PBS Stations Across the Country Now Airing “Unlocking The Mystery of Life”

SEATTLE — “Unlocking the Mystery of Life,” a 58-minute program exploring what DNA reveals about the origin of life, is now airing on PBS stations across the country. “Unlocking the Mystery of Life” documents how scientists are abandoning naturalistic explanations for the origin of genetic information and looking to theories of design for answers.

“In almost every scientific discipline we are finding evidence that supports theories of design,” said Steve Meyer, director of the Center for Science & Culture, the nation’s leading intelligent design research center. “Specifically in molecular biology, the presence of information encoded along the DNA molecule has suggested the activity of a prior designing intelligence and ‘Unlocking the Mystery of Life’ showcases the progress design scientists are making in this field.”

To date, “Unlocking” has aired in almost every major top 20 market in the country including PBS stations in California, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington state, and Washington, DC. The documentary was made available to PBS affiliates across the nation in April of 2003. The program was up-linked by a satellite feed offered and coordinated by the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA).

“Unlocking” follows the efforts of contemporary scientists who are advancing a powerful, but controversial, idea — the scientific theory of “intelligent design.” A growing number of scientists around the world no longer believe that natural selection or chemistry, alone, can explain the origins of life. Instead, they think that the microscopic world of the cell provides evidence of purpose and design in nature — a theory based upon compelling biochemical evidence.

The story begins with a landmark meeting of design theorists assembled by UC Berkeley Law Professor Phillip Johnson in Pajaro Dunes California in 1993. The documentary then follows the development of the intelligent design movement through insightful interviews with key design scientists Paul Nelson, Stephen Meyer, Dean Kenyon, Michael Behe, William Dembski, Jonathan Wells, Jed Macosko and Scott Minnich.

The interviews are brought to life with state-of-the-art computer animation and microscopic photography of living systems. The viewer is transported into the interior of the living cell to explore systems and machines that bear the unmistakable hallmarks of design. Amazing animation footage of the bacterial flagellum provides the viewer with a detailed tour of “the most efficient machine in the universe.”