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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

SO ENDS this first of two weekends on mutant RNA viral swarms or quasispecies. These highly proliferative, highly mutating populations of viruses offer possible insights into a RNA-first origin of life scenario. These shape-shifting populations evolve very fast, adapt to new circumstances, and show dramatic phenotypic flexibility. Next weekend we look at some of the clinical implications of these viruses. View in LinkedIn

INTERACTIONS. "It is worth noting that these interactions occur among different genomes, so that the effects are different from those of positive or negative epistasis that are established between mutations within the same genome." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042682215001580 View in LinkedIn

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 LIFE revolution parallels changing from an alphabet of ABC to 1/0; Craig Venter created the first synthetic cell from four bottles of inert chemicals; "we can now write the gene code for cells from scratch. This will transform almost all industries in the coming 50 years." https://lnkd.in/e-geyA5 View in LinkedIn