Plato's Revenge

The New Science of the Immaterial Genome

By: David Klinghoffer

Narrated by: John McLain

First there was the genetic revolution—the discovery that physical structures in the cell, including DNA and RNA, shape every organism. Now, says evolutionary biologist Richard Sternberg, we are overdue for another and more profound revolution.

Recent findings reveal that genetic and even epigenetic sources alone cannot account for the rich dynamism of life—not even close. Some other informational source is required.

The idea was anticipated 2,400 years ago in Plato’s Timaeus and periodically revisited in the ensuing centuries. Sidelined by scientific materialism, it is now reasserting itself on the strength of cutting-edge molecular biology, higher mathematics, and commonsense reasoning.

In Plato’s Revenge, science writer David Klinghoffer takes Sternberg’s profound explorations and weaves them into a lively and accessible account of a most remarkable realization: At every moment, we owe our lives to a genome that is more than matter and to an informational source that is immaterial, transcomputational, and beyond space and time.

©2025 Discovery Institute. All Rights Reserved. (P)2025 Blackstone Publishing

Invitation to a new frontier

Profound and enjoyable. Look forward to responses and expansions on this field that help us understand how biology is different and more capable than technology.