In 2010 scientists created the world’s first synthetic life form. The landmark experiment has paved the way for designer organisms that are built rather than evolved. The J. Craig Venter Institute took a bacterium’s DNA sequence as a computer file, modified it, made physical DNA from this sequence, and stuck this DNA into a cell, which then reproduced under control of the new DNA to create a new bacterium. This experiment shows you can create the DNA of an organism entirely from scratch. One interesting feature of this synthetic bacterium is it includes four “watermarks”, special sequences of DNA that prove this bacterium was created from a data file. Included in the DNA is a fully coded alphabet, the names of the 46 contributing scientists, three literary quotes and a hidden web page. These messages are a permanent part of the new life form. In the future, this type of discreet watermarking will help scientists to distinguish naturally evolved organisms from those engineered in a lab.

For me, this is the essence of freedom: to be a child of God whose God-given rights and responsibilities are respected by her government under the Constitution. This isn’t the kind of freedom that says, “Whatever feels good, just do it.” It’s the kind of freedom that says, “Don’t tread on me.” It’s the kind of freedom that shouts that men and women aren’t just as free as their government or their king will allow them to be. Freedom is our birthright. We are free as a consequence of being made in the image of God—even if you don’t believe in God. Not only that, but we are equally free; no person or group of persons is less free than any other.

from pg. 12 of Sarah Palin’s book  America by Heart

37% of US college graduates believe that God created humans in their present form about 10,000 years ago.

According to a 2010 Gallup Poll