God in a petri dish

Where does God fall on the tree of life used by biologists? Conceptual artist Jonathan Keats is trying to answer that question by engineering God in his apartment, Wired News reports. And many serious, reputable scientists are advising him in his quixotic quest:

"He's applying a rigorous scientific question to the absurd," [Berkeley geneticist Tom Cline] said. "That's where the irony comes in, what makes you think about it.

"But then the question is: What is ludicrous about it? It introduces people to the kinds of systems used to answer questions -- though this isn't the kind of question people usually ask."

Keats' project asks some serious scientific questions -- and no small number of religious ones: If evolutionary theory is accurate, then God's genetic makeup should most resemble Earth's first life forms. Or, if creationists are right, then God's DNA is more like the life forms he created in his own image.

Said another way: Is God more like blue-green algae or the fruit fly?

Wired News goes on to detail Keats' fascinating methodology, which includes playing recorded prayers on the theory that worship is essential to an environment amenable to fostering the growth of divinity.