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CODE ADULTERATION. "Several debuggers modify the target application’s code. The de-bugger by Vanegue et al., for example, injects its code into the debugged process. Other designs such as gdb also modify the target’s code to implement break-points, by replacing the target code with a software interrupt instruction." https://lnkd.in/dHTSZ_H View in LinkedIn

BEHAVIOR CHANGING WORDS. “In C. elegans, a family of small-molecule pheromones called ascarosides regulates gender-specific attraction, repulsion, aggregation, olfactory plasticity, and entry into dauer (a stress-resistant life stage), collectively demonstrating that ascarosides mediate a wide range of C. elegans behaviors.” https://lnkd.in/d6G6mZ9 View in LinkedIn

INTERACTIVE ELEMENTS. "Imagine a variety of components: hardware and software modules, files, websites, interfaces, users... All these components interact by exchanging information. Assume that neighboring components have the capability to mutually adapt: by sending messages back and forth they negotiate until they achieve a common "understanding", in which they both can settle. But coordination does not stop there: it propagates back and forth between all components, until a globally stable order is created." https://lnkd.in/dkkAEiE View in LinkedIn

CONSERVED DIALECT. “Ascaroside Signaling Is Widely Conserved among Nematodes. A group of small molecules called ascarosides has been found to mediate mate finding, aggregation, and developmental diapause in Caenorhabditis elegans, but it is unknown whether ascaroside signaling exists outside of the genus Caenorhabditis.” https://lnkd.in/d6G6mZ9 View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this two weekend fragment from nature on modular language by a type of worm that appears to have syntax rules and significant complexity. It seems that whenever we assume that a creature is simple, time reverses that conclusion, proving perhaps it is us who are simple. We only invented the printing press (in the west) in the fourteenth century; these creatures have been printing words for millennia. View in LinkedIn

THE WORDS. “The term ascaroside was first created to describe a novel lipid detected in the intestinal parasite Ascaris lumbricoides over 100 years ago. These lipophilic molecules, containing long aliphatic side chains, formed a layer around Ascaris eggs to protect against harsh environmental conditions. More recently, a larger collection of more hydrophilic ascarosides has been identified in C. elegans and other related nematodes and has been shown to regulate a multitude of behaviors and aspects of the life history of the worm including development, mate attraction, aggregation, and repulsion.” https://lnkd.in/dGAHbZv View in LinkedIn

POSSIBLY WIDESPREAD. “Highly complex modular ascaroside assemblies are not restricted to C. elegans and have also been characterized in the necromenic Pristionchus pacificus that is associated with scarab beetles. While the general building blocks utilized by C. elegans and P. pacificus are somewhat similar, the resulting modular assemblies are highly species-specific.” https://lnkd.in/d4DhYhz View in LinkedIn

WORD CONTEXTS. “Overlapping mixtures of these pheromones affect the development of the worm and a variety of different behaviors.” https://lnkd.in/dXsN6Pj View in LinkedIn

MANY DECORATIONS. “The ascaroside core structures originating from peroxisomal β-oxidation serve as scaffolds for the highly species-specific attachment of additional building blocks originating from diverse primary metabolic pathways, including fatty acid, citric acid, amino acid, carbohydrate, and nucleoside metabolism, to generate highly complex modular assemblies.” https://lnkd.in/d4DhYhz View in LinkedIn

CHRISTMAS TREE DECORATIONS. “Downstream of the canonical β-oxidation cycle the basic ascarosides can undergo various species-specific modifications, thus giving rise to a large diversity of unique signaling molecules that represent the chemical language of nematodes.” https://lnkd.in/d4DhYhz View in LinkedIn