Sikhism & Biology
Pollination
The secret of reproduction in plants remained a mystery for a long time. Prospero Alpini stated in 1580 that the plants had male and female sexes. In 1694 Rudolph Jakob Camerarius identified male and female parts in plants. Later in 1763 Joseph Gottlieb Kolreuter conducted fertilization experiments on plants using animal pollinators. It was then that pollination of plants through wind and insects like flies, bees, birds and bumblebees etc was established as a fact. The Sikh Gurus had mentioned this earlier than this when they wrote,
“Such is the result of a bumble bee enjoying fragrance that (by carrying pollen) it causes the trees to bloom and the woods to become lush green and fructify.” SGGSJ page 1190
The Origins of Life
Accepted theories of the origin of life are that the big band released large amounts of Hydrogen which combined to form Helium and other heavier gases. Water formed with oxygen combining with hydrogen and water led to the evolution of life.
The Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji also teaches that the universe started with gases which eventually led to the formation of water in turn giving birth to life.
“From the True Lord came the air, and from the air came water. From water, He created the three worlds; in each and every heart He has infused His Light.” SGGSJ page 19
“Know that the creation was formed through air and water” SGGSJ page 1256
“When there was no moon and no sun, then water and air were blended together.” SGGSJ Page 973
Life in Rocks
An experiment was done by the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, with sterilized basalt as a culture medium to see if bacteria could live in the rock in the dark. They put water from deep wells into tubes containing the sterilized basalt, and examined them after various lengths of time for up to one year. The water was not processed in any way to preserve the bacteria that was in it. Under these dark, oxygen-starved conditions, the rock-water interactions are the only source of energy possible. No sunlight reached the capsules, so photosynthesis could not take place. Remarkably, even after a year, bacteria were thriving in this unusual environment. The research shows that bacteria can live kilometers beneath the surface.
This form of life is also mentioned in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji:
“In rocks and stones He created living beings; He places their nourishment before them” SGGSJ Page 10
