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METAPHOR OR REAL? "Is the informational or semantic description of genes metaphorical, or not? Or is the idea of neural computation something more like a metaphor?" https://lnkd.in/eHPWXiJ View in LinkedIn

DEFINITIONS. "A distinction made between data, information, instruction, command and knowledge may have bearing on the use, disuse and abuse of the term information." https://lnkd.in/e-VqAeg View in LinkedIn

SLIPPERY SUBSTANCE. “Information is only that which produces information” (relativity). Information is only that which is understood (rationality). Information has no absolute meaning." (C. F. Von Weizsacker). https://lnkd.in/e6SKFbD View in LinkedIn

INFORMATION AGE. "By the end 2003, the word “information” opened at Google 3.1 × 10(8) entries, in February 2007 2.1 × 10(9) entries. The doubling time of the item may have been about 13 months (which may be compared to the doubling time of the computer processing power, given by Moore's law, which is about 18 months). Early in 2007, Google gave 1.73 × 10(8) hits on the joint couple “information” and “biology”." https://lnkd.in/e-VqAeg View in LinkedIn

BIOLOGY AS INFORMATION. "A central idea in contemporary biology is that of information." (John Maynard Smith, 2000). https://lnkd.in/e-VqAeg View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE. We live in an Information Age, where information can be widely programmed. We now also live in an age of programmable life, as synthetic biology is illustrating: biological molecules as cut-and-paste modules; mobile genetic elements transferring genetic information seemingly without significant limits. This viewpoint on biological systems has enormous ramifications and is the topic of this next couple of weekends. View in LinkedIn

"THE MODULAR ORGANIZATION of biochemical pathways in the genome of prokaryotes is a prerequisite for successful gene transfer. Entire functions can be exchanged by a single transfer event." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1462-2920.2003.00539.x/full View in LinkedIn

KINGDOM CROSSING. "Large DNA viruses called chlorovirus which usually only infect algae are capable of jumping kingdoms and affecting our behavior and cognition by interacting with our genes. Throat swabs from psychiatric patients contained ATCV-1 DNA, which when injected into mice they cause deficits of memory and attention during maze tasks. These genes comprised pathways related to synaptic plasticity, learning, memory formation, and the immune response to viral exposure." https://lnkd.in/b-9Ei4h View in LinkedIn

SUPERORGANISM. "On account of a viral linkage to the tree of life, it is maybe more appropriate to regard all microorganisms including viruses as a ‘superorganism’ or part of a global DNA pool, which can in principle be accessed by all species." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1462-2920.2003.00539.x/full View in LinkedIn

GLOBAL DNA POOL. "In the theory of genetic mosaicism, dsDNA phages have access to the global phage DNA pool by lateral gene transfer. This access is not uniform, e.g. because of host range barriers, thus representing ‘…a sort of random walk through phylogenetic space’." http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1462-2920.2003.00539.x/full View in LinkedIn