Modica biologist's Bible and DNA study draws positive Vatican theologian's judgment

The reply that reached Modica carried a compliment and, attached to it, a theological commentary described as articulated and detailed. Antonio Caruso, a biologist from the Sicilian town, had sent his study "Bibbia e Dna" to Bishop Antonio Staglianò, president of the Pontificia Accademia di Teologia, asking for an evaluation on exegetical grounds. According to accounts first published by La Sicilia and repeated by the Corriere di Ragusa and the Quotidiano di Ragusa, Staglianò judged the work positively, confirmed its value and originality, and urged its author to carry the project further.

The study is the product of roughly four years of progressive reading, analysis and revision, and has now reached its completed version. Caruso is a longstanding contributor to La Sicilia, where he writes the Cultura biblica and Spiritualità columns; the Corriere di Ragusa describes him in similar terms. He is explicit about what the work does not attempt. It sets out neither a scientific demonstration nor a theological interpretation in the academic sense. It looks instead for points of contact between two fields that appear distant: the symbolic and sapiential language of the biblical tradition, and the structure and function of DNA as understood in molecular biology.

The organising hypothesis is a negative one — that the sacred text and the genetic code do not coincide directly. What Caruso seeks are possible analogies of structure and concept, concentrated on three themes he treats as constitutive of reality: order, complementarity and relation. The full text can be read digitally at bibbiadna.it. The Corriere di Ragusa also prints an email address, dvrantonio@gmail.com, for readers who wish to request a print copy.

The invitation to continue concerns a Trinitarian development, in the bishop's words "per uno sviluppo ternario dentro quello binario". No timing has been indicated for any such second phase. Framing has varied across the coverage: two of the three headlines claim a Vatican approval, while the third says the research simply pleases the Vatican — a softer reading than the word "approvazione" implies. The judgment as described concerns exegetical value rather than scientific validation, and no institutional document beyond the bishop's letter is mentioned.

For now the project rests as a four-year body of work posted online, a short address for those who want it on paper, and a phrase about threes inside twos, with no date yet attached to the next phase.