Just a bunch of assorted ideas for this one.

Evolution is music, and your DNA is just a single note.

The fuzz (i.e. the mutations) in present time at the end of the DNA of a species is what actually changes the species. It's trying to change all aspects of the genome, all the time. Everything is being tested. If the genes for a sharp sense of smell is not being constantly honed through natural selection, there is every chance that the fuzzing will phase it out as less advantageous changes become imbued in the genome.

Life is just chemistry with an evolutionary algorithm applied.

In the universe, that which is stable is prevalent, and that which is unstable just doesn't last long before breaking down into something that is stable.

Life brings a different kind of stability. While an individual organism may die, it will strive to have its genes replicate, making them more prevalent.

At its core, life breaks this mould. It uses energy to create copies of itself, that which would otherwise be a

Can the force of genes striving to replicate be described as a force?

is a molecule that consumes energy to make itself more prevalent.

What if civilisation is just a structural arrangement to increase the prevalence of the DNA molecule in the universe?

I suppose that there is no overarching 'purpose' to give it such a meaning. It has just done what it has, without intention or planning. If civilization is a result, then it's a curiosity, not a function.

Traits that don't end in babies are ultimately detrimental. In the greater scheme of evolution for your genes.

The people are voluntarily child free are opting out of the future human population.

Such as we might wish to believe otherwise, universal love and the welfare of the species as a whole are concepts which simply do not make evolutionary sense… A predominant quality to be expected in a successful gene is ruthless selfishness.

Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene

I suppose that this may be linked to some of our societal problems of externalities.

But yet, we've built huge civilisations, impossible without extensive cooperation, and have had these same genes the entire time. The prestige economy might shed some light onto how this happens.

What DNA looks like

Here is an actual image of DNA, taken with an electron microscope

More information here and the original source is here.

You can also extract DNA in your kitchen

Chimpanzees and humans share 99% of DNA

The genes of Chimpanzees and humans is something like 99% identical. Clearly then, what makes humans special lies somewhere in that remaining percentage or part of a percent.

Actually, this isn't quite right. The order of which genes are called upon in the development of the embryo also plays a part.

Maybe that tiny little slice of DNA codes for a whole lot, or maybe we're not actually all that different from Chimpanzees.

Richard Dawkins had a go at answering this. He says that the difference lies not in the building blocks that the genes code for, but for their arrangement, so to speak. I encountered this in a YouTube video Neil Degrasse Tyson and Richard Dawkins: The Poetry of Science.

Biological Dark Matter

Biological dark matter** is uncategorized genetic material found in humans and throughout Earth that does not fall under the three existing domains of life: bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. Its presence suggests that a possible fourth domain of life may yet to be discovered. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_dark_matter#cite_note-1)

According to research by US virologist Nathan Wolfe, 20% of the genetic material in a typical human nasal swab is biological dark matter that cannot be attributed to any of the existing categories of living organisms on Earth. Biological dark matter accounts for up to 40% to 50% of the genetic material in the human gut and between 1% and 2% of genetic material in the relatively sterile human blood.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_dark_matter#cite_note-2)

Wikipedia, Biological dark matter

How proteins are made from DNA

https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/gene-expression-essentials

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