Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- About the authors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction: does information matter?
- Part I History
- Part II Physics
- Part III Biology
- 7 The concept of information in biology
- 8 What is missing from theories of information?
- 9 Information and communication in living matter
- 10 Semiotic freedom: an emerging force
- 11 Care on Earth: generating informed concern
- Part IV Philosophy and Theology
- Index
- References
7 - The concept of information in biology
from Part III - Biology
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 December 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- About the authors
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction: does information matter?
- Part I History
- Part II Physics
- Part III Biology
- 7 The concept of information in biology
- 8 What is missing from theories of information?
- 9 Information and communication in living matter
- 10 Semiotic freedom: an emerging force
- 11 Care on Earth: generating informed concern
- Part IV Philosophy and Theology
- Index
- References
Summary
The use of informational terms is widespread in molecular and developmental biology. The usage dates back to Weismann. In both protein synthesis and in later development, genes are symbols, in that there is no necessary connection between their form (sequence) and their effects. The sequence of a gene has been determined by past natural selection, because of the effects it produces. In biology, the use of informational terms implies intentionality, in that both the form of the signal, and the response to it, have evolved by selection. Where an engineer sees design, a biologist sees natural selection.
A central idea in contemporary biology is that of information. Developmental biology can be seen as the study of how information in the genome is translated into adult structure, and evolutionary biology of how the information came to be there in the first place. Our excuse for writing a chapter concerning topics as diverse as the origins of genes, of cells, and of language is that all are concerned with the storage and transmission of information.
(Szathmáry and Maynard Smith, 1995)Let us begin with the notions involved in classical information theory … These concepts do not apply to DNA because they presuppose a genuine information system, which is composed of a coder, a transmitter, a receiver, a decoder, and an information channel in between. No such components are apparent in a chemical system (Apter and Wolpert, 1965). To describe chemical processes with the help of linguistic metaphors such as “transcription” and “translation” does not alter the chemical nature of these processes.[…]
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Information and the Nature of RealityFrom Physics to Metaphysics, pp. 123 - 145Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
References
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