Category: Uncategorized

THE BIT UNIT. "The smallest unit of computer data storage is a “bit,” a contraction for “binary digit.” One bit has the value of either zero or one; just as every digit in base-2 arithmetic has the values zero or one. In base-10 arithmetic, a digit has any value from zero through 9. For example, 11001 in base-2 equals 25 in base-10. Computers use binary arithmetic, since electrical circuits can “easily” distinguish two values (such as “on” versus “off”)." http://www.decodedscience.org/comparing-genetic-code-dna-binary-code/55476 View in LinkedIn

COMPUTER INFORMATION. "Computers store data in two-valued bits, grouped as bytes of 7 or more bits (for ASCII). One byte holds 2^7=128 unique values.DNA stores data in four-valued base pairs, which RNA then groups as codons of 3 pairs. One codon holds 4^3=2^6=64 unique values." http://www.decodedscience.org/comparing-genetic-code-dna-binary-code/55476 View in LinkedIn

GENETIC INFORMATION. "One might suggest that the genetic information is equally carried by the amino acids produced by the codons. So that is a total information of 4,392,322,500 bits including the epigenome. In ASCII code, that would be 627,474,642 MB (megabytes)." http://www.decodedscience.org/comparing-genetic-code-dna-binary-code/55476 View in LinkedIn

THE GREY ZONE. "The core issue is thus to specify how “agents” emerge from chemicals (ribozymes) to form identity (such as for replicators) and then form groups that learn membership. For all extant life, these agents must have initially been RNA stem loops. Single RNA stem-loop generation occurs by physical chemical properties solely as demonstrated by natural and randomized RNA experiments." https://lnkd.in/eUYvi8e View in LinkedIn

DIGITAL DNA. "We successfully digitized biology by converting the four-letter chemical analog code (A, T, C, G) into the digital code of the computer (1s and 0s). Now we had successfully gone the other direction, starting with the digital code in the computer and re-creating the chemical information of the DNA molecule, then in turn creating living cells that, unlike any before, had no natural history." (Craig Venter). https://books.google.es/books/about/Life_at_the_Speed_of_Light.html?id=GWDD9yMb33cC&hl=en View in LinkedIn

PROGRAMMABLE BIOLOGY. "Thirty years ago, the future lay in programming computers. Today, it’s programming cells: (comparing) the digital revolution spawned by thinking of information as a string of ones and zeros to the coming synthetic biology revolution, premised on thinking about life as a mix of interchangeable parts – genes and gene networks – that can be learned and manipulated like any language." https://lnkd.in/dTQVWrg View in LinkedIn

DIGITAL DNA. " The language of DNA is digital, but not binary. Where binary encoding has 0 and 1 to work with (2 - hence the 'bi'nary), DNA has 4 positions, T, C, G and A. Whereas a digital byte is mostly 8 binary digits, a DNA 'byte' (called a 'codon') has three digits. Because each digit can have 4 values instead of 2, an DNA codon has 64 possible values, compared to a binary byte which has 256." https://lnkd.in/dghBZfW View in LinkedIn

DNA AS CODE. We look look at some similarities between DNA and computer code, and the evolution of both. View in LinkedIn

THE GREY ZONE and related molecular genetics has been the subject of an extended tour through the world of prions, phages, transposons, viruses and junk DNA. As stated at the start of this journey, biology informs artificial intelligence, just as AI informs biology. This is particularly true for the Grey Zone topics of life and consciousness, a major preoccupation in artificial intelligence. View in LinkedIn

TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS. "So we can think of these TFs as kinds of functions that employ certain logic to turn the transcription of genetic material on and off and to regulate its speed. This reminds me of the reactive data bindings in the JavaScript app framework called Meteor. In effect, the TF binds to all areas producing a certain type of protein in a certain cell line (the scope of the function) and keeps them all coordinated in real time." (TF = transcription factor). http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2013/12/13/seven-ways-to-look-at-the-double-meaning-of-dna-code/#2715e4857a0b7e447793109a View in LinkedIn