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gordaco
I find the premise offensive. It's exactly the same as evolution-denying creationists: the idea that something is so complex that it couldn't be created by evolution because that would imply some degree of randomness, or whatever misunderstanding.
IvyMike
I think the idea is that a message from aliens would need a carrier with sufficient complexity and durability. A replicating molecule like DNA or RNA might fit the bill, so they take a look.
psychometry
The scientific method has no regard for which premises you or anyone else find offensive. If the research is sound, both the question and the results are worthy of attention.
tacos
When a headline ends with a question mark the answer is always no.
psychometry
If there's a way to access this article from the link you submitted, I'm not seeing it. If there isn't a way, I wonder why you submitted it at all.
adamnemecek
you should add "(1979)" to the title.
GuiA
I tried, but looks like the max field limit was hit.
zwentz
You know what would be interesting? Doing this on our own DNA. What if that 0.1% difference between us and chimpanzees, was caused by such a capsule injected into a chimp by an extraterrestrial intelligence, and our key to interstellar travel, Dyson sphere, etc. has been hiding within us all along?

Would make a cool movie.

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hoodoof
I didn't click on the link but I'm pretty sure the answer is "No".
egmracer
It's an interesting premise but one that's almost impossible to verify. DNA would inevitably evolve in the billions of years of adaptation, rendering the message incomprehensible. Even with all relevant techniques (probability analysis, error correcting codes, ...), it's at best guess work. Despite the problems with implementation, it's still a very interesting idea that has a few good reasons supporting its logic. Any advanced life form that reaches a new planet will almost certainly analyze the planet for life and it's genetic makeup. I'm not sure we'll be able to validate or completely dismiss the idea until we explore other planets.
card
An interesting followup study would be to explore techniques of encoding information in DNA to reduce the error rate over generations. Could shed some light on how long a message would remain comprehensible.
GuiA
To all the comments about how the answer is no: I agree, and the reason I posted this is not because of the answer to the question, but because the premise and reasoning are very interesting to read.

Also, I got this link in a comment in the following thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8675078. Thanks `jonmrodriguez!