When we say “creation” we mostly think within a cosmic, majestic frame: the bringing-into-being of the universe, the careful shaping of the earth, the emergence and development of life, and finally humanity's entrance onto the stage of existence. For many people these events are not merely random cosmic coincidences; they carry a deep meaning.
To accept meaning at an ontological level — to see purpose as a fundamental reality rather than a human-made concept — leads us to this understanding: everything that bears meaning has been created. Creation need not be a single instantaneous event.
✱A note on language
The Turkish text is the author's own pen. The author is known to have written an English version of this piece as well (Meaning, Creation, and the Telltale Signature of Synteny), but since that original is not yet in our hands, the English here is a translation; it will be replaced once the author's own text is obtained.
A creation spread across vast stretches of time
TRIGGER
Galaxies
Creation may occur not in a single instant but through processes.
STATE
Oceans
The careful shaping of the earth.
STATE
Forests
The emergence and development of life.
OUTCOME
And finally, us
Humanity's entrance onto the stage of existence.
Within this broad understanding of creation there is a contested point. Some traditions that read the Genesis narrative of the Old Testament word for word depict humanity as appearing suddenly, wholly independent of other life forms. On this reading the first humans — Adam and Eve — were created directly, with no shared history with other living things. This direct-creation view has repeatedly clashed with modern scientific findings across centuries of debate.
Around this question turn a great many debates — from scriptural interpretation to philosophical approaches, from scientific data to many further arguments. Yet there is one powerful piece of evidence that popular discourse mostly overlooks: genetic synteny.
Seeing the Signature of a Shared Inheritance
Reading the genome as a text
The human genome — a large and meaningful text
Synteny
The sentences being arranged in the same order and pattern
When we look at the genomes of our closest biological relatives — chimpanzees, gorillas and other primates — we do not merely find similar words (genes); we find that those “sentences” are laid out in a similar order and arrangement. This conservation of gene order across species is what geneticists call synteny.
✱The term — synteny
In genetics, synteny is the presence of the same genes in the same relative order, in the same chromosomal regions, across two or more species. The whole weight of this essay rests on that distinction: the point is not the similarity of genes but the preservation of their ordering. The striking alignment of broad genomic regions points to a shared past.
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It is as though we were examining different editions of an ancient manuscript — edited with small changes over millions of years, yet plainly descended from the same literary lineage.
Synteny: Not Merely Similar Genes
What the objection explains, and what it does not
Humans and apes have similar functions — respiration, digestion, reproduction — so it is reasonable that they have similar genes.
A practical creator has reused the biological “tools”
✔ This does explain the similarity
→Explaining the presence of similar genes does not explain why those genes lie in the same order — and that is where the real question sits.
The pattern left unexplained
But this reasoning does not fully address a deeper pattern — the ordering of the genes.
If each species were begun “from scratch”, there would be no logical reason to preserve broad gene orderings
An unbounded creator could have rearranged these genetic “chapters” at will
✘ The ordering remains unexplained
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Think of writing a book: reusing particular words or phrases may well make sense. But why would you copy whole paragraphs or chapters in exactly the same order?
We know this ordering is not a functional requirement, because a gene's exact position on the chromosome is usually not critical to that gene's function.
The evidence that the ordering is no functional necessity
TRIGGER
A gene can be moved
Laboratory experiments have shown that relocating a gene from one position to another does not disrupt the organism's function.
STATE
Gene therapy specifies no location
New genes are inserted into patients' cells without being placed at any particular site.
STATE
It works even on a plasmid
Therapeutic genes are sometimes delivered on a separate circular DNA molecule (a plasmid); the cells still produce the required protein.
OUTCOME
Therefore the ordering is inheritance
Similar genes could have been arranged in entirely different patterns and life would have carried on regardless.
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Synteny is not about the reuse of good “tools”; it is about being read from the same ancient text.
Creation Through Process: Embracing the Depth of Meaning
The same evidence, two conceptions of creation
Sudden, isolated creation
The human appears all at once, wholly independent of other life forms.
Synteny challenges this conception
→Synteny does not exclude the concept of creation; it urges us to adopt a wider understanding of it.
The creative method includes a fabric of continuity; each new form is built upon older genetic foundations.
Recognising synteny does not reject creation — it enriches the understanding
It allows life to diversify over time
✱The term — theistic evolution / evolutionary creation
On the perspective the author invokes, the common ancestry visible in synteny becomes part of a method chosen by the creator: a long narrative originating in simple life forms and moving toward beings who reflect on their origins, their meaning and their final purpose. This, in the essay's own words, need not conflict with faith.
Reinterpreting the Human Story
Accepting the evidence of synteny may strain certain literalist readings of scripture; yet it also opens the door to a deeper spiritual and intellectual appreciation. Instead of seeing humans as having appeared suddenly and in isolation, we may see ourselves — at least so far — as the summit of a process guided by a meaningful, divine one.
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We are both created and related — bound at the genetic level to other forms of life.
When we reconcile these insights, the purpose and sanctity of human life need not be diminished by our connection to other living beings. On the contrary, understanding that we share our ancestors' genomic plan invites a sense of unity and responsibility.
The qualities that set us apart — and our belonging
We differ in many ways; yet these qualities can exist, and even be strengthened, by acknowledging that we belong to the vast and continuous fabric of life.
Abstract thought
The capacity to reflect on one's origins and final purpose
Self-reflection
The capacity to turn back on oneself and take oneself as subject
Moral judgement
The ground of the sense of responsibility
Conclusion: Synteny as the Sign of a Deeper Reality
The presence of synteny in genomes is a subtle yet profound indication that humans and other living beings share not merely similar genes but a complex, layered genetic past. This reality challenges interpretations of a sudden, isolated creation — yet it does not exclude the concept of creation.
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Synteny is not merely a technical term in genetics; it is a signpost pointing toward a view of creation that is dynamic, continuous and profoundly meaningful.
✱About the author · cluster
This text is Felsufi's own view, taken from the original piece on Medium; the site has applied no editorial refereeing. It belongs to the reading list the author gathered on Medium under the name The Story of Creation; the other pieces in that list are available here: the evolution trilogy (Evolution, Again? → Evolution Is a Project to Spread Godlessness! → Evolution, Belief and the Pictures in Our Minds) and The Story of Creation 1-2. The continuation of the ERV / common-ancestry discussion touched on here may be found in Evolution, Again?