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HIGH FIDELITY. “Quantitative analyses of the code using cost functions derived from physico-chemical properties of amino acids or their evolutionary exchangeability have confirmed the exceptional robustness of the standard genetic code: the probability to reach the same level of error minimization as in the standard genetic code by random permutation of codons is below 10(-6).” http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/7/2/22/htm View in LinkedIn

ERROR PROTECTION. “The code is robust to error, i.e., mutational and translation errors in synonymous positions (typically, the third position in a codon) have no effect on the protein, whereas substitutions in the first position typically lead to incorporation of an amino acid similar to the correct one, thus decreasing the damage.” http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/7/2/22/htm View in LinkedIn

AN EXTRAORDINARY INITIATIVE to re-green the world by wealthy philanthropists. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/meet-the-knepp-group-the-billionaires-dedicated-to-rewilding-the-environment-dgqrmxl9w View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this first weekend contemplating the (almost) universal genetic code. While this is the configuration of inheritance on this planet, it is unlikely that it should be the same signature of life on other planets, or form a basis for the search for other life forms. On Earth, it has been a lucky accident, driven by the local physical conditions and material constraints of the planet. More than likely, there are thousands of other solutions to the same basic challenge of encoding inheritance. View in LinkedIn

HIGHLY UNIFORM. “Understanding how this code originated and how it affects the molecular biology and evolution of life today are challenging problems, in part because it is so highly conserved — without variation to observe it is difficult to dissect the functional implications of different aspects of a character.” https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982216309174 View in LinkedIn

THE VISION. "Unleashed from the plodding pace of biological evolution, the children of our minds will be free to grow to confront immense and fundamental challenges in the larger universe. We humans will benefit for a time from their labors, but sooner or later, like natural children, they will seek their own fortunes while we, their aged parents, silently fade away." (Hans Moravec (Mind Children). https://lnkd.in/etiQ6T7 View in LinkedIn

"ARTIFICIAL LIFE imitates traditional biology by trying to recreate some aspects of biological phenomena." https://lnkd.in/eE92tBk View in LinkedIn

TWO WAY. Just as biology informs artificial life, artificial life informs biology. View in LinkedIn

EMERGENCE OF LIFE is an important question that relates to autonomous computer code or DNA equally. View in LinkedIn

ARTIFICIAL LIFE is a topic that resembles the place of viruses and mobile genetic elements in biology: living in some twilight zone between definitions, with a quirky unexpectedness that comes from freaky variety. The real lesson is that human imagination is significantly limited in contrast to undirected variation. Enjoy this ride into the often funny side of evolution. View in LinkedIn