More on the Beginning of Life

With the debate on when the soul is joined to the body and thus when human life begins, I thought it might be useful to reflect momentarily upon what is going on shortly after conception.

As the new life begins, the fertilized egg strengthens its membrane to inhibit a secondary fertilization. It also begins the process of forming new cells. Neither the mother nor the father is in direct contact with this new life at this time. Their offspring is under its own direction as the body begins to take shape. For the first few days, all the mother’s body does for the new child is direct it toward its eventual site of implantation. The newly formed DNA of the child directs some elements of its formation; however, the DNA cannot solely be the motive principle of the new life. The DNA will not change throughout the life of the child (except when it is inaccurately copied by a cell). Moreover, the DNA is acted upon by the cell, rather than acting upon the cell. The DNA is copied in toto when the cell divides into two new cells, and the DNA is copied in part when certain parts, RNA, are needed for various cellular functions. It is the master plan for the functioning of the cell, but like an architect’s blueprint which does not cause the house to be built, the DNA does not by itself cause a cell to be, live, or function. Something else must direct the life of the cell and of the whole creature.

Moreover, DNA or any other feature of a single cell is unable to account for voluntary action, or the intellectual grasp of universals. The brain certainly has some function in mental activities, including sensation, sensible memory, and imagination.