This image had its beginning in random thoughts about Darwin and evolution set off by the monkey statuette -- that's certainly where the double helix came from. The gorilla and man are modified Photo Objects. The landscape was constructed using the eyes from the monkey figurine and radial gradients. The sky and mist were made with the Render>Clouds and Texture>Grain filters. A motion blur on rotated copies of the helix produced the aurora-like midground.