situation similar to multiple arrows in the bull's-eye exists. Just as arrows in the bull's-eye suggest a skilled archer, information coded in molecules within cells suggests an intelligent Creator. DNA-encoded information must fall within a specified range if the molecular machines made from proteins it codes for are to work correctly. An example of this is information associated with a small protein that is an important signal for blood vessel constriction. This protein, called endothelin-1, is part of an elegant system for shunting blood away from where it is not needed, and may also play a role in regulation of blood pressure. Because of its important work endothelin-1 is both essential and very dangerous. In the wrong place or at the wrong time endothelin-1 could kill a person. The body must control endothelin-1 within tight constraints-something like hitting the bull's-eye-or death will result.

Information about how to make endothelin-1 is contained in a DNA sequence found on human chromosome number 6. The DNA sequence coding for endothelin-1 (the endothelin-1 gene) is analogous to a long paragraph. Instead of letters of the alphabet to spell out information, DNA uses chemicals called bases. These bases are strung together in specific sequences that are meaningful, just as letters are strung together in specific sequences to produce meaningful words and sentences. Getting a meaningful sequence of bases in DNA is like hitting the bull's-eye. There may be some flexibility possible, but not much. The bull's-eye may be four inches across, so arrows can hit the target slightly less than four inches apart and still be within the bull's-eye, but arrows five inches apart cannot both be in the bull's-eye. A DNA gene sequence may fluctuate a small amount and remain functional, but significant deviation misses the bull's-eye, resulting in gibberish.

Information in the endothelin-1 gene falls into several classes, including when and where to make the endothelin-1 protein, the sequence of amino acid chemicals to combine when making the protein, and so on. Two interesting kinds of information contained in the endothelin-1 DNA gene sequence illustrate a small sample of the information present-and show how important the notion of an organized and deliberate creation that "hits the bull's-eye" really is.

The first is instructions for part of the protein that acts like a gun safety catch. As I have said before, endothelin-1 is dangerous in the wrong place or at the wrong time, so when cells release the protein, there is this "safety catch" on until the protein is in the right place. Special enzymes recognize information encoded in the protein, signaling exactly where to cut the "safety catch" off and thus activate the protein's activity. Encoded information for the "safety catch" and for its removal is equivalent to an arrow in the bull's-eye, suggesting that the protein was designed by an intelligent being who put the information there.

Instructions for making proteins have to be moved from the nucleus, where they are stored in DNA, to the cytoplasm, where proteins are produced. This is done using a chemical very similar to DNA, called messenger RNA. Like information copied from a library reference book, information in RNA can leave the library, but the reference book, the DNA from which it is copied, must stay behind. Once in the cytoplasm, tiny protein factories start making endothelin-1 based on the information carried in messenger RNA. Endothelin-1 will continue to be made as long as the messenger RNA is present. But because endothelin-1 is continuously being created, controlling the number of endothelin-1 molecules produced is a problem. The ingenious solution is contained in the second amazing category of information encoded in the endothelin-1 gene. A special set of signals for RNA destruction is copied from DNA onto the end of endothelin-1 messenger RNA. This destruction sequence is encountered only after RNA coding for the endothelin-1 protein has passed through a protein factory. In other words, endothelin-1 messenger RNA is like tape-recorded instructions in a spy movie. Translated from RNA to English, the information is equivalent to "This message will self- destruct in five seconds." By ensuring destruction of endothelin-1 messenger RNA after the protein is produced, nature once again gets an arrow in the bull's-eye.

Just as we infer a skilled archer behind several arrows in a bull's-eye, we infer intelligence behind the presence of information. Information encoded in DNA sequences that molecular biologists call genes logically infers intelligence as a cause. Even the simplest bacteria have hundreds of information-rich genes. We know from personal experience that information is the product of intelligence. When we see information that "hits the bull's-eye" repeatedly in the endothelin-1 gene, it is logical to conclude that some intelligent Creator put the information there. Bible-believing Christians have no problem with this inference from information to design, because by definition Christians model their lives after the Creator, who put the information there. When we study nature, we see arrows in the bull's-eye and naturally infer God's hand behind creation.

The arrow flew out of Elisha's window toward the east as a promise of victory over Syrian oppression. Not everyone who saw the arrow shoot eastward understood the sign at that time, but Bible-believing Christians can understand the signs God is revealing to this end-time generation. Our Creator made us and revealed Himself in the flesh at the time of His first advent, when "the Word became flesh" (John 1:14, NIV). Now as the Second Advent approaches He reveals Himself in the flesh of all creation. When we see nature "hitting the bull's-eye" time and time again, God is giving us a sign: He is the Creator and so has the power to recreate us in His image. Information within cells affirms the promise that victory over the oppression of sin and death is very near.

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Timothy G. Standish, Ph.D., is a research scientist at the Geoscience Research Institute in Loma Linda, California.