Information, Coding, and Biological Function: The Dynamics of Life
Sprache des Titels:
Englisch
Original Kurzfassung:
In the mid-20th century, two new scientific disciplines
emerged forcefully: molecular biology and information-
communication theory. At the beginning, cross-fertilization was so
deep that the term genetic code was universally accepted for describing
the meaning of triplets of mRNA (codons) as amino acids.
However, today, such synergy has not taken advantage of the
vertiginous advances in the two disciplines and presents more
challenges than answers. These challenges not only are of great
theoretical relevance but also represent unavoidable milestones for
next-generation biology: from personalized genetic therapy and
diagnosis to Artificial Life to the production of biologically active
proteins. Moreover, the matter is intimately connected to a paradigm
shift needed in theoretical biology, pioneered a long time ago, that
requires combined contributions from disciplines well beyond the
biological realm. The use of information as a conceptual metaphor
needs to be turned into quantitative and predictive models that can
be tested empirically and integrated in a unified view. Successfully
achieving these tasks requires a wide multidisciplinary approach,
including Artificial Life researchers, to address such an endeavour.
Forschungs-